PADI COURSES

Discover Scuba Diving

Have you always wondered what it’s like to breathe underwater? If you want to try scuba diving, but aren’t quite ready to take the plunge into a certification course, Discover Scuba Diving is for you. PADI dive shops offer this program either in a pool, off a beach or from a dive boat. You can try scuba close to home or while you’re on vacation at a dive destination. While not a scuba certification course, Discover Scuba Diving is a quick and easy introduction to the underwater world.

Scuba Diver

The PADI Scuba Diver course is a subset of the PADI Open Water Diver course. If you’re short on time but really want to become a diver, the PADI Scuba Diver rating might be right for you ̶ particularly if you expect to go scuba diving primarily with a dive guide.

Open Water Diver

If you’ve always wanted to take scuba diving lessons, experience unparalleled adventure and see the world beneath the waves, this is where it starts. Get your scuba diving certification with the PADI® Open Water Diver course – the world’s most popular and widely recognized scuba course. Millions of people have learned to scuba dive and gone on to discover the wonders of the aquatic world through this course. To enroll in a PADI Open Water Diver course, you must be 10 years old or older. 

Advanced Open Water

That’s what the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course is all about. You don’t have to be “advanced” to take it – it’s designed to advance your diving, so you can start right after earning your PADI Open Water Diver certification. The course helps build confidence and expand your scuba skills through different Adventure Dives. You try out different specialties while gaining experience under the supervision of your PADI Instructor. 

Rescue Diver

Scuba divers describe the PADI Rescue Diver course as the most challenging, yet most rewarding course they’ve ever taken. Why? Because you learn to prevent and manage problems in the water, and become more confident in your skills as a diver, knowing that you can help others if needed. During the course, you learn to become a better buddy by practicing problem solving skills until they become second nature. Plus, the course is just fun – it’s serious, but still allows for lots of laughter.

Master Scuba Diver

Join the best of the best in recreational scuba diving and live the dive life as a PADI Master Scuba Diver. The Master Scuba Diver rating places you in an elite group of respected divers who have earned this rating through both significant experience and scuba training. Fewer than two percent of divers ever achieve this rating. 

Divemaster

The PADI Divemaster course is your first level of professional training. Working closely with a PADI Instructor, you’ll fine-tune your dive skills, like perfecting the effortless hover, and refine your rescue skills so you anticipate and easily solve common problems. You’ll gain dive knowledge, management and supervision abilities so you become a role model to divers everywhere.

Discover Tec

Curious about technical (tec) diving, but not sure about jumping into a course? Discover Tec is a short confined water experience that allows you to give technical diving a try. You get to wear all the extra tec diving gear and take it for a test dive. Your PADI Tec Instructor may introduce a few basic skills, such as primary to secondary regulator switch and gas shutdown procedures.

Tec Side-mount Diver

If you’ve looked into technical diving, you realize that tec divers always wear more than one tank. Sidemount is an increasingly popular way to configure multiple cylinders for technical diving. You can enter the world of tec diving with the Tec Sidemount Diver course and apply what you learn to other TecRec courses. Your instructor may offer to integrate this course with the Tec 40, Tec 45 or Tec 50 courses.

Tec 40

The PADI Tec 40 course is where you transition from recreational scuba diving to technical diving. It’s a great place to start because it’s the first subdivision of the full PADI Tec Diver course and bridges the gap between no stop diving and full technical deep decompression diving. You gain experience and begin building the knowledge and skills you need to continue your tec diver training. You will qualify to make limited decompression dives to 40 metres/130 feet.

Tec 45

The PADI Tec 45 course is the second part of the full PADI Tec Deep Diver program. You’ll extend your depth limit to 45 metres/145 feet and learn to plan and execute repetitive decompression dives using a single stage/decompression cylinder. It puts you in a complete tec diving rig, which can be either backmount or sidemount. You’ll also make accelerated decompression dives using EANx or pure oxygen. This is a course where you’ll rise to the challenge and make the commitment to become a technical diver.

Tec 50

The third part of the full PADI Tec Deep Diver program is Tec 50. As a Tec 50 diver, you show that you’ve developed competency as a tec diver and have the skills to dive to a maximum of 50 metres/165 feet. You know how to make extended, accelerated decompression stops using up to two gases. It’s not easy to reach this level and earning your Tec 50 certification opens the door to deeper diving expeditions.

TEC 60 CCR (O2PTIMA)

Tec 60 CCR Diver is the second level of technical diving training with Type T CCRs. By completing the Tec 60 CCR course, you extend your CCR diving adventures down to a maximum depth of 60 metres/200 feet. You learn to complete multiple decompression stops, manage life-support problems and dive with trimix/heliox as a diluent. It's a considerable challenge, but if you're serious about being a tec CCR diver, then this course is your next step.

Tec Trimix Diver

Ready for the outer edge of technical diving? The Tec Trimix Diver course takes experienced tec divers and turns them into extreme divers who go deeper and visit pristine sites where few others will ever go. During the course, you’ll make dives as deep as 90 metres/300 feet, but once you earn this tough certification, there are few limits. Your training teaches you to build experience gradually and you do it because you’ve made it this far and have more exploring to do.

Rebreather Diver

Rebreathers used to be only for technical diving, but not any more. New Type R (recreational) rebreathers are lightweight, easy-to-transport and have sophisticated electronics to simplify their use. Why dive a rebreather? You get longer no stop limits, reduced gas consumption because you reuse most of your exhaled gas, and unmatched wildlife encounters because you don’t release annoying bubbles. The PADI Rebreather Diver course introduces you to rebreather diving to a maximum depth of 18 metres/60 feet and lets you experience things you never imagined possible as a scuba diver.

Advanced Rebreather Diver

If you’re interested in rebreathers for their silence and maximized no stop dive time, and are happy to stay within recreational diving depth limits, then the PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver course is for you. This course builds on your PADI Rebreather Diver certification by expanding your knowledge, adding a bailout cylinder, and training you to dive as deep as 40 metres/130 feet.

Tec 40 CCR (O2ptima)The future of deep tec diving belongs to the CCR (closed circuit rebreather) and the Tec 40 CCR course is where it all starts. If you’re interested in technical diving and want to dive a rebreather, the Tec 40 CCR course is your entry into the tec diving realm. This first level of training introduces you to Type T CCRs, which can be electronic CCRs (eCCRs) and manual CCRs (mCCRs). During the course, you focus on developing the discipline it takes to be a technical diver while learning the details of proper setup, predive checks, dive planning, failure and problem management and teamwork for CCR diving.

Tec 65 TrimixIf you’re into technical diving then you know that to extend your depth range you need to use trimix – a blend of helium, oxygen and nitrogen. The Tec Trimix 65 course introduces you to using trimix down to a maximum depth of 65 metres/210 feet. There are advantages to using three gases, but you need to know how to do it right. Earning the Tec Trimix 65 certification makes deeper exploration a reality.

Enriched Air (Nitrox)

The PADI Enriched Air Diver course is PADI’s most popular specialty scuba course. Why? Because scuba diving with enriched air nitrox gives you more no decompression time, especially on repetitive scuba dives. If staying down longer and getting back in the water sooner sounds appealing, then don’t hesitate to become an enriched air diver.

Deep Diver

The lure of the deep. There’s something exciting and mysterious about exploring deeper dive sites while scuba diving. Sometimes it’s a wreck that attracts you below 18 metres/60 feet, and on wall dives it may be a giant fan or sponge. Whatever it is, to scuba dive with confidence at depths down to 40 metres/130 feet, you should take the PADI Deep Diver Specialty course.

Drysuit Diver

Want to stay warm? Want to extend your scuba diving season? Then dive dry. A dry suit seals you off from the water and keeps you comfortable, even in surprisingly cold water. There is incredible diving in the world’s cooler regions and in some areas, conditions are even better in colder months. Becoming a dry suit diver allows you to expand your boundaries and dive more places, more often.

Self-Reliant Diver

With proper training, equipment and the right attitude to accept the risks involved in independent diving, an experience diver can responsibly engage in dives without a buddy. Self-reliant diving is an adventure activity that is not for everyone, but does have its place. If you have the mental discipline and commitment to learn and follow self-reliant diving techniques, you’ll bolster your skills and confidence when diving alone, in a dive pair or as part of a team.

Side-mount Diver

Having scuba tanks on your back isn’t a requirement for exploring the underwater world. Many scuba divers have discovered the joy of mounting cylinders on their sides. Sidemount diving gives you flexibility and streamlining options. Plus, you don’t have to walk with heavy cylinders on your back – just enter the water, clip them on and go. Sound interesting? Sign up for the PADI Sidemount Diver Specialty course.

Boat Diver

The PADI Boat Diver course will expand your knowledge about boats from small inflatables to large liveaboards. You’ll gain experience scuba diving by completing two dives from a boat in your local area

Drift Diver

The PADI Drift Diver Specialty course teaches you how to enjoy going with the flow as you scuba dive down rivers and use ocean currents to glide along. It feels like flying – except that you’re underwater using scuba equipment. Drift diving can be relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. If this sound like fun, then the Drift Diver course is for you.

Night Diver

The thought of dipping below the surface at night seems mysterious, yet so alluring. Although you’ve been scuba diving at a site many times before, at night you drop into a whole new world and watch it come to life under the glow of your dive light. The scene changes as day creatures retire and nocturnal organisms emerge. If you’ve wondered what happens underwater after the sun goes down, sign up for the PADI Night Diver Specialty course.

Underwater Navigator

Be the scuba diver everyone wants to follow because you know where you are and where you’re going. The PADI Underwater Navigator course fine-tunes your observation skills and teaches you to more accurately use your compass underwater. If you like challenges with big rewards, take this course and have fun finding your way.

Search and Recovery

It happens: People accidentally drop things from docks, off boats or even while scuba diving. If you’ve ever lost something in the water and wanted to go find it, then the PADI Search and Recovery Diver Specialty course is for you. There are effective ways to search for objects underwater that increase your chances of success. And there are good and better methods to bring up small, large or just awkward items. Search and recovery can be challenging, but a whole lot of fun.

Wreck Diver

Whether purpose-sunk as an artificial reef for scuba divers, or lost as the result of an accident, wrecks are fascinating windows to the past. Ships, airplanes and even cars are fascinating to explore and usually teem with aquatic life. Each wreck dive offers a chance for discovery, potentially unlocking a mystery or spying something others have missed. The PADI Wreck Diver Specialty course is popular because it offers rewarding adventures while observing responsible wreck diving practices.

Peak Performance Buoyancy

Excellent buoyancy control is what defines skilled scuba divers. You’ve seen them underwater. They glide effortlessly, use less air and ascend, descend or hover almost as if by thought. They more easily observe aquatic life without disturbing their surroundings. You can achieve this, too. The PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course improves the buoyancy skills you learned as a new diver and elevates them to the next level.

Full Face Mask

Breathe easy!  You will be amazed at the comfort and ease of breathing that comes with learning to use a full face mask in the PADI Full Face Mask Diver course. Diving with a full face mask offers:

• Breathing comfort ... breathe from your nose or mouth

• Warmer diving in cold water

• Underwater communication capabilities

• Reduced exposure to pollutants

• Safety advantages

• It is fun !!

Ocean Reef Integrated Dive Mask

The Ocean Reef IDM course is a specific course using the Ocean Reef Integrated Dive Mask.  It is usually taught in conjunction with the PADI Full Face Mask Specialty

Ocean Reef Underwater Communications

Learning to use underwater communications is what this course is all about.  Taught either with the Ocean Reef IDM course or after, this course will expand your capabilities underwater

Project Aware

Project AWARE’s philosophy is to mobilize a global force of scuba divers and water enthusiasts who care about protecting the world’s water resources and choose to make a difference – one dive at a time. By earning the Project AWARE Specialist certification, you’ll be aware of the most pressing problems facing vulnerable aquatic environments and know what everyday actions you can take to help protect them.

AWARE Coral Reef Conservation

Everyone likes to scuba dive or snorkel in warm, clear water on a vibrant coral reef, yet many people know little about what they’re seeing or the importance of reef ecosystems. The Coral Reef Conservation Specialty course helps you appreciate the complexity of these habitats and teaches you how you can help conserve these vital systems.

Fish Identification

“What was that fish?” is a common question heard after a dive. If you want to be the scuba diver with the answers, instead of the one asking the questions, then take the Fish Identification Specialty course. You’ll enjoy your dives even more when you recognize the creatures that you see and can identify the main fish families and their characteristics.

Emergency Oxygen Provider

Knowing how and when to use emergency oxygen is a great skill to have and means you’re ready to help others should the need arise. Becoming a PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider lets you breathe easy knowing that you can recognize scuba diving illnesses treatable with emergency oxygen, and are prepared to offer aid.

Emergency First Response Courses

CPR, AED, Primary and Secondary Care, Care for Children

American Heart Association Courses

CPR - Heartsaver, Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers

Academic and confined water training is offered locally in the Baton Rouge area, with open water training taking place in the Orange Beach, Pensacola, Panama City, or Florida Keys areas.  We also offer private classes and can complete the open water training anywhere you desire

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