Group Deep Specialty Course

Summary

377 Keahole Street, $389 for the course and 3 training dives

Schedule: arrive at 7:00 am to complete course paperwork and review

Dive Charter One: Leaves at 8:00 am for two dives.

Return to dock at 12:30 pm

Sunday (or the next day) depart at 2:30 pm for a single tank dive to Split Rock with a specially prepared nitrox blend.  The supervision ratio for this dive will be 4:1

Return to dock at approximately 5:00 pm

Deep Diving Course

This is a valuable course for divers who like to dive on the deeper end of the recreational limits. The Deep Diving specialty is intended to provide students with the knowledge and skills to safely conduct open water dives between 60 and 130ft. The skills learned and practiced will help you better understand and practice dive planning/execution at greater depths, proper deployment of an underwater surface marker buoy, and calculation of your surface air consumption rate.   If you have a full gear already you can also get a $20 discount.

How does it work?

After you sign up we will assign you digital learning (you may need to call the shop to get this done if you want to start right away).  You work through that on your phone or desktop before the class and pass the online exam.  On the day of the dives, you will come to the shop in Hawaii Kai at 7:00 am to complete course paperwork and make any gear adjustments with the instructor. The boat is scheduled to leave shortly thereafter. If you have your own gear you need to bring a computer, if you are renting ours (included) they have nitrox-compatible computers for you to use.  The second charter is the next day, Sunday, at 230pm to Split Rock.

Split Rock Dive site

Most people have not done this dive site.  Why?  Because on air it is about a 15-minute dive on a computer, maybe a little more with a 30% nitrox mix.  Also, it has areas on it that are more than 130ft, so we don’t really take recreational divers there, it is too deep.  You’re getting a chance to go with us because you are committing to learning to do it safely by taking the course.  And then really getting to put that training to use.  However, if you love it, know that you are probably going to end up taking more courses: Decompression Diving, Sidemount, and Extended Range for 25 min deco.

The dive site itself is outside the Corsair, a little closer to China Walls.  Imagine a series of reef fingers each one 100-200ft wide at the base that come to a point or curve on the outside.  The tops of the fingers vary from 110ft to 120ft for the most part, and at the end of the finger, there is a ledge that drops 10 to 20ft.  Most of the overhanging ledges under the fingers are beyond the 130ft recreational depth.  In between the fingers are sand channels that also get deep.  One of the 10+ fingers that are down there is known as Split Rock named for the giant crack at the end of the finger that has fallen down.  Surrounded by giant schools of snappers.

Once you are certified, you will be allowed to book the intermittent Split Rock dives that you see on the club schedule as just a fun diver.  Not open to the general public or club.

Required Equipment

A surface marker buoy and spool/reel are required for this course. If you need to purchase these items please contact the shop and we can arrange it for you.  This is a deep drift dive in the open ocean, you will ascend and descend without a reference on your target dive.  You MUST be properly equipped.

What if I don’t think I’m ready for deep dives?

That is an excellent question. At the end of the day, the decision is yours and yours alone if you want to explore deeper recreational adventures, and if you do not feel comfortable or safe then you should listen to your instincts. However, the whole point of this course is to teach you safe and responsible deep diving practices while under the direct supervision of a qualified and experienced dive instructor at all times. With the proper attitude and coaching, deep diving can be both exhilarating and fun.

Why is Nitrox recommended?

Because we will be doing dives deeper than 60ft all on the same day, we will be reaching our no-decompression limits very quickly. To help alleviate this, we recommend doing 2 of the dives on a nitrox 32% blend. This will help to keep us in the water longer and reduce the impact of nitrogen narcosis, which we will cover more during the course. Diving on nitrox can also reduce tiredness post-dive, which can add up on a 3-dive day.  However, the third dive is at the limits of nitrox, we may be able to blend a mix to get you to max depth.

Nitrox Course at the same time

While booking this course and dives you will have the option to add on Nitrox certification as well, also $150.  You can complete your nitrox certification during the course and leave with two Specialties on the same day.