What is Technical Diving?

Technical diving (also known as Tec diving) comes with a unique set of risks and requires special training and gear to ensure the safety of the divers. Technical diving goes beyond the scope of recreational scuba diving and pushes the extremes of exploration and submergence. It requires a commitment to understanding the depths of the ocean, new and uncharted environments, and how it all works together. But why is there such a need for special training? What are the risks of technical diving without the proper preparation?

One of the main reasons for needing special training is for safety reasons. Technical diving goes beyond what recreational divers typically dive to and involves deep water with higher nitrogen concentrations. This adds a more complex and intricate set of risks to divers, such as the risk of decompression illness, nitrogen narcosis, and oxygen toxicity. These risks cannot be taken lightly and require diving professionals to be well-prepared to take on dives of this magnitude. With proper training, divers can be well-equipped to explore these depths and the risks associated, and remain safe while doing so.

Besides safety requirements, technical diving also requires special training for understanding the environment that divers are going into. The amount of time spent underwater increases for each dive, which can lead to quickly depleting air supplies and more complex navigations in uncharted waters. Moreover, due to deeper depths, more complex dive plans are necessary as decompression techniques and other failsafe measures need to be put into place. Therefore technical divers require the training and tools to identify and understand the composition of the surrounding environment and plan their dives accordingly.

Lastly, technical diving provides exploration opportunities that recreational divers could never experience. Exploring the depths of the ocean gives divers the opportunity to find new species, newly formed environments, and a wider range of marine life. It’s an adventure of sorts to these uncharted locations, and technical divers are the only ones prepared and properly equipped to take it on.