Specialties

Night divers get to experience diving by torchlight. New nightdivers routinely voice initial apprehension but relax once underwater and come up exhilarated with a view of a totally different nocturnal aquatic world to that which daylight offers. One word bio-luminescence!

Captain Morgan’s offers a Wreck Diver course that teaches you the ins and outs of rewarding, responsible wreck diving. Utila has its very own ship wreck called the Halliburton. It was sunk intentionally for the diving community in 1998 and rests 30 metres deep (100 ft.). The fun part of the PADI Wreck Diver course is visiting wrecks, unlocking mysteries and starting to gain the knowledge and experience that allows you to see things that others overlook. Sometimes, only the trained, experienced eye recognizes that a small hole or open door likely caused the vessel’s demise. What You Learn

• Techniques for diving exploring shipwrecks, and how to avoid common hazards
• How to research and learn the background of your favorite wrecks
• Wreck scuba diving equipment considerations
• Considerations and techniques for entering intact wrecks
• Experience in planning, organizing and making at least four wreck dives under the supervision of your PADI Instructor

 

Visiting Halliburton Ship Wreck Site

Divers also regularly say that when diving with Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx), they feel less tired afterwards and less affected by the nitrogen from regular air tank dives. Welcome to one of our most popular specialties – the Enriched Air Nitrox course.

What You Learn in PADI Nitrox (EANx) Course

• Techniques for getting more dive time by using enriched air nitrox
• Enriched air scuba diving equipment considerations
• Enriched air considerations, including managing oxygen exposure, how to tell what’s in your scuba tank and how to set your dive computer
• Physiology of oxygen and nitrogen; hazards and precautions of handling oxygen; the concept of Equivalent Air Depth (EAD); use of EANx with standard Air Dive Tables; common gas mixing procedures

 

Nitrox benefits all types of diving, but it goes especially well with these specialties:

• PADI Wreck Diver course – Popular wrecks tend to be deeper, so enriched air nitrox maximizes your exploration time.
• PADI Deep Diver course – The deeper you dive, the shorter your no stop time – but enriched air nitrox increases it, giving you more time at a depth of 30m
• PADI Digital Underwater Photographer – Photographers usually like to make several dives so they can get lots of pictures. Enriched air nitrox reduces the amount of residual nitrogen you accumulate, allowing repetitive dives to be longer.
• PADI Master Scuba Diver The PADI Enriched Air Diver course counts toward your Master Scuba Diver rating — the highest non professional rating in recreational diving.

What You Learn Underwater navigation can be difficult but in the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty course, you master the challenge. You learn the tools of the trade, including navigation via natural landmarks and by compass. You learn:

• Navigation patterns
• Natural navigation (without a compass)
• Compass navigation
• How to “mark” or relocate a submerged object or position from the surface
• Underwater map making
• How to follow irregular courses with the Nav-Finder
• Dive site relocation
• How to estimate distance underwater

The PADI Digital Underwater Photographer course gets you going quickly with today modern digital equipment, whether you use a point-and-shoot snap camera or a sophisticated D-SLR like the pros. The PADI Underwater Photographer course is a more traditional photography course designed for conventional film equipment.

What You Learn

• Search and recovery dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and how to deal with potential problems
• How to locate large and small objects using search patterns
• Limited visibility search techniques.

What You Learn

• How to trim your scuba gear so you’re perfectly balanced in the water
• Nuances in determining weight so you’re not too light nor too heavy by even a slight degree
• How to streamline to save air and move smoothly through the water
• How to hover effortlessly in both a vertical position and a horizontal position

What You Learn During your PADI Drift Diver certification course, you learn about:

• Planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards of drift diving
• An introduction to drift diving equipment — floats, lines, reels
• Buoyancy-control, navigation and communication for drift diving
• Site selection and overview of aquatic currents – causes and effects
• Techniques for staying close to a buddy or together as a group

What You Learn

• The major aquatic life groupings, interactions and factual information that dispels negative myths.
• The role of aquatic plants, food chains and predator prey relationships
• Responsible interactions with aquatic life The underwater naturalist’s view of organisms and their roles in the environment

As a PADI Equipment Specialist, you are prepared for the basic scuba equipment maintenance, care and adjustments you’ll encounter every day. In addition, you’ll learn interesting background information about how your gear works, how it’s repair and other information that helps you with your equipment investment. What You Learn

• Review the theory, principles and operation of scuba diving equipment
• Learn about routine, recommended care and maintenance procedures, and equipment storage
• How to overcome common problems with equipment and recommended professional maintenance procedures (may include a demonstration of repair procedures)
• Gain simple suggestions for comfortable equipment configurations and an introduction to new gear (may include optional confined water dive to try new or unfamiliar equipment)

What You Learn Project AWARE Foundation is the scuba diving industry’s leading nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to conserving the aquatic environment through education, advocacy and action. Besides completing the Project AWARE Specialty course, you can become a partner in the efforts to preserve the underwater environment. You learn about:

• The ocean commons and coastal zone issues
• Fisheries challenges and sustainability
• Coral environment overview and inhabitants
• The role of the scuba diver in protecting aquatic environments