PADI Specialty courses.
When you took the PADI Advanced Diver course you chose three optional dives from the list. This gave you a taste of what that type of diving is all about. But in every case there is a lot more to learn and you can get fuller training by taking the appropriate PADI specialty course.
PADI Diving Propulsion Vehicle.
When you dive a new site for the first time it's great to be able to check out the best spots in one go and effortlessly.
That's when you need to be certified to drive a DPV - Dive Propulsion Vehicle. This PADI specialty is a one day, two dives course. The DPV will give you longer bottom time as you are not working as hard as you would when finning.
The DPV's are very useful when carrying out a search and recovery operation for reasonably large objects. They can also be invaluable for divers who have problems that affect their ability to fin.
The course starts by teaching how to prepare and transport your scooter. Correct descents and ascents are important and you need to know the correct buddy system as you can lose touch very easily.
Real Divers are the only dive shop in Pattaya with the Apollo 2 DPVs which you can use in the seated position as well as the normal lying down attitude. This reduces the risk of tired aching arms to offer the hands more aching arms as you are sitting on the scooter not holding it.
Padi Wreck Specialty
This is one of the most popular types of diving, but one that really does require specialist training, particularly if you wish to penetrate the ship. Most wrecks are in deep water - otherwise they would have been salvaged - and usually students take the Deep Water Specialty and the Enriched Air Specialty in order to get the best out of their wreck dives. They also offer good photo and video opportunities as they provide a haven for marine life, particularly big groupers, rays and turtles.
Penetrating a wreck is really easy - getting out safely can be the hard part and several factors have to be taken into consideration - exhaled air hitting a ceiling can wipe out visibility if it dislodges silt; getting lost in the dark, entanglement, running out of air, losing your buddy….
Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this?
Because with the right training wreck diving is immense fun and when you've taken this course you will know how to how to fix an escape line to help you get out in zero viz and various tricks of the trade.
Then a whole new world is waiting for you to explore, Divers often help research the history of the wreck - where they came from and how they sunk.
Real Divers have several wrecks you can dive on including a WW2 cargo ship called the Hardeep and there is a professionally made video of the story of the ship available.
PADI Deep Diver specialty course.
Once divers hear that the site ahead is a deep dive there is usually an air of excitement. As you descend slowly down the line the light and colors change and big, flying saucer bubbles float slowly up from divers below.
Then you see the bottom and it's time to explore.
At 30-40m you can feel nitrogen narcosis is creeping up on you as you get an amazing high. That's usually when your Real Divers instructor takes a firm grip on your arm and gives you the "up" signal. The Deep diver course is a two day, four 4 dive course and you will learn safe dive planning including safety stops navigating at depth controlling your buoyancy and much more. If you have plans to move into technical diving this is a good starting point.
PADI Navigation specialty course.
Most people like to be independent, to know where they are going and how to get there. And that's the same in scuba diving. It's so much more fun for you and your buddy to work together, navigating around the reef at your own pace, relaxing and having fun exploring at the aquatic marine life. It's also very satisfying to be able to get back to the "up" line without the need to surface for a quick look, hoping that the Dive Master won't spot you!
The PADI Navigation specialty is a one-day, three dive course where you will learn different methods of judging distance; using a compass and combining that skill with natural navigation.
There are several good reasons to be a proficient navigator: you won't waste air and bottom time getting lost; you will get exactly where you want to go; you can plan your dive to end on the "Up" line and avoiding long swim and surface traffic.
And it's a nice feeling when the Dive Master who has been watching your surface marker or bubbles comes up and says: "Well done."
PADI Search and Recovery Specialty course.
If you dive regularly it's only a matter of time before another diver will ask you to help find his knife, dive computer, watch, weight belt or something else, which has accidentally gone over the side of the boat. Luckily this usually happens when the boat is moored.
Well as a Search and Recovery specialist you have a good chance of finding the missing object. Thanks to your training on the PADI Search and Recovery Specialty you know what equipment is needed to suit the bottom conditions, what the best search method is and how to brief your helpers.
You will know that the bottom conditions determine the search method. Expanding circles using a rope are great for finding small objects on a sandy, unobstructed bottom.
But coral heads and rocks would rule out this search pattern. Fortunately your training will allow you to introduce one of several other options.
But what if you have been called in to find a speedboat engine that dropped off its mountings. Now you biggest problem is not locating it, but getting it to the surface safely. Knowing how to use a lift bag to do this job is just another part of the course and recovering an engine should also cover your costs if you negotiate in advance!
PADI Night Diving specialty course.
It's night time. You are standing on the dive platform ready to do a giant stride entry. You know there's an island about 100 meters in front. But you can't see it. Then you look down the inky black sea - and wish you hadn't. Your instructor is beside you and gently reminds you that you dived in exactly this spot two hours ago and you weren't worried then. On goes your torch and you step forward into the unknown.
And guess what? They were right. There's the big coral hump head brilliantly lit up in the torch beam and there's a big turtle on the sand inspecting a parrot fish in its night time protective mantle.
Scared! Me?
Hey this is fun and there's no time to be scared…in any case my instructor and my buddy are right beside me and we'll stick together throughout the dive.
The PADI Night diving specialty course offers two days of diving with three night dives?? You will learn how to take care of your lights; how to use chemical light sticks; that diving in the dark can initially make it easy to become disorientated; how to use your torch to signal without dazzling other divers; correct descent and ascent methods.
PADI Enriched Air Diving Specialty course
Have you ever been on a deep dive or an interesting ship wreck and your dive computer has warned you that you have reached your no decompression limit?
This is particularly annoying when you still have plenty of air in your tank. And that's where the problem lies - you are breathing air.
Time to take the Enriched Air Specialty course. This is designed to show you how to dive on breathing mixes where the oxygen content has been raised, which in turn reduces the amount of potentially harmful nitrogen that can build up in your body tissues causing the bends.
But you will also learn that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The elevated level of oxygen can also create problems that it is essential you know about and you need to learn new dive tables to determine the limits of the gas mix you are using
You can take this course two ways. The first is to learn the theory on a one-day classroom only, course, or you can take a two-day, two-dive course. How effective is EAN or nitrox as it is usually known? Well, if you dived on a wreck at 30m on air your bottom time would be 20minutes. On nitrox where the oxygen level had been raised from the normal 21% to 36% you would get 50mins - provided you were carrying enough air to last that amount of time.
PADI Underwater Photography Specialty course.
How many times have heard a diver say "I wish I had a camera with me."
Seeing something wonderful on a dive is great, but being able to show other people what you saw makes it even better.
Even with today's easy-to-use digital cameras it's still worth learning some of the tricks of the trade as shooting underwater has some quirks that screw up your pictures. Which is where the PADI Underwater Photographer course comes in handy?
The course also includes invaluable advice on how to protect your equipment from sea water. The older generation will tell you that it's a case of "When" not "if" when it comes to having housing flood and destroy the camera or camcorder.
There is still some truth in that saying, but modern equipment is good if well cared for.
We'll also teach you how to maintain your position in the water and avoid damaging the coral or yourself while shooting
