Once a diver has achieved the basic certification course and gained experience with various dive sites and situations a technical scuba diving course can offer more in depth information. These courses allow one to change the mixture of oxygen, dive in more difficult terrains, and learn more decompression techniques for after diving. Some of the numerous technical scuba diving classes that are offered include: Nitrox, Decompression Procedures, Entry Trimix, Extended Range, Advanced Wreck, Overhead Environment/Cavern to name a few. And though we can't go into all of the courses, here are a few of them described in more detail.

The various technical scuba diving courses are significantly different.

* Nitrox For Mixed Oxygen Usage This entry level certification course teaches the recreational diver how to breathe enriched air nitrox (EAN). The goal of this class is to educate scuba divers about the proper procedures, advantages and dangers in using nitrox mixes ranging from 22-40% oxygen content.

The Nitrox course covers the basics and is a required prerequisite for the Advanced Nitrox course. The Advanced Nitrox course covers breathing enriched air nitrox 21 up to 100% oxygen mixes for diving depths of 130fsw/40msw for dives that do not require staged decompression. The advanced course also teaches her or him about advantages and drawbacks of using these techniques during these deeper dives.

* Decompression For Deeper Dives While decompression is a familiar term to all scuba divers the Decompression Procedures course offers more advanced and in-depth information than you receive in other classes. The theory, methodology, and techniques of planned stage decompression diving are all covered in detail in this course. The goal of this class is to help the diver plan and perform a standard staged decompression dive without diving to depths over 150fsw/45msw unless it is being taught along with Advanced Nitrox, Advanced Wreck Courses, or Extended Range. Mostly, this course teaches which equipment required, the best techniques of decompression in addition to mixtures of decompression like oxygen and nitrox.

* Extended Range For Going Further Divers wishing to gain knowledge for dives requiring staged decompression by breathing nitrox mixtures in addition to oxygen during decompression should sign up for the Extended Range course. This will teach the methods needed to efficiently use air to depths of 180fsw/55msw. Other dives needing staged decompression with helium, nitrox and/or oxygen mixtures down to 200fsw/60msw are covered in an Entry Level Trimix class. Finally the Advanced Level Trimix diving class goes further for dives down to 300fsw/100msw.

Taking a technical scuba diving course can greatly enhance your understanding, ability and confidence on deep sea dives. While experience is the best teacher, diving is a sport that requires a lot of knowledge before you can safely acquire the information to gain the experience.