Drysuits let you dive more challenging dive sites and extend your dive season. When you have the right equipment and thermal protection you can stand up to the elements and take advantage of the better visibility generally offered by winter months, especially at inland dive sites such as quarries and lakes. As a drysuit diver you are equipped to visit some incredible dive sites in the world’s cooler regions that are best enjoyed in a drysuit even in the warmer months.
If you have completed your diver training abroad, especially in the tropics, you probably used a wetsuit during your open water training dives. If you are looking to continue your diving now you are back home, then the PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty may be just what you are looking for. It is definitely the quickest option to get you diving again and a necessity if you want to dive over the winter months or hire and dive in a drysuit in the future.
Minimum age: 10
Course prerequisites: PADI (Junior) Open Water Diver
What will I do?
You will have one and a half days of intense drysuit training to complete. In our fully equipped multi-media classrooms, you will learn not only how to dive in a drysuit, but also how to extend the life of your drysuit with proper care and maintenance. You will watch the PADI Dry Suit Diver DVD, review the theory and then complete a drysuit orientation with your PADI Instructor in our onsite heated training pool.
You will then put into practice what you learn in a combination of skills during two open water training dives at a local dive site.
During your programme you will cover the following:
- Drysuit buoyancy control skills
- Drysuit maintenance, storage and basic repair
- Undergarment (fleece or overall-type garments worn under the drysuit) options
- Experience in planning, organising and making at least two drysuit dives under the supervision of your PADI Instructor
How do I get started?
Just pick your dates if you can and pay your course fees and you will receive your PADI Dry Suit Diver eLearning materials. Don’t worry if you can’t commit to a date straight away. There are plenty scheduled throughout the year and you can get started on the home study as soon as you have received your eLearning login code.
How long will it take?
The PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty takes place over one weekend. Starting on a Friday evening at 6.30pm, you will review the theory sections from the PADI Dry Suit Diver and complete a drysuit orientation with your Instructor in the pool. The Saturday will cover all the practical sessions during two open water training dives.
You can arrange with your instructor to continue to gain experience on the Sunday by using the equipment from the programme to do some more diving before handing it back in on the Sunday afternoon. The extra day's equipment hire is included in the cost of your programme.
What will I need?
The PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty is open to all divers who hold the PADI Open Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Once you have booked onto your PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty you will receive your PADI Drysuit Diver eLearning materials to start you on your way. All the equipment you need to complete the programme is included. It is always a good move to buy your own dive computer for future dives, however we will supply one for the Saturday if you prefer.
You will need to fill out a self-certification medical statement. If you have any medical conditions that you think may prevent you from scuba diving, please feel free to contact us and we will try to be of assistance.
All the PADI materials and standard scuba equipment needed to complete the programme are included in the cost. You will need to pay for your entry to the open water dive site and any required air fills while away from the centre. This is approximately £30 a day.
Where can I go from here?
Once you have completed your PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty you can dive all year round. Most wrecks around the UK are situated in deeper, colder water, so now you can dive in a drysuit, maybe you can visit these if your next steps are the PADI Deep Diver Specialty, PADI Wreck Diver Specialty and the PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty.
Once you have completed five PADI specialties, the PADI Rescue Diver course and have 50 logged dives you hold all the prerequisites for the PADI Master Scuba Diver certification. This is the highest non-professional rating in the PADI system of diver education.
Here at Aquasport all our Instructors hold this level of recreational certification. We recommend that every diver takes this route regardless of their further ambitions as we see it as a commitment to education and a real achievement.
Reviews
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Dry suit
Had a great time diving with aquasport getting my dry suit diver qualification! My instructor was Toni who was straight to the point and gave me all the valuable information and constructive feedback I needed to learn and pass the course successfully. Dive masters were also brill (Ali and Alex) and felt very comfortable diving with them after not diving for a few months, very helpful throughout :) aside from who I did my dives with directly, everybody at aquasport has been very helpful and friendly throughout my course, staff in the pool, open water and outside the water! Thanks everyone :)
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Very nice experience
Very good experience! I have a phobia of phone calls, so I use email to communicate. I thought it would take a long time, but Kieran's response was very prompt, and we were able to book and then pay for the course within 2 hours. Looking forward to future drysuit sessions!