Open Circuit Technical Courses
Open Circuit SCUBA is what you are most likely familiar with as a recreational diver, and this is most often the place you should begin your journey into exploring technical diving. Technical diving requires special skills and experience to explore a little deeper as now a direct ascent to the surface is no longer available either due to a virtual ceiling (decompression obligation) or a physical ceiling (cave, wreck, ice). To dive in these environments you need special skills and training!
If you don’t have experience in doubles or sidemount we recommend starting here. One of the questions we get asked the most is, “Should I start technical diving in sidemount or backmount?” This is not an answer that we can give unless we have a conversation about your diving goals. That being said, we often recommend that divers take an Intro To Tech Course in doubles and if they decide they would prefer to move into sidemount then take the sidemount course. The skills you learn in either course will help you decide what is the best option for you.
If you are already proficient with doubles and/or sidemount and have a firm understanding of trim, propulsion, and buoyancy you could start your technical diving journey with the courses listed below. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to start these courses with a strong foundation. If you don’t have the fundamentals down it is nearly impossible to be successful in the courses listed below. If you are uncertain, we can setup a day to assess your diving proficiency and recommend the best solution for you.
Once you have completed one of these courses you can decide if you want to progress on open circuit SCUBA or switch to a rebreather (CCR) based on your diving goals. The cost of helium is higher than ever and if you are going to keep diving past recreational levels this may make the most sense. If you want to continue down the open circuit path, BJL Diving offers the following courses.
We currently are not offering the TDI Extended Range program as we are big believers in the new gas density studies and we don’t believe this program is safe based on the newest information available. We are not believers in deep air diving. We also don’t offer TDI Advanced Trimix due to the current cost and availability of helium. We would encourage you to consider a rebreather at this level of diving due to better options for gas management and bottom times.
