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PADI Speciality Scuba Dive Courses

With PADI Specialty Diver Programs you can chart your course for a colourful collection of awesome dives and experiences, taking the underwater adventures to depths that will stir your soul.


PADI offers many different speciality courses, such as those listed below. At Africa Diver we are able to offer many of these specialty dives, but clearly not dives like Ice Diver, since there is just not that much ice in sunny Cape Town.


Achieving PADI Specialty ratings can take anywhere from as little as one day to a full weekend -but this is all hands-on, so you'll be diving right from the start.


PADI Specialty Courses (* prerequisites needed):


PADI Speciality Dive Courses


  Altitude Diver Dry Suit Diver Underwater Naturalist
  Boat Diver Enriched Air Diver Underwater Navigator
  Cavern Diver * Equipment Specialist * Underwater Photographer
  Deep Diver * Ice Diver * Underwater Videographer
  AWARE Fish Identification Multilevel Diver Wreck Diver *
  Coral Reef Conservation (AWARE) National Geographic  
  Project AWARE Specialist Night Diver  
  Digital Underwater Photographer Peak Performance Buoyancy  
  Diver Propulsion Vehicle Search and Recovery Diver *  
  Drift Diver Semiclosed Rebreather *  



PADI Altitude Diver

Any time you’re diving at 300 to 3000 metres/1000 to 10,000 feet above sea level, you're altitude diving. If you want to explore the hidden world of a mountain lake, the PADI Altitude Diver Specialty course is for you. The PADI Altitude Diver Specialty course familiarizes you with the rules and procedures necessary for altitude diving, including how to use the Recreational Dive Planner at altitude.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Altitude dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards
  • Recreational Dive Planner procedures for diving at altitude
  • Safety stops and emergency decompression procedures at altitude
  • Special equipment is necessary for altitude diving
  • Two open water training dives
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating


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PADI Boat Diver

Whether you’ve never made a boat dive or you’ve logged dozens, the PADI Boat Diver Specialty course can benefit almost every diver because different boats in different parts of the world do things differently. The PADI Boat Diver Specialty course familiarizes you with the various ways you stow gear, enter and exit the water, use surface lines and more, depending upon the type boat and the location.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Covers techniques for diving from boats ranging from small inflatables to giant live-aboards
  • Discusses how dive boats differ from place to place
  • Gives you focused experience and training for diving from boats in your local area
  • Covers basic boat safety equipment and use
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Cavern Diver *

If you dive within the light zone of a cave, the area near the cave entrance where natural light is always visible, you're cavern diving. If you want to explore secrets hidden in caverns around the world you'll want your PADI Cavern Diver certification. During this course you will learn to use the equipment and procedures that allow you to explore such areas safely. This is a challenging and very exciting course that includes four training dives over at least two days.
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  • Cavern navigation and line protocols
  • Planning, organization, techniques, problems and hazards of cavern diving
  • Special equipment use, such as lights, guidelines, reels and redundant breathing systems.
  • Air sharing, disorientation, silting, line problems and other emergency procedures specific to cavern diving.
  • Silt prevention, buoyancy control, air management and emergency procedures.
  • Depth and distant limits for cavern diving.
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Deep Diver *

The Deep Diver Specialty course offers you the opportunity of a lifetime - going deep to see things others can only dream about.


In this course you will experience what it’s like to dive beyond 18 metres / 60 feet.
Down there, it’s different. It takes additional training. Here’s where you get it.


  • Must be a PADI Adventure Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization) and 15 years old
  • Experience diving beyond 18 metres / 60 feet
  • Learn deep dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and hazards
  • Four open water dives that range from 18 - 40 metres / 60 - 130 feet.
  • Gain experience with diving deep under the direct, professional supervision of a PADI Instructor
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.

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PADI AWARE Fish Identification


Have you ever asked yourself, "What was that?”


The PADI Project AWARE Fish Identification Specialty course provides you with the fish identification basics so that next time, you know the answer.


During two dives you gain hands-on experience in looking for and identifying the fascinating fish you see underwater.


You can learn more about Project AWARE:

  • by going to www.projectaware.org.
  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Covers Project AWARE and aquatic protection worldwide
  • Characteristics of local fish families and species will be explained
  • Fish survey techniques and strategies
  • Fish identification dive planning, organization and procedures will be practiced
  • Including the two open water training dives, the course lasts about 12 hours
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Coral Reef Conservation (AWARE)

The AWARE - Coral Reef Conservation Specialty course teaches divers, snorkelers and non-divers about the vital role of coral reefs in the marine environment.


  • The course also familiarizes participants with the current state of the world's coral reefs and how they can help.
    There are no dives or age limits. Divers and non-divers alike enjoy learning about the aquatic environment.
  • An introduction to the Project AWARE Foundation
  • Covers the importance of coral reefs to marine ecosystems and coastal areas
  • Coral reef biology, association and competition
  • The status of the world's coral reefs
  • How participants can help, including responsible diving and snorkeling practices
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Project AWARE Specialist

The underwater world needs heroes. You can be one of them by championing the causes of the world’s most fragile and important aquatic ecosystems.


Sign up for the Project AWARE Specialty course to learn about some of the most pressing problems facing these vulnerable environments and everyday actions you can take to help conserve them. It’s informative, interesting and most importantly, you learn how to make a difference.


Project AWARE Foundation is the dive industry’s leading nonprofit 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.


  • The ocean commons and coastal zone issues
  • Fisheries challenges and sustainability
  • Coral environment overview and inhabitants
  • the role of the diver in protecting aquatic environments
  • Materials: You’ll need AWARE: Our World, Our Water
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Digital Underwater Photographer

Digital has taken the underwater photography world by storm. Get in on the action with the PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Specialty course. You can quickly and easily capture the underwater world with your camera and on your computer.


During the PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Specialty course, you learn to use the PADI SEA (Shoot, Examine and Adjust) method, which takes full advantage of digital technology. The result is good underwater photos faster than you may imagine. You not only learn how to take good photos, but how to share them with your friends via email or printing, optimizing your work with your computer, storage and more.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water (or have a qualifying certification from another training organization) However, you can take the course as a snorkeler and receive a non-diving certification
  • Choosing and using modern digital cameras and underwater housings
  • Using the PADI SEA method for getting great shots quickly
  • Editing and sharing your pictures
  • The three primary principles for getting good photos underwater
  • The PADI Digital Underwater Photographer certifications credits toward the Master Scuba Diver rating.
  • This is one of PADI’s most adaptable specialty courses, and can even be started during the last dive of your PADI Open Water Diver course

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PADI Diver Propulsion Vehicle

These things are a blast to ride!


DPV’s offer a thrilling way to see a lot of underwater territory in a brief amount of time. They scoot you through the water without kicking. Want to visit that offshore reef from the beach? A DPV may be the way to go.

 

  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization) and 12 years old
  • Diver propulsion vehicle dive planning organization, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards
  • Equipment considerations
  • Diver etiquette and how to avoid harming fragile aquatic life
  • The PADI Diver Propulsion Vehicle Diver certification counts toward your Master Scuba Diver rating.

 

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PADI Drift Diver

The PADI Drift Diver Specialty Course introduces you to the coolest magic carpet ride you’ll ever experience. This course shows you how to enjoy rivers and ocean currents by “going with the flow,” staying with your dive partner, communicating with the dive boat and knowing where you are the whole time.
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  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or have a qualifying certification from another training organization) and be at least 12 years old
  • 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
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.

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PADI Dry Suit Diver

If you want to see the spectacular and prolific aquatic life often found in colder water climates you’ll need to stay warm and that means a dry suit. Unlike a wetsuit, a dry suit seals you off from the outside water, but you want to be trained in proper techniques. In the PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty course, you’ll learn how to use a dry suit.


During your PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty course, you not only cover the background knowledge related to dry suit diving, you’ll get into confined water to put that theory into practice. Then, once you’ve mastered confined water, its time for two open water dives and applying that knowledge, including dive planning, organization, techniques, problems and buoyancy control.
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  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another training organization) and at least 12 years old
  • Recommended Course Hours: 24
  • Don and doff techniques specific to your dry suit
  • Dry suit buoyancy control skills
  • Dry suit maintenance and storage
  • Undergarment (fleece or overall-type garments worn under the dry suit) options
  • Materials you will need: Dry Suit Pak, which includes manual, video and log insert
  • The PADI Dry Suit Diver certification credits toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Enriched Air Diver

Welcome to one of PADI’s most popular specialties – the PADI Enriched Air Diver course. Diving with enriched air nitrox lets you safely extend your no stop time beyond the no decompression limits for air. Diving with enriched air means more time underwater – but you need to be certified as an Enriched Air Diver to get enriched air fills.


Whether you’re into underwater photography or wreck diving, on vacation in some tropical paradise or just out for a leisurely day of diving at your local dive site, the PADI Enriched Air Diver course helps you get more out of diving by giving you more time underwater.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization).
  • Learn to analyze cylinder contents.
  • Plan enriched air dives using tables and dive computers.
  • Safely increase your no stop time.
  • Certification counts toward the Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Equipment Specialist *

Want to know about how your dive gear works? Then the PADI Equipment Specialist course is for you. This course familiarizes you with the operation and maintenance of your dive equipment. The more you know about how your gear works, the more comfortable you are with it, the more performance you get from it and the better you can care for it.


  • Must be a PADI Scuba Diver or Junior Scuba Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Reviews the theory, principles and operation of dive equipment
  • Routine, recommended care and maintenance procedures, and equipment storage
  • Common problems with equipment and recommended professional maintenance procedures (may include a demonstration of repair procedures)
  • Simple suggestions for comfortable equipment configurations and an introduction to new gear (may include optional confined water dive to try new or unfamiliar equipment)
  • No dives are required, so you can take the Equipment Specialist course any time of the year
  • The PADI Equipment Specialist Course is not an equipment repair course, but it provides the foundation you’ll want if you’re interested in learning equipment repair
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.

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PADI Ice Diver *

If the spirit of adventure and unusual, challenging diving appeals to you, try diving under the ice. Ice diving opens a new and different view of familiar dive sites. During the PADI Ice Diver course, you dive with a PADI Professional in one of the most extreme adventure specialties recreational diving offers. If you like fun, people and a challenge, you’ll love the PADI Ice Diver Specialty course.
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  • Must be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization) and 18 years old
  • Learn to plan and organize ice dives
  • Practice the procedures and techniques for handling the problems and hazards of ice diving
  • Site selection, preparation and hole-cutting procedures
  • Use specialized ice diving equipment, safety lines, signals, communications, line tending and line-securing techniques
  • Learn about the effects of cold, emergency procedures and safety-diver procedures
  • Explore the unique aquascape found only under ice
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.

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PADI Multilevel Diver

Do you want to maximize your dive times? (Of course). Want to get the most out of your dive computer and The WheelTM? (Naturally). Then the PADI Multilevel Diver Specialty course is for you.


In this course, you learn how to plan dives that extend your bottom time by crediting you for slower nitrogen absorption when you ascend to a shallower depth. That’s the way you really dive, after all. You’ll learn to use The WheelTM version of the RDP for planning multilevel dives, making it a great companion for your dive computer (as well as a way to make multilevel dives if you forget to bring your computer).

 

  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or have a qualifying certification from another training organization) and 12 years old
  • Plan and execute multilevel dives (different depths on the same dive)
  • Back up your dive computer and plan multi-level dives with The WheelTM
  • Maximize your no stop time
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI National Geographic

Continue the adventure with the PADI National Geographic Diver Specialty course. During the course, you join an elite group of divers who are more than tourists, but explorers, adventurers and conservationists.


As part of the National Geographic Diver Specialty course, you fine-tune your buoyancy, then set off on your exploration project. Whether it’s a survey of plant life or a study of water temperature variation, this project is your chance to think, observe and document like those who dive for science and discovery. On your next dive you’ll hone your navigation skills, then you’ll dive into an aquatic life exercise – which may also be part of your exploration project.

 

  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization) and be at least 10 years old.
  • Number of Dives: Two
  • Knowledge Development: Complete the National Geographic Knowledge Review based on information from the National Geographic Diver Almanac and DVD.
  • Materials You’ll Need: National Geographic Diver Specialty course materials including the National Geographic Diver Almanac and National Geographic Diver DVD.
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

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PADI Night Diver

As the sun sets, you don your dive gear, slip on your mask and bite down on your regulator. A deep breath and you step off the boat – into the underwater night. When you go night diving you’ll see a whole new world. Even your local dive site takes on a new personality at night, as many underwater creatures and plant life (different from those you see during the day) are active at night.


The adventure, thrill and excitement of night diving can be yours when you complete your PADI Night Diver Specialty course. You learn about night dive planning, equipment and navigation. You practice these on three night dives, plus introduce yourself to the whole new cast of critters that comes out after the sun goes down.

 

  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization) and 12 years old
  • Number of Dives: Three
  • Recommended Course Hours: 12
  • Dive lights and night diving equipment
  • Entries, exits and navigation at night
    Introduction to nocturnal aquatic life
  • Communication and light handling
  • Materials: You’ll Need a Night-Pak, which includes PADI Night Diver Manual and the award-winning PADI Night Diving video.
  • Your Adventures in Diving Night Adventure dive may count towards the Night Diver Specialty course at instructor discretion. In addition, the Night Diver Specialty course counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rati
  • Go night diving and see the underwater world in a whole new light – a dive light.

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PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy

Float effortlessly, drifting over reefs. Be the diver you want to be, with ultimate buoyancy control, able to hover close to the bottom and examine underwater organisms without touching them.


Buoyancy skills separate the good divers from the great divers. In the Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course, you will learn to how to precisely weight yourself for optimum control, poise and balance. You learn to ascend and descend so effortlessly, it seems like you only think about it and it happens. By mastering streamlining, you move through the water cleanly, efficiently and gracefully. You swim near fragile environments without harm to them or yourself.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver certification (or qualifying certification from another organization) and 10 years old.
  • Number of dives: Two
  • Buoyancy fundamentals, weighting and adjustments
  • Streamlining, balance and trim
  • Fine tuning buoyancy and mastering hovering
  • Materials: You’ll Need Peak Performance Buoyancy video
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating
  • Get the buoyancy control great divers have with PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy

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PPADI Search and Recovery Diver *

Spend time around water (as a diver, how can you avoid it?) and sooner or later, you come across someone who lost something underwater. If you’re looking for the challenge and excitement – along with doing your good deed for the day – the PADI Search and Recovery Diver Specialty course is for you. It gives you the skills you need to find what’s been lost, and how to get it to the surface.


In the PADI Search and Recovery Diver Specialty course, you learn search and recovery dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and how to deal with potential problems. You learn how to locate large and small objects using search patterns, and various ways for lifting them to the surface. Not only do these skills make you more capable and confident in the water, but most Search and Recovery Divers eventually end up searching for and recovering something they lost themselves.


  • Must be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or a PADI Open Water Diver with the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty (or equivalent certification from another organization)
  • Must be at least 12 years old
  • Number of Dives: Four
  • Search patterns, lift bag use and recovery methods
  • Limited visibility techniques and navigation for search and recovery
  • Materials: You’ll Need Search and Recovery-Pak, which includes the PADI Search and Recovery Diver Manual and the
  • Search and Recovery video.
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.
  • Find what you’ve lost with the PADI Search and Recovery Diver Specialty course.

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PADI Semiclosed Rebreather *

Imagine sliding through the water, accompanied not by the roar of bubbles, but by silence. Imagine getting close and personal with aquatic life – getting closer than ever before. When you dive with a semiclosed rebreather, you’re nearly bubble free – reducing the noise and disturbance that can scare away shy creatures.


Through either the Semiclosed Rebreather Draeger Dolphin/Atlantis Specialty course or the Semiclosed Rebreather Draeger Ray Specialty course you learn the special procedures for semiclosed rebreather diving. This includes special dive planning, organization, procedures and potential hazards, many of which differ significantly from conventional (open circuit) scuba.


  • Must be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization) or a PADI Open Water
  • Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization) with proof of at least 10 logged dives beyond open water training dives, and be a PADI Enriched Air Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Number of Dives: Three
  • Advantages and disadvantages
  • Assembly, disassembly and maintenance
  • Dive planning and emergency procedures with semiclosed rebreathers
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.
  • Dive nearly bubble free.

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PADI Underwater Naturalist

Are you fascinated with aquatic life? Always wondering what that fish is and why it always dances under a coral head whenever you get close? If you’re engrossed with life under the surface, the PADI Underwater Naturalist Specialty course is especially for you.


In your journey to underwater naturalist, the course teaches you about the different major aquatic life groupings and how they interact so that you understand what you observe in the underwater environment. With the PADI Underwater Naturalist Specialty course under your belt, you see the aquatic world differently. You don’t see “fish,” but individual species with distinct strategies for surviving in a complex, interactive ecosystem.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Overview of aquatic life groupings and interrelations
  • The role of aquatic plants, food chains and predator prey relationships
  • Responsible interactions with aquatic life
  • Number of Dives: Two
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

 

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PADI Underwater Navigator

Be the diver everyone wants to follow and make your sense of direction legendary with the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty course. When everyone’s buzzing about a reef or checking out a wreck, they’re having a great time – until it’s time to go. Then they turn to you, because as a PADI Underwater Navigator, you know the way back to the boat.


Underwater navigation can be challenging, but in the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty course, you master the challenge, you learn the tools of the trade, including navigation via natural clues and by compass. You learn to estimate distance underwater, follow navigation patterns and know where you are while following an arbitrary, irregular course using the Nav-Finder.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Number of Dives: Three
  • Navigation patterns, natural and compass navigation
  • Following irregular courses with the Nav-Finder
  • Dive site relocation
  • Materials: You’ll Need Nav-Pak, which includes the PADI Underwater Navigator Manual, Underwater Navigation video and the Nav-Finder
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.

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PADI Underwater Photographer

Freeze time with an underwater camera and you tell a story that even non-divers can understand. Not only that, but you have a record and log of your adventures – more than the memories. Reliving a dive is as simple as looking at a photograph.


Whether you’re a casual holiday snapper or a consummate photo pro, the PADI Underwater Photographer course teaches you how to take your first underwater photographs or fine tune your existing skills to produce photographs that will stun your friends.


You’ll learn the basics of underwater photography such as composition, film type and camera handling, with special emphasis on practical techniques. You’ll learn underwater photography dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and potential problems. You’ll also learn how to care for and maintain your camera equipment.


  • Number of Dives: Two
  • Recommended Course Hours: 12
  • Prerequisites: PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver certification (or qualifying certification from another organization) and be 10 years old.
  • Materials: You’ll Need Photo-Pak, which includes the PADI Underwater Photographer Manual and Underwater Photography video.
  • Your Adventures in Diving Underwater Photographer Adventure Dive may count towards this Specialty course at instructor discretion. This specialty also counts towards one of the five Specialties required for your PADI Master Scuba Diver certification.

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PADI Underwater Videographer

Other than taking someone diving, there’s only one way to show someone the sounds, motion and dynamics of the underwater world. It’s underwater videography –motion imaging that allows you to share and document your underwater adventures. The PADI Underwater Videographer Specialty course shows you how to create videos that are interesting, entertaining and worth watching again and again.


The PADI Underwater Videographer Specialty course introduces you to underwater video equipment and videography fundamentals, such as exposure, focus, shot types, moves, story line and shot sequencing. It takes you through the post-dive editing process where you take your raw footage and create an underwater masterpiece. By the time you complete the course, you’ll have gone through the entire basic video production process.


  • Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver certification (or qualifying certification from another organization)
  • Number of Dives: Three
  • Equipment overview, selection and maintenance
  • Story planning and organization
  • Shot sequencing
  • Basic editing
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.

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PADI Wreck Diver *

You drift down and pass through a window into the past. As you near the bottom, a recognizable shape begins to form. First, you see a straight line, then a round window. Next, a ship materializes in front of you. As you look at the wreck, past and the present meet.


Whether sunk intentionally or tragically, whether a sunken ship, a plane or an automobile, the call of wrecks is nearly irresistible to divers. Through the PADI Wreck Diver Specialty course, you get the skills, knowledge and procedures you need to answer the call of wreck diving.


  • Must be a PADI Adventure Diver certification (or qualifying certification from another organization) and be at least 15 years old.
  • Number of Dives: Four dives over two days
  • Materials You’ll Need: Wreck-Pak, which includes the PADI Wreck Diver Manual and Wreck Diving video.
  • Certification counts toward the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating. The underwater world needs heroes. Be one. Learn how to conserve the aquatic environment

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For further information please go to the PADI website
Source: www.padi.com (Some amendments may have been made)
  

 

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