Rolling In The Deep: The Time For Tec

By Simon Bell, Simply Diving Dive Operations Manager

There was a time when a man first donned a rubber mask, looked beneath the waves and felt like a superhuman as he gazed at the alien world below.

Soon came apparatus that allowed a different man to stay underwater for a length of time without having to surface for a breath. He too felt like an astronaut or a being from another planet…

Nowadays there are millions of certified scuba divers across the globe, while “doing your PADI” is on most others bucketlist. And for many, subsequent years spent scuba diving in the world’s finest dive sites and meeting new faces and shapes underwater is more than enough to satisfy their subaquatic thirst.

But for many others, what was once strictly off-limits as a venture for the hardcore elite is now becoming so much more accessible, as deeper depths and more challenging diving is taken up in the form of PADI’s TecRec courses.

So, what’s all the fuss about…?

Technical (Tec or TecRec) diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the standard scope of recreational diving in terms of depth, bottom time and the equipment required and offers divers a new challenge.

Because of this, Tec divers require advanced training, extensive experience, specialised kit and often breathe more than one gas on one dive, i.e. switch from air to nitrox on a decompression stop.

PADI’s TecRec courses mean that those with an insatiable spirit of exploration can now explore that wreck that was once out of reach, they can stay underwater for longer than one tank previously allowed them, can finally see face to face the marine life that prefers to dwell below 40 metres, or they can just go to 6 bar of atmospheric pressure for the sheer enjoyment of feeling what it’s like!

But it’s not as easy as it first may look. TecRec diving not only has more risk, but also requires significantly more effort and discipline. To go deeper the diver must have an increased command of his or her buoyancy skills, have a heightened awareness of safety, contend with much stricter dive planning considerations, and also develop more complex problem-solving abilities.

So of course it’s not for everyone. But even those who don’t plan on making TecRec their staple diet of diving fun on every future holiday, the training involved in TecRec courses – and the challenges and focus that it demands – can make them that extra bit safer and more confident.

And with that in mind, we here at Simply Diving Spain are pleased to announce that we now offer PADI TecRec courses Tec 40, Tec 45 and Tec 50, that can be taken individually or as an integrated whole in three sub-sections.

Having just invested in top-of-the-range Scubapro Tec equipment, we now have full rigs set up and ready to go.  With two full-time PADI Tec Deep Instructors and perfect dive sites around Malaga and along the Costa del Sol for deeper diving, if you’re a complete Tec novice and keen to find out what all the fuss is about, you’re in the right place!

Full details of Simply Diving Spain’s PADI Tec 40 Diver, PADI Tec 45 Diver and PADI Tec 50 Diver can be found on our Tec courses page.