Wreck Penetration?

[rox@ucf11]

Does any agency offer a wreck penetration course certainly I do not want to take it now but maybe some day, I have heard the wreck courses offered are diving outside the wreck(this seems kinda silly and a waiste of time) anyone want to set me straight if I am wrong please do

[texdiveguy]

I don't have to tell you as I know you probably have this in mind....wreck penetration diving is serious business and should never be attempted without the proper training/experience and gear!

Recreational level wreck classes mainly are safety minded courses and focus on exterior observations (a few programs/instructors) will allow very limited penetration under certain conditions. But this is were you must being your training. Also basic cavern classes are of benefit.

When looking for your first recreational wreck diver class instructor---ask to be sure they have some real world wreck diving experience...as there are a number of them that just don't and you are wasteing time and money in that type class.

But keep in mind that true wreck diving and cave diving have 'many differences', but do share similarities also.

It should be noted also that there is a huge difference between artificial reefs that are ships and true ship wrecks. True ship wrecks are far more dangerous for penetration in general regardless of your level of training.

If at some point in your diving career you get to the level were you can venture farther into the training process....yes there are a few well structured 4-6 day advanced wreck penetration diver programs out there for advanced level divers.

Its good you are looking and storing little tid bits of info. away in plans for the future,,never hurts.

[ianr33]

TDI does for one

International Training :: Get Certified :: Advanced Wreck Diver

Expect to spend LOTS of money on gear for a course like this

[texdiveguy]

Originally Posted by ianr33

TDI does for one

International Training :: Get Certified :: Advanced Wreck Diver

Expect to spend LOTS of money on gear for a course like this

Not to mention dive charter fees!

[RECDiver]

NAUI offers the wreck diver specialty course, that is external survey, and the wreck penetration course, which is a technical diving course. Plan on spending alot of money on equipment and course fees for the wreck penetration course. I have been getting equipment for the last year or two and plan on taking the WP course this next year.

[Cojrock]

If you really wanna try wreck penetration then head to Vaunatu and the island of Santo. Theres a huge wreck there and swim thrus are done on almost every dive working up from easy little swim thrus to long penetrations at around 50m. Theres no liability over there so you will get to test your limits.

[terrillja]

Originally Posted by rox@ucf11

Does any agency offer a wreck penetration course certainly I do not want to take it now but maybe some day, I have heard the wreck courses offered are diving outside the wreck(this seems kinda silly and a waiste of time) anyone want to set me straight if I am wrong please do

We penetrated 20' during my wreck course, the ran out of ship to penetrate...

Then again my instructor was a very experienced wreck diver, so he was more willing to show us some more then just how to tie off and look around.

[somewhereinla]

You'll need to get into technical diving. NAUI has an excellent program as well as TDI. Technical diving can be very costly as it involve owning a lot of equipment.

[Buoyant1]

I just took a PADI Wreck Specialty and there was a penetration module...we did a nice penetration on the Thunderbolt off of Marathon, Florida.

I had a great instructor, and it was a great dive as well!!

[LRDWILDER]

I too took the PADI wreck spec, and in doing it your really not taught the true penetration techniques but rather a real broad stroke overview of some of the ideas and theory behind it. We did to a very limited penetration and I believe PADI even limits it to something like 50' in ambient light environments only....If your really interested in someday getting into wrecks I would take this course as a real basic intro to see if your into it afterwards