Specialty of the Month – PADI Dry Suit Course
Specialty Course of the Month – PADI Dry Suit
When I returned to the UK after teaching in countries like Thailand, Virgin Islands and Egypt I didn’t really relish the thought of diving in the UK, mainly because I hate the cold. However learning to dive in a dry suit soon changed all that and I’ve had some fantastic dive experiences and I’m now hoping to go ice diving at some point in the future.
With winter approaching many divers think it’s time to pop their equipment back in the cupboard until the following summer. Really there is no need to do this as there are some great reasons to dive in the winter. Some dive sites, particularly inland ones, often have better viz, it can be much cheaper and the more popular dive sites tend to be quieter.
Even though the water temperature is cooler during the winter months, it doesn’t mean you have to get cold. With a decent dry suit and under suit you can stay nice and toasty for lengthy periods underwater – you wouldn’t go for a walk in the middle of winter with just a T-shirt on would you (unless you’re from Newcastle of course!)?
For those who really hate the cold you can even splash out on heated gloves and undergarments, but for most UK divers these aren’t really necessary if they have a decent dry suit!
If you are planning on doing a lot of UK diving either in the winter or summer months then my advice would be to purchase your own dry suit, make sure it fits properly and that it’s suitable for the water temperature you want to dive in. Incorrectly fitting dry suits can lead to leakages which make your dive very uncomfortable and can lead to a rapid cooling of the body – time to bring in the PADI Rescue Divers!
The PADI dry suit course includes an orientation on how to use the dry suit and a few safety skills in confined water. Even though it can be amusing for some people to watch a diver ascend to the surface feet first, it isn’t the safest thing in the world!
There is some theory which takes a few hours as well as a video to watch. Your instructor will go through the knowledge reviews in your manual with you to ensure you understand it all.
Once you’ve got comfortable in your dry suit and completed the theory then it’s off to complete 2 open water dives. These also include a few training skills but for the majority of the dive you are enjoying the underwater world around you.
One of the great things about the dry suit course is that you can integrate it with other courses such as the PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water.
Our standard price for the PADI dry suit specialty course is £145 but if you enter the code ‘10PCOFFDS’ when you book your course via Oyster Diving’s website you will receive 10% off.
Alternatively you can call the office on 01273 420790 and quote this offer.
This promotion is brought to you by Oyster Diving, the UK’s premier PADI scuba diving and travel centre.