The PADI Wreck Diver Course
Kevin Palmer/islandexposure.usExploring shipwrecks — such as the 510-foot Spiegel Grove off Key Largo, Florida — is one of the classic draws of scuba diving, but it also presents challenges. Being able to safely penetrate a wreck, navigate inside and explore without damaging the ship requires training.
Wreck dives are magical. For some divers, wrecks satisfy an innate curiosity that includes uncovering or understanding its history; for others, it’s about appreciating the wreck’s photogenic nature or the aquatic life that has taken up residence on and inside the rusted superstructure. The PADI Wreck Diver course teaches you to appreciate and care for wrecks, bringing the magic to life.
What do you learn in the PADI Wreck Diver course? Here’s a breakdown:
Benefits of the course
Explore history and some of the best fish-aggregation sites in the world by learning about wreck-diving laws, the hazards of wreck diving and necessary equipment, the basics of penetrating a wreck and interacting responsibly with aquatic life.
Necessary prerequisites
You must be at the PADI Adventure Diver level — or higher — and at least 15 years old.
What you’ll learn
Through knowledge development and four open-water dives, you’ll learn about the techniques and considerations for wreck diving, including:
- The laws of wreck diving and why artifact recovery is discouraged
- Potential hazards of wreck diving and wreck penetration — and how to avoid them
- Assessing and navigating wrecks
- Dive planning and equipment considerations for deeper wrecks
- Assessing and mapping wrecks
- The rules, techniques, specialized gear and proper responses — in the event of an emergency — for penetrating wrecks
From PADI Expert Karl Shreeves
“In my experience, if the divemaster offers a wreck dive, everyone’s up for it. Why? I think it’s because there’s something for everyone. Especially exciting when you know its story, you’re visiting a tangible piece of history — but it’s also a reef with critters, a set for shooting and structure to explore. There’s something mysterious about wrecks that seems to draw us, perhaps because they were humanity’s but taken by the sea and changed. You see what they were and what they are, and when you go back the sea has claimed it even more. For me, learning to dive wrecks opened the door to special places that touch the past, present and future at the same time.” —David Espinosa
Want More?
• 8 Wrecks with Fascinating Backstories
• 12 Epic World War II Shipwrecks Scuba Divers Can Explore
