DSAT, a division of PADI, has released its new series of programs. The TecRec series.

This whole series of planned courses is a move in a new direction. It is aimed at divers who have achieved the Rescue certification or above and have an interest in going to either deeper depths or longer times. Using full technical dive gear, philosophy and principles.

The course requires prior study using the DSAT TecRec Manual and completion of the Knowledge Reviews

A full 5 days of diving is required to complete the Apprentice Tec Diver course. Which covers you to make extended no stop dives using up to 60% oxygen to a depth of 40m

The prerequisites are:-

• PADI Advanced or equivalent
• Aged 18 minimum
• PADI Enriched Air Diver or equivalent
• PADI Deep Diver or equivalent
• A minimum of 50 logged dives with at least 10 on Enriched Air + 12 deeper than 18m + 6 deeper than 30m
• A Medical signed by a physician within the last 12 months

First 3 days cover the introduction of the skills in shallow waters. Diving each day and covering the first part of the theory.

The next 2 days are 2 dives a day on the boat putting the skills into practice with each days diving getting deeper or longer. After the diving a bit more theory is covered as well as planning dives for the next day.

With the completion of the first exam before dive 6 this concludes the Apprentice Tec Diver course. Students can either stop here and get certified or if meeting the pre-requisites for the Deep Tec course continue into that course.

A further 4 days of diving is required to complete the Tec Deep Diver course. Which covers you to make decompression stop dives and  extended no stop dives using up to 100% oxygen to a depth of 50m

The prerequisites are:-

• PADI Advanced or equivalent
• Aged 18 minimum
• PADI Enriched Air Diver or equivalent
• PADI Deep Diver or equivalent
• A minimum of 50 logged dives with at least 10 on Enriched Air + 12 deeper than 18m + 6 deeper than 30m
• A Medical signed by a physician within the last 12 months

The next day is spent doing 2 dives putting the final skills into practice. After the dives a bit more theory is covered as well as planning dives for the next day

The final 3 days are spent doing one dive a day. Each dive is a decompression dive in the range of 45-50 meters

The second exam is completed before dive 12 During the course there are 2 exams to complete. 

The first one is done before dive 6 and consists of 100 questions of multiple choice on the theory and 20 questions of practical calculations of dive planning.

Pass mark is 80% on each section of each exam

The second exam is done before dive 12 and consists of 25 questions of multiple choice style on the theory and 25 questions of practical calculations of dive planning.