One of my passions in diving is wreck diving. I love looking at wrecks under the water. Reading and looking in to the history behind the wrecks also excites me. Being able to wreck dive is a tremendous opportunity to dive through history; whilst enjoying the wonders of the underwater world. Shipwrecks are a fantastic scuba dive experience.  Not only are they full of history, but they have also become new homes for creatures including fish and corals. Some wrecks are in a position where you need extra training, as they are beyond the recreational dive limits of 40 meters; with PADI Tec courses you can achieve this.

I was in a PADI seminar a few months ago listening to a Patrick Voorma (PADI course director), he was passionate about finding new wrecks; just watching his clips on finding these new wrecks fascinated me. Being aware of the fact that the wrecks would have been under water for many years, sometimes decades or centuries.  Many wrecks are incredibly fragile and can collapse not just if they get touched, but also by the natural movements of the ocean.  Hence, a diver will need to pay close attention to the structure of the ship and make sure they keep their hands away. With the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy course this will help you with fin kicking techniques and buoyancy.

Wreck divers are always instructed to bring emergency tools with them, in particular dive knives, reels and torches as there is an increased risk of becoming tangled up in ropes and other objects. If a diver has the opportunity to go inside a wreck, (you need to be wreck specialist)it is important to remember that there will be no natural light, so it is important to bring backup torch as well.  The darkness truly is complete inside a wreck so the last thing you want is for your light to fail when you are a long way away from the exit. Wreck divers always use a reel or safety line to ensure that the exit from the wreck is always possible; it is very important to be aware of the gasses in your tank; some wreck divers prefer to dive sidemount for this, as you have two tanks which give you double gas supply.  Do make sure you always leave at least one third of the breathing gas available to get yourself back out. Also you need to watch your No Decompression limits, the PADI Enriched Air Course will extend your bottom time to give you more time at curtain depths.

Some of the most Popular Wreck dives around the world, some if not all of these wrecks are on my bucket list:

The Zenobia, Cyprus (I dived that in 2000)

The SS USAT Liberty, Bali (I dived that in 2014)

The Yongala, Australia

Antilla Wreck, Aruba

The Superior Producer, Curaçao

Blockship Tabarka, Scapa Flow, Orkney, Scotland

Thistlegorm, Egyptian Red Sea

HMS Hermes, Sri Lanka

You can get proper wreck diving training here at Divers Down with the PADI specialist course. For this course you need to be 15 years of age and an Adventure Diver. It’s 4 dives and will take two days to complete. This specific course teaches divers about the advanced skills that are necessary for wreck diving in addition to teaching them about the equipment that is required and why.  They will also be taught how to manage their air reserves as well as learn how to get in and out of a wreck safely.

Most wrecks sit below 40 meters, on the east course we have a German submarine that sits in 109 meters of water. Wrecks that are in very deep locations will need further skills and training in deep diving, as well as the ability to understand dive tables and decompression stops before attempting these sorts of dives.

Divers do need to be careful and keep some safety safeguards in mind at all times.  It is possible to get trapped on a wreck dive, and this should of course be avoided at all costs. This is why it is so important to undertake proper wreck dive training, so that a diver is not faced with an unexpected situation that they simply don’t have the skills and knowledge for.

At divers down we do a full range of Tech course and PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy, PADI wreck, PADI Sidemount Tech or Recreational and Enriched Air course to assist

Let’s get wrecked!!!!