PADI Wreck Specialty

[Diesel298]

Just keep racking up some dives. The more experience you get the better a diver you'll be. Reading books and internet sites can be helpful, but there is at least as much bad info out there as there is good. Regardless, keep in mind wreck diving involves an overhead environment full of entanglement & disorientation hazards. Progress slowly, the best way to get better at wreck diving is to survive to dive again another day.

Isnt it past your bedtime?

 

[wreckedinri]

Thanks for all the thoughts. Just back from St. Thomas where I did the class. . . . Hal

Noticing that you hail from Washington DC, I think that you will find wreck-diving in the northeast a bit different from your cert class in Saint Thomas. If you wish to become a proficient and capable wreck diver, as a previous poster stated: “Just keep racking up some dives.” Get some experience dealing with the techniques and idiosyncrasies of diving a drysuit in cold water and with managing your gear (reels, lights, lift bags) in a stiff current with very limited visibility, or in the dark. Find a dive partner, or partners, with a similar experience level and goals as you have (dive clubs are a good place to start) and gain experience with them – learn from each other. Perhaps, most importantly, learn about yourself. What are the risks that you are willing to take? How comfortable are you in an overhead environment, or confined space at depth? How are you with dealing with possible life threatening situations under the confines of strict time limits?

I’m not trying to sound frightful or dramatic, it’s just that wreck-diving can be a dangerous endeavor. While diving is about having fun and enjoying yourself, wreck-diving – as well as other specific kinds of diving – has to be taken seriously, and I think that you do, hence your post.

Be safe, and have fun.

Capt. Dennis St Germain