Technical diving seems to be defined as anything outside of recreational diving.
With that as a backdrop, penetration diving would seem to fall into the technical diving category since to my knowledge, none of the major "recreational" agencies offer a wreck penetration certification.
Many recreational divers however do enter into wrecks in varying degrees. There are simple swim throughs which do involve briefly swimming through an overhead environment - typically in one side of the wreck and out the other (where light and access are completely clear,) limited penetrations where one may briefly enter a large open space and then swim back out the same point of entry and even guided tours, where a DM will take a small group through a wreck known to have an easy and safe interior to navigate.
True "penetration" diving - and the type which I think we can all agree is technical - would involve the need for redundant systems, wreck reels and penetration where the loss of natural light occured.
So all those who selected "It Depends" are correct. While recreational agencies frown on any overhead environments, the real world reality is that most recreational divers will do swimthroughs and limited penetrations with no additional training. We can argue all day as to whether this is safe or not... but that won't help.
What will help is if all recreational divers considering diving down to see a wreck - will simply take the recreational "Wreck Diving" course, they will learn everything they need to know to conduct their dive safely - including being told - Don't go inside.
Happy and Safe Dving!
PS... Don't always trust DM's to do the smart thing. Here is my example. A couple of years ago I was diving in Truk Lagoon (I'll leave the operation un-named.) We were routinely offered to be led on true penetration dives - 1 to 2 decks down inside the wrecks at depths of 100 - 150ft. Everyone including the DM's were diving only single AL 80's. NOT SMART.
With that as a backdrop, penetration diving would seem to fall into the technical diving category since to my knowledge, none of the major "recreational" agencies offer a wreck penetration certification.
Many recreational divers however do enter into wrecks in varying degrees. There are simple swim throughs which do involve briefly swimming through an overhead environment - typically in one side of the wreck and out the other (where light and access are completely clear,) limited penetrations where one may briefly enter a large open space and then swim back out the same point of entry and even guided tours, where a DM will take a small group through a wreck known to have an easy and safe interior to navigate.
True "penetration" diving - and the type which I think we can all agree is technical - would involve the need for redundant systems, wreck reels and penetration where the loss of natural light occured.
So all those who selected "It Depends" are correct. While recreational agencies frown on any overhead environments, the real world reality is that most recreational divers will do swimthroughs and limited penetrations with no additional training. We can argue all day as to whether this is safe or not... but that won't help.
What will help is if all recreational divers considering diving down to see a wreck - will simply take the recreational "Wreck Diving" course, they will learn everything they need to know to conduct their dive safely - including being told - Don't go inside.
Happy and Safe Dving!
PS... Don't always trust DM's to do the smart thing. Here is my example. A couple of years ago I was diving in Truk Lagoon (I'll leave the operation un-named.) We were routinely offered to be led on true penetration dives - 1 to 2 decks down inside the wrecks at depths of 100 - 150ft. Everyone including the DM's were diving only single AL 80's. NOT SMART.
