SSI Specialty Course

Deep Diving Certification

Some of Florida’s best diving lives below 60 feet — sunken wrecks wrapped in coral, deep ledges cruised by goliath grouper, and cavern floors you can only reach with the right training. The SSI Deep Diving specialty gives you the skills and confidence to get there: planning deeper dives, managing your gas and no-decompression limits, recognizing and handling narcosis, and diving a solid plan with your buddy.

Where you'll dive

Ocean & wrecks — Pompano Beach. The Pompano Beach area is one of the best places in the state for deep and wreck diving, with an artificial-reef “Shipwreck Park” trek and reefs that step down past recreational limits. It’s our go-to for putting new deep skills to work on real wrecks in warm, clear Atlantic water.

Deep springs — Hudson Grotto & Paradise Springs. For deeper freshwater training we head inland. Hudson Grotto is a spring-fed sinkhole that drops to about 130 feet with platforms for working staged skills, and Paradise Springs near Ocala is a fossil-lined cavern reaching about 100 feet in clear, 72°F water year-round. Their calm, current-free depth is the ideal place to dial in deep-dive planning, gas management, and controlled ascents before you take those skills offshore.

What you'll learn

Deep-dive planning and gas management; the effects of pressure and nitrogen narcosis and how to manage them; monitoring no-decompression limits and safe ascents; and buddy awareness at depth.

Prerequisites

SSI Open Water Diver (or equivalent) and comfort in open water. Already taking the SSI Advanced Open Water course? Your deep adventure dive from that course can be credited toward this Deep Diving specialty.