Instructor and student in a pool beside a row of rigged stage cylinders

Discover Tec

Name: Discover Tec
Brand: PADI
SKU: DTC001
Price: 1200.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock

SKU DTC001

R 1,200.00

Product variants

Find out whether technical diving is for you before you spend a cent on it.

Technical diving looks like a serious commitment from the outside, and it is. Twin cylinders, stage bottles, decompression schedules, and an equipment configuration that bears very little resemblance to the BCD you learned on. It's a reasonable thing to be curious about, and an unreasonable thing to expect anyone to commit to sight unseen.

Discover Tec exists precisely for that. It's a short confined water experience where you get kitted out in a full technical configuration and walked through the foundational skills, including switching from your primary to your secondary regulator and running gas shutdown procedures. All technical equipment is included.

It isn't a certification, and it doesn't pretend to be. What it is, is an honest hour or two in the water that tells you whether the technical pathway appeals to you, or whether you'd rather stay recreational. Both are perfectly good answers.

Where Discover Tec Takes You

If the answer turns out to be yes, nothing is wasted. Discover Tec credits toward both the Tec Basics and Tec 40 Diver courses, so the time you spend here counts toward the certification when you come back for it.

The entry requirements are deliberately light: an Open Water certification, ten logged dives, and a minimum age of 15. You don't need advanced training, deep experience, or any equipment of your own to find out whether this is your kind of diving.

Curious? Book your Discover Tec session below, or get in touch with our team if you'd like to know more about where the technical pathway leads.

What This Course Entails

Discover Tec runs entirely in confined water, so there's no depth, no decompression, and no pressure beyond whatever you put on yourself. You'll start with a briefing on how a technical configuration differs from the recreational kit you already know, and why each part of it is there.

In the water, you'll be fitted into a full technical setup and work through the foundational skills: moving between your primary and secondary regulators, gas shutdown procedures, and getting a feel for how differently you move and trim in a technical rig.

The session is short by design, and all technical equipment is included. It credits toward the Tec Basics and Tec 40 Diver courses if you decide to carry on.

Prerequisites

Certified PADI Open Water Diver, or a qualifying certification from another training organisation.
A minimum of 10 logged dives.
Minimum age is 15 years old.
Complete a basic health screening questionnaire to confirm you're fit to dive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Discover Tec a certification?

No. Discover Tec is an experience rather than a certification course, designed to let you try technical diving equipment and procedures before committing to the full pathway. It does credit toward the Tec Basics and Tec 40 Diver courses, so nothing you do on the day is wasted if you decide to carry on.

What do I need before I can try Discover Tec?

A PADI Open Water Diver certification, a minimum of 10 logged dives, and a minimum age of 15. That is a deliberately low bar. The point of Discover Tec is to let you find out whether technical diving appeals to you long before you have invested in the training or the equipment.

What actually happens on a Discover Tec session?

It runs entirely in confined water. You will be kitted out in a full technical configuration and walked through the foundational skills, including switching from your primary to your secondary regulator and gas shutdown procedures. It is a genuine taste of how different technical diving feels, without going anywhere near a decompression obligation.

Do I need my own equipment for Discover Tec?

No. Technical equipment is included, which is rather the point. Discover Tec exists so you can find out what a technical configuration feels like in the water before you spend anything on one.

What if I decide technical diving isn't for me?

Then you've spent a short session in a pool finding that out, which is a great deal cheaper than discovering it three courses and a twinset later. Plenty of divers try Discover Tec and decide recreational diving suits them perfectly well. That's a legitimate answer and we'd far rather you reached it here.