A diver in a full face mask swimming alongside a giant manta ray

Full Face Mask Diver

SKU FFM001

POA

Product variants

Breathe through your nose underwater. Talk to your buddy. It's less strange than it sounds.

A full face mask covers your eyes, nose and mouth, which changes the experience of diving more than almost any other single piece of equipment. You breathe naturally through your nose, your face stays warm and dry, and with a communication unit fitted you can actually talk to your buddy rather than waving at them and hoping.

There's a reason working divers use them. Public safety divers, scientific divers and anyone spending long hours in cold or contaminated water rely on full face masks for protection and communication. They're increasingly popular with recreational divers too, particularly in the cold water most of us dive in South Africa.

They also demand specific skills. A full face mask floods differently, clears differently, and has to be removed and replaced differently to the mask you learned on, and switching to a backup air source is a genuinely different procedure. That's what this course is for. All equipment is included for the duration of the course.

What Full Face Mask Diver Covers

You'll learn to select, fit, use and maintain a full face mask, handle flooding and clearing, manage the switch to an alternate air source, and work through the emergency procedures specific to the equipment. Two dives with an instructor.

It's a sensible speciality for anyone diving cold water regularly, considering public safety or scientific work, or simply tired of a cold face and streaming sinuses on a Highveld winter dive. It also counts toward your Master Scuba Diver rating.

Ready to try it? Book Full Face Mask Diver below, or get in touch with our team if you'd like to talk it through first.

What This Course Entails

Knowledge development covers how a full face mask works, the different types available, how to select one that fits properly, and the maintenance a mask needs to stay reliable. Fit matters considerably more here than with a standard mask, so it gets proper attention.

One confined water dive then covers what actually changes: flooding and clearing a full face mask, removing and replacing it underwater, switching to an alternate air source while wearing one, and the emergency procedures specific to the equipment.

Two open water dives with an instructor then consolidate the skills, to a recommended 6 to 12 metres and a maximum of 18 metres. All equipment is included for the duration of the course, so you can find out whether a full face mask suits your diving before buying one.

Prerequisites

Certified PADI Open Water Diver, or a qualifying certification from another training organisation.
Minimum age is 12 years old.
Complete a basic health screening questionnaire to confirm you're fit to dive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I really talk to my buddy underwater?

With a communication unit fitted, yes. The mask itself covers your mouth and nose, which makes speech possible; the comms unit is what transmits it. Plenty of divers use full face masks purely for the comfort and warmth and never fit comms at all.

Is a full face mask harder to use than a normal mask?

Different rather than harder. Breathing through your nose feels immediately natural. What genuinely differs is flooding, clearing, removal and switching to an alternate air source, and those are exactly the skills this course drills until they are automatic.

Why would I want a full face mask diving in South Africa?

Cold water, mostly. A full face mask keeps your face warm and your sinuses dry, which makes a real difference on Highveld winter dives and cold coastal work. It is also standard equipment for public safety and scientific diving if that is a direction you are considering.

What are the prerequisites, and how many dives?

A PADI Open Water Diver certification and a minimum age of 12. The course runs over one confined water dive and two open water dives, at a recommended 6 to 12 metres and a maximum of 18. The confined water session is where the flooding and clearing drills happen, which is exactly where you want them.

Do I need to buy a full face mask for the course?

No. All equipment for the duration of the course is included, which is the sensible order given what a good full face mask costs. Do the course, work out whether it suits your diving, then buy.

Are air fills included in the course price?

No, and that is deliberate. Air is charged as you use it, per fill, and invoiced to you after your session. Every diver breathes differently, and building a worst-case air allowance into every course fee would mean the lightest breathers subsidising the heaviest, so instead you pay for the air you actually use and the course price stays lower for everyone. We confirm the current fill rate with you when we book your dates, and you are welcome to ask us for it at any point before that. Dive site entrance fees are also paid separately, at the site on the day.