Tec Basics

Sort out your equipment and your trim first. Add decompression later.

There's a reason experienced technical instructors talk about buoyancy more than they talk about gas. Everything in technical diving, every valve drill, every gas switch, every stop held to the metre, rests on being genuinely stable in the water. Add a decompression obligation to a diver who isn't, and the obligation is the least of the problems.

Tec Basics is the course that deals with that first. It's a full PADI certification focused entirely on technical equipment configuration, buoyancy and trim, with no decompression involved at any point: two knowledge development segments, one practical application session, and two no-stop dives.

It's optional. You can go straight from your recreational certifications to Tec 40, and plenty of divers do. But if you're new to technical equipment, or coming back to diving after a break, this is the course that makes Tec 40 feel like a step rather than a leap.

What Tec Basics Sets You Up For

Once certified, you'll have a technical configuration you actually understand and the trim to use it properly, which is the single biggest predictor of how comfortable Tec 40 feels. You'll also have made your equipment decisions in advance, rather than making them mid-course while simultaneously learning decompression theory.

Enriched Air Diver is required to enrol, along with a minimum age of 15. Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver are recommended rather than required, though you'll need them for Tec 40 and Tec 45 respectively, so they're worth getting in place either way.

Want to arrive at Tec 40 already sorted? Book your Tec Basics course below, or get in touch with our team if you'd like to talk through where to start.