DRIFT DIVER

THE PADI DRIFT DIVER COURSE

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DRIFT DIVER

The PADI Drift Diver Specialty course introduces you to the coolest magic carpet ride you’ll ever experience! Drift diving makes up a huge part of our local diving opportunities, so you’ll definitely want to take this specialty course so you don’t miss out on all the fun. We have groups that dive regularly in the Niagara River, including organized dives on all the May-Oct long weekends. We also have several trips to Brockville to dive in the St. Lawrence River where you’ll see some of the coolest wrecks, tons of fish life and possibly even find an old bottle or 2 from decades gone by. As an added bonus, the “River” dives up here are also generally warmer than colder lake water dives, so they tend to be diver favourites!

For those of you traveling to places where ocean currents play a role in your dive sites, often some of the more spectacular places like the Galapagos Islands or Komodo, Indonesia, the course will really help you understand and master current diving and related procedures so you can truly relax and enjoy the excitement and majesty of the dive sites you’re visiting. After all, you want to spend your time watching the cool marine life that these stronger currents bring in, like hammerheads or whale sharks, knowing you are comfortable with the environment.

Get ready to enjoy our river and ocean currents by “going with the flow,” by learning about staying with your dive partner, managing your entry and exit strategies, learning to use an SMB and reel, communicating with the dive boat and knowing where you are the whole time. See you in the river!

THE FUN PART

Diving is a relaxing sport to begin with, let alone coasting along on a Drift Dive. Imagine simply gearing up, doing a giant stride into the water, and then letting the current glide you along. Drift diving provides the foundation for safe diving in fast moving rivers and changing currents in our oceans and seas. You simply watch the moving surroundings and enjoy the rush of flying underwater while the current does the work. Whether you’ll be diving locally in the Niagara or St. Lawrence rivers, or coasting along in the warm, clear waters of Cozumel or Komodo, the DRIFT DIVER course gives you the foundational knowledge and skills to maximize your grin throughout the whole dive.

WHAT YOU LEARN

During your PADI Drift Diver course, you will learn about:

Planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems and possible hazards of drift diving
An introduction to drift diving equipment — floats, lines, reels
Buoyancy-control, navigation and communication for drift diving
Site selection and overview of aquatic currents – causes and effects
Techniques for staying close to a buddy or together as a group
Local rules and regulations so you know what to expect and are properly prepared to get out and drift on your own or with the group

PREREQUISITES

Open Water or Junior Open Water Certification (must be over 12)

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

Different drift diving environments have different requirements. For example, drifting in the Niagara River where we run the course we always dive underneath and SMB or Diver Below marker buoy because the track of our dives is shared with fishermen and other “on-water” enthusiasts. For a casting fisherman, it’s good to know where the divers are as we pass by as they can avoid casting in our direction! In the St. Lawrence River, however, which is an active shipping channel, the recommendation is different… divers simply need to carry an SMB/Reel with them but definitely do not want a float deployed for their full dive. In either dive environment, divers need to know how to deploy their safety marker buoy confidently from underwater.

In addition to all your basic scuba gear, a Diver Below type surface buoy will be provided for the course for each buddy team, but all divers must have their own DSMB/Reel combination as well as a cutting tool (or 2) that can be accessed by either hand. While not required, a dive light is a handy piece of equipment as it’ll help you keep your buddy in sight in lower light or lower visibility dives.

LEARNING MATERIALS

Your PADI Drift e-learning module includes all the essential learning materials for this course. Your instructor may also share additional documents and info regarding local drift diving or some of the equipment you’ll be using.

YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE

If you haven’t yet taken the PADI Advanced Open Water (AOW) Diver Course, you may receive credit for the DRIFT DIVE as one of the 3 elective dives required for that certification, meaning you are building your experience outside that course and it will allow you to get your Advanced Open Water Diver certification faster. Also, many drift divers find theDIVER PROPULSION VEHICLE course helpful as it introduces you to scuba diving with underwater scooters. This can really come in handy to help you move around more effortlessly on a drift dive. And since proper buoyancy control is key to effective and safe drift diving, you may consider the PEAK PERFORMANCE BUOYANCY course as an opportunity to further refine these skills.

Also, This specialty and many of the others count towards earning your MASTER SCUBA DIVER rating. Drop us a line and we’d be happy to develop a personal plan to get you there!!

For more information about these or other PADI courses, be sure to pop by and chat with one of the FLOAT N' FLAG Team members. We’re always happy to help develop a plan made just for you.