Cold Water Diver

Camp 'n' Dive

Diving around Alberta is a great way to get out and explore our own backyard! Also a great way to practice and advance your diving skills is a challenging environment. Then when you go away to the West coast or travel internationally, you can feel more confident and relaxed making your dives more enjoyable.

Join us for an underwater adventure at a local lake this summer. We usually have camp 'n' dive weekends in Jasper or Twin Lakes. If you're in need of gear rentals or a dive buddy, please contact the store to make arrangements. 

Upcoming Weekends

For other dates not listed, please contact us to discuss options.

Cold Water Diver Certification

You are qualified to dive in the conditions that you were certified in. If you complete your open water training in warm water and would like to dive in cold/temperate water, assistance from an experienced professional will make your first cold water experience more enjoyable and you will be more likely to continue diving in the cold water. There is different gear involved with cold water diving including a thicker wetsuit (or drysuit), hood, gloves, boots, and extra weight to offset the buoyancy of all the extra neoprene. Cold/temperate water includes all the lakes around Alberta and all of Canada including the BC and Vancouver Island coasts, and as far south as California.

The Cold Water Diver specialty certification course is designed for certified open water divers who would like to learn to dive in cold water. It includes one extra pool session (or refresher) for you to practice with hood and gloves. Also included are 2-4 open water dives completed over 1 or 2 days with an instructor which includes a review of many of the open water diving skills.

Course Prerequisites

• Open Water Diver certification
• Recent diving experience (within last 2 years) 

Topics Discussed

• Dive Planning: Pre-dive briefing with instructor, Post-dive logging dives including dive computer and/or dive table use

Water Skills

• Scuba Equipment: Review of cold water diving gear
• Weight Check: Ensure proper weighting for cold-water diving
• Entry/Exit
• Review of Skills: Regulator use, mask flood/remove and clear, ascending, descending, buoyancy control, emergency ascents, air-sharing ascent, buddy towing and assistance, underwater navigation

Certification Requirements

• Pool Refresher: Course fee includes a Pool Refresher with an instructor to review open water skills plus get comfortable with hood and gloves
• Open Water: 
• With a qualified instructor, students will complete two dives in an open water environment and review their scuba skills
• Students have the option to continue diving with the instructor for a third and fourth dive the next day for a small fee

Course fees do not include gear, tanks, airfills, travel, accommodations, training manuals.