Cold Water 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. Included is rental dive equipment, 2 open water dives with an option for 2 additional dives with an instructor including a review of all the open water diving skills.

Upcoming Courses

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

• 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.