The PADI Drift Diver Specialty course introduces you to the coolest magic carpet ride you’ll ever experience. This course shows you how to enjoy rivers and ocean currents by “going with the flow,” staying with your dive partner, communicating with the dive boat, and knowing where you are the whole time.
Drift Diving is nearly effortless and relaxing. You simply glide along and enjoy the rush of flying underwater while the current does the work. Drift diving is often the only way to dive certain underwater sites—and that is certainly true of the wrecks and reefs off Jupiter and Pompano Beach. But drift diving also offers a way to cover a lot of areas with only a little effort. At the end of the dive, everyone surfaces and the boat comes to them. It doesn’t get any easier than this!
Like any specialty diving, learning certain techniques and knowing the safety concerns will allow you to enjoy the drift diving experience to its fullest. Students will learn about tides, currents, and waves, how to use drift diving equipment such as floats and reels, the importance of buoyancy control and buddy procedures, how to navigate during drift dives, safety stop procedures, and how to safely get on and off the boat.
What Do You Need?
Since all South Florida dives are drift dives, each diver must have their own surface marker buoy and a dive computer, and the PADI Manual.
The Diver Propulsion Vehicle course introduces you to scuba diving with underwater scooters, which can come in handy while drift diving. Since Buoyancy Control is so important, consider taking the Peak Performance Buoyancy Course.