Scuba courses
Wreck Diving Specialty

So you’re an Advanced Open Water diver and one of your favourite dives to do is a wreck scuba dive. You just love the excitement of exploring the sunken memories of the past, pushing the limits and revealing the mystery that goes along with it. Then you should definitely be thinking about doing your PADI Wreck Diving Specialty!

This is a very exciting course, which allows you to discover the thrills and uncover the mystery that goes hand in hand with exploring wrecks in Cape Town. This specialty gives you the experience and confidence to be able to penetrate wrecks and to be able to explore this mysterious underwater world.

It also enhances your knowledge about wrecks and how to navigate through them safely. This specialty will allow you to explore wrecks further and deeper, understand them better and to get more enjoyment out of your next scuba experience!

Quick overview of the PADI Wreck Diving Specialty Course in Cape Town

• You must have your PADI Advanced Open Water certification.
• You must have logged 20 dives including experience in night diving, deep diving and underwater navigation to do this scuba course.
• Duration: 4 dives (minimum 2 days)
• Minimum age: 15
• Certification allows you to plan a wreck dive, recognize and avoid potential problems, penetrate a wreck up to 40m and recognize the historical, social and legal value of wrecks.
• Bring your swimsuit, sunscreen, towel and a snack.

We meet each morning at the Into the Blue Scuba diving centre in Cape Town as our central starting point. Here we do registration, theory and we also get your scuba equipment. Meeting times are normally at 09:15, but could change if we are do any boat scuba dives, which you usually do for exploring wrecks in Cape Town. You can expect to be finished between 3 and 6 in the afternoon, depending on where we are on the day. Your course includes both theory and practical aspects. They comprise the following:

Course Theory

There are two elements of theory in this course:

• Watching the PADI Wreck Diving Video
• Reading the PADI Wreck Diving Manual and completing and reviewing the Knowledge Reviews

Course Practical  

The practical aspect of your course consists of 4 scuba dives, during which the following will be done:

• First :
• Navigation in the wreck
• Buoyancy control to avoid silting problems
• Second:
• Exploring the wreck site (navigation)
• Mapping the wreck
• Examining penetration techniques
• Third:
• Practice penetration outside the wreck
• Swimming along penetration line without kicking up silt
• Fourth:
• Wreck penetration (up to 40 linear meters)
• Penetration exercises and techniques

1. How deep are the wrecks?
   
   The wrecks here in Cape Town range between 6m – 40m in depth.
2. What wrecks do you dive?
   
   Our favourite wrecks to scuba dive on in Cape Town are the Boss 400, the Maorie both just outside Hout Bay, or the Smitswinkel Bay wrecks in False Bay, Cape Town.
3. Is there any special equipment required for this speciality?
   
   Yes, you need a reel, a torch and a compass.
4. Do we use a boat to get to the wrecks?
   
   Yes, most of our wreck scuba dives are boat dives, we launch either from Hout Bay or False Bay in Cape Town. Deeper wrecks tend to be better preserved, as they get battered less by the storms and swell.