Deep Diver course: diving to 40 m, who can take it and what you learn

SSI Deep Diving starts at age 15. The SDI public page includes junior entry, but its 40 m course ceiling must not be read as permission for every junior to dive to 40 m: confirm the age-specific limit with the instructor before booking.

PADI sums it up as learning to plan deep dives, manage your gas supply and identify and manage narcosis. SSI adds using your computer and gas consumption calculations. In practice that means:

• planning depth and time so you stay within no-decompression limits
• working out how much gas you need, and keeping a reserve
• recognising nitrogen narcosis in yourself and your buddy
• descending and ascending under control, with a safety stop
• what to do if something goes wrong at depth

Open Water divers usually stay above 18 m. Some of the Red Sea's best dives go below that: parts of the wrecks, deep walls and pinnacles. Our Hurghada dive-site directory lists documented depths for each site; walls such as Hamda are documented to about 40 m. A deep course lets you plan those dives properly. See how deep can recreational divers go for the limits of each certification.

Usually over 2–3 days on our daily boat, with hotel pickup at 08:00 and back at your hotel around 16:30. Your instructor chooses sites with the right depth for each training dive, and we teach a maximum of 4 students per instructor. Deep Diving is also a good next step before nitrox, and SSI lists Deep Diving as a prerequisite for its Extended Range technical courses.