Greg - 11/19/2008 11:09 AM
I can’t speak for the other training agencies...but here’s how PADI works...and it is a bit confusing:
To go from Open Water Diver to Advanced you need select 5 specialty classes or dives. That’s a bit different than getting your actual specialty certification in a certain area though.
For example: To get Advanced certified, you can do one Wreck dive, one Peak Performance Buoyancy dive, one U/W Navigation dive, one Deep dive and one Search & Recovery dive. Those are just a few of the specialty options.
But to get your specialty certification as a Wreck diver for example...you have to do 4 different wreck dives, each with different objectives.
For training purposes, you aren’t allowed to do more than 3 dives per day. And as long as you have a long surface interval between dives and you’re staying well within the recreational dive planner limits, you should be safe from DCS.
I hope this explanation helps.
Greg Davis
PADI Instructor