Specialty
activities introduce certified divers to a whole new world of diving
opportunities. Learning is easy and most of our Specialty courses only
require certification as an Open
Water Diver
or equivalent. All you need to do is first purchase your specialty
manuals and videos from United Divers and then enroll in one of our
specialty courses. Once enrolled, you can learn your specialized scuba
skills from a certified Advanced Open Water Instructor that would
take you years of diving to learn on your own.
Under our guidance, you will learn the correct skills and
techniques
associated with the specialties of your choice to make you a more
comfortable and confident diver. You will also learn how to use an
expanded range of equipment to help you make your dives more enjoyable
and worthwhile.
At United Divers, We ARE Diving. Are you?
Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview: SCUBA Diving from a boat
is a fact of life. If your dive experience has always been doing shore
dives, you will find boat diving a very different experience. In fact
when you take your first warm water trip, you will most certainly be
doing boat dives. Boat diving can be some of the most spectacular
diving you do for several of reasons. Boats get you to locations you
cannot typically get to from the shore. The dives tend to be deeper and
in
areas that are not traveled as frequently as are shore dives,
therefore you are likely to see things that you do not on your normal
shore diving experience. Sooner or
later most divers will likely be introduced to boat diving, so why not learn how to safely dive from a boat today?
Training Program: This specialty
course teaches you how to get the most out of your boat diving. It
covers skills such as entries and exits, maneuvering in surface
currents, ascents and descents with and without anchor lines, hang
lines, planning dives, different kinds of boats, and boat etiquette.
Prerequisites:
None, available to non-divers and divers alike
Overview: The
more you extend your
diving experiences, the chances are that you will expand your diving to
more and more remote locations and potentially hazardous
access areas because that is where the best dive sites are found. This
same reason is also why it's a good idea to know basic first aid and CPR
techniques.
Our CPR/First Aid course will provide you with a level of
knowledge
that is appropriate to manage most scuba-related medical emergencies
confidently and competently prior to the arrival of the local EMS
personnel on the scene. The course is taught by specially-trained
instructors and will provide you with a "first responder" level of
medical ability and knowledge similar to the skills used by EMT's and
paramedics. The course consists of several classroom sessions, video
presentations and a number of practical skills sessions. Also, it meets
or exceeds all current First Aid/ CPR standards published by the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Training
Program: This course is
definitely NOT a "Diver Only" course. ANYONE desiring to know about
first aid and CPR is welcome to participate in this course. After the
successful completion of our First Aid/CPR course, you will be
presented with a certification in first aid and CPR that is rated among
the most comprehensive available and is valid for two years.
Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview:With the introduction of
dive computers some 10 years ago, recreational diving has been
completely transformed into what recreational diving is today. By
constantly monitoring your depth and time during the entire dive and
comparing the actual to the mathematical model in the computer, it has
actually allowed safer and longer bottom time than were capable using
the traditional dive tables to "calculate" the bottom time of the dive.
Basically, computers allow for longer bottom times without the
need for decompression stops.
Training Program: In this
course, we
will cover the wide range of different types of computers, the
different mathematical models used and their general operation. If you
own a dive computer or plan to buy one in the near future, this is the
course for you. It will provide you with the knowledge and skills to
get the most out of these wonderful diving tools.
Prerequisites: Open
Water Diver or equivalent.
Overview:The deep diver specialty
at United Divers is one of the most popular courses offered. We believe
this course is ideal for those interested in expanding their diving
abilities past the Open Water Diver level and can be part of the
Advanced Open Water Diver course. It is also good for the
"experienced or veteran" diver as well.
Training
Program: This course covers
the physiology of deep diving, the effects of diving at depth, introduction to computer diving and
much more. Also covered in the course is a fairly indepth discussion of
some of the strange and curious things to discover at the greater
depths. Of course, you will be expected to participate in a number of
local dives both shore and boat to depths greater than 60 feet,
the definition for recreational deep diving. Deep diving in cold water
has particular risks and circumstances that you will not normally
experience in the more tropical diving environments. These topics will
be covered very thoroughly as well as some tips on staying warm,
recognizing nitrogen narcosis, and exploring the marine environments at
greater depths.
Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview:
Many of the more
spectacular dive sites in the world can be loosely-to-strictly defined
as drift dives. One site in British Vancouver called Seymour Inlet has
a 22-knot current and a twenty minute slack tide which is the only
window of opportunity to dive this site. The marine life at this site
is spectacular and prolific because of the currents. Some of the life
here reach colossal size compared to the same species observed in dive
sites that have no such current.
Needless to say, we don't have any thing like that in New
England, but
we do have some drift diving sites in this area that are very
interesting. One of the better drift dives is off
Provincetown. Other sites we have in the area are in Rhodes Island on
the Front Wall of Fort Wetherill in Jamestown. Other sites, such as
Cathedral Rocks in Rockport are not technically drift diving but have
enough current to present a challenge to the diver.
Training Program: Our specialty
course offers a combination of shore dives and local boat dives to some
of the more interesting sites available to us in the locale. Helpful
tips about drift diving techniques are useful and valuable no matter
where you do your drift diving.
Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview:
Our Drysuit Specialty at
United Divers is ideally suited for the person who has recently
purchased a drysuit, is thinking about buying a drysuit, or someone who
simply desires to know about drysuit diving.
If you have recently purchased a drysuit, we enthusiastically
recommend
this course because of the heavy focus on diving safely with the
drysuit. Drysuit diving requires very specific knowledge that is not
required in other forms of diving. All manufacturer recommended safety
techniques are covered in the course including flooding, how to control
your buoyancy, what to do in drysuit emergencies and other important
drysuit diving situations.
Training
Program: In the past, we
have negotiated with various drysuit vendors to borrow some of their
suit for a nominal rental fee which is included in the cost of the
course. This has been an early Spring or Late Fall activity and
pre-registration is required in order for us to know how many suits are
needed for the course.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview:
At United Divers, we
believe that our Equipment Specialty course is among the finest the
SCUBA industry has to offer. The course is structured such that every
piece of equipment you have is inspected and evaluated to make
suggestions about what you can do to keep you gear in tip-top shape.
You will receive instructions on the latest maintenance concepts,
techniques in preventive maintenance, and how to prolong the life of
your valuable investment.
If you do not currently own any equipment, this course is also for you.
You get a first hand education about what is good, not so good, what to
look for when purchasing new equipment and what to beware of when
looking for the "right" gear for you. Our expert staff will address any
and all questions you have been thinking about and will give you the latest
state-of-the-art view of the world of SCUBA diving equipment from A to Z.
Even if you are new to diving, this course will save you time and money.
Training Program: The scope of
this
course is on routine maintenance intended to focus on the kinds of
things an owner/user needs to know about SCUBA equipment. We will show
you how a regulator works, care and maintenance of a BC, wetsuit,
tanks, consoles, gauges and other equipment. You will also have an
opportunity to tour our retail facility as part of the
Q&A session and be introduced to some of the latest additions
to the SCUBA diving technology.
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Prerequisites:
Advanced Open Water Diver or equivalent and a minimum of 10
drysuit dives.
Overview:Our Ice Diver course is not for
the faint of heart. It is an extremely challenging course offered
to those interested in a completely different kind of diving. Ice
diving is considered a novelty
in our local area, however in many inland geographical areas, ice
diving is a major activity. We have several ponds and lakes that are
ideal for ice diving training.
Training
Program: The course work
includes handling ropes, learning hand and rope signals used for communicating
with the surface team, in-depth discussions about risk factors, and a
comprehensive discussion about safety procedures used during the
typical ice diving experience. You will be surprised how many
interesting things you will see and collect during the open
water dives you will do to complete this certification.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview:One frequently undeveloped skill
for both beginner and experienced divers alike is their lack
of navigation
skills and not knowing where they are at any give part of the dive. By
the time you finish this course, you will have gain considerable
experience learning to navigate yourself underwater.
Training Program: After taking the Navigation Specialty course, not only will you know you
are, but you will also be able to get back to the same site whenever
you want. We incorporate many different kinds of geometric patterns in
the exercises conducted in the open water so that you will not only be
comfortable with your navigation skills but you will have a lot of fun
doing it.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certified or equivalent.
Overview:Perhaps the most exciting
and mysterious experience we have as divers is the night dive. Despite
natural apprehension about diving in the dark, night dives are not full
of goblins and monsters. In fact, night dives are frequently far more
interesting and exciting because of the vast number of creatures that
we never see during daylight hours. They are so well hidden by day that
we never notice they are even there but freely come out at night to
feed, mate and go about their nocturnal business. This course is
also useful for diving during the day though in limited visibility
conditions.
Training
Program: During the
Night/Limited Visibility
Diver Specialty course, you will have several opportunities to
participate in different night and limited visibility diving
environments. You will use appropriate dive lights for both
seeing and communicating underwater.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview:
Our Enriched Air Nitrox Diver Specialty is ideally suited for the person who has recently
purchased a nitrox system, is thinking about buying a nitrox system, or
someone who simply desires to know about nitrox diving.
Training
Program: The Nitrox
specialty teaches you about the advantages of using enriched air and
reviews guidelines for safe diving. You will learn how to
properly use nitrox dive tables to carefully plan your dives.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent. Advanced Open Water
certification recommended.
Overview: Our
Rescue Diver course is primarily intended to provide a training program
for the average diver to be able to manage a typical diving emergency
in a timely and competent manner. The course is not intended to
supersede or replace the local recognized Emergency Medical System. It
does provide enough information and practical training to make a
difference in a real medical dive emergency.
Training
Program: As a Rescue Diver
candidate, you will attend academic sessions covering self rescue, dive
physiology of stress, psychological
factors concerning stress, dive equipment considerations, diving first
aid, dive emergency management, dive planning, and much more. You will
also participate in an intensive weekend of open water diving and
experience, first hand, many dive accident scenarios through role
playing exercises and
practice emergency prevention and management. This course is
particularly recommended for couples, people who dive together, and
candidates for upper level dive courses, including divemasters,
Divecons,
and master divers.
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Prerequisites: Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview:
Next to buoyancy control
and navigation, this is one of the most useful skills you can have in
diving. In this course, you will be able to to find and recover almost
anything related to recreational diving in an underwater condition. You
will be able to relocate objects, take bearings on objects, and use
search and recovery tools such as liftbags, search patterns and wreck
reels.
Training Program:
We'll cover many
different types of search patterns and the "how to's " about bringing
your recovered items back to the surface safely. Why you may even find
sunken treasure on your Search and Recovery check out dives. At the
very minimum, you may never lose a weight belt or other valuable piece
of equipment having taken this course.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver Course or equivalent.
Overview:
Here in New England, we
have a unique opportunity to see a multitude and variety of cold water
creatures that are not seen in any other parts of the world. Our local
dive sites are teeming with life everywhere you look. Lobsters, Striped
Bass, Sculpins, Moon Snails and some of the most beautiful Anemones in
the world lie just off shore for us to see. Taking our Underwater
Naturalist course will not only help you identify the various species
of marine life we have in our waters, but we will also have slide shows
and videos of other parts of the world to give you a more generalized
introduction to the topic of marine creature identification. You will
have lot's of opportunity to interact with a number of our instructors
and divemasters to find out about what really is "down there."
Training Program: The course
contains one academic session followed by two dives to complete
the
certification. You will have the opportunity to recovery lost
objects (such as a mask or fin) in the ocean on your dives.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent and your own underwater photography equipment
(subject to Instructor approval).
Overview:
Learning underwater
photography is exciting and fun. U/W photographs are a great way to
remember your last dive vacation or weekend dive in New England. Your
non-diver friends can even get a grasp of what SCUBA is all about, too!
Training Program: Our program
consists of one day of academic and pool sessions followed by two
dives in the ocean to practice your skills. Many topics will be
presented,
including photo fundamentals, camera functions, lenses, strobes,
lighting and composition. You will have a practice session held in
the pool for various photo techniques.
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Prerequisites:
Open
Water Diver certification or equivalent.
Overview: One of the most exciting
and mysterious experiences we have as divers is the wreck dive. Wreck
dives are interesting and exciting because of the vast number of
creatures live
among the man-made reef environment of a wreck along with the history
behind the wreck itself.
Training
Program: During the Wreck
Diver Specialty course, you will learn safety precautions needed during
wreck dives, how to safely descend and ascend from a wreck dive and have several
opportunities to dive on a few different wrecks. You will be
amazed at the number of different types of wrecks that lay silent on
the ocean floor just off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
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