SCUBA/Technical Diving Instruction
Smokey Point Diving's professional team of Instructors
can take you all the way from Open Water Diver to Instructor and/or Technical
Diver. We will be there to guide you every step of the way, always ensuring that
class standards are met and exceeded on your way to becoming a safety conscious,
confident diver.
Take a giant stride now and begin the adventure to "Escape, Explore, and Experience" the best the underwater world has to offer!
Here are just a few of our class offerings:
Our PADI Open Water certification class begins every three weeks throughout the
year and takes just a few weeks to complete. Class academics are held each
Monday and Wednesday evening in our large classroom at the store, and then
we move to the pool, where you will begin using scuba equipment on the very first night. You'll complete six class/pool sessions and four open water dives in Puget Sound in just three weeks.
This course will earn you PADI's entry level certification which will enable you to rent or buy scuba equipment anywhere, while you begin enjoying the wonders of the underwater world.
We provide the tanks, weights, wet suit, regulator, buoyancy compensator, and a dive
computer for each student. Students are required to provide their own mask, fins,
snorkel, booties, and hood (all suitable for Northwest diving.) All of this equipment is available for sale in the store,
and may be purchased individually or as a package. We offer a large selection of top brands to choose from.
While enrolled as a student you will also receive a discount on equipment purchased.
We limit our classes to a maximum of 10 students to facilitate learning and reduce stress.
Private and group rates are also available. Please call, email, or drop by
the store for more information.
Course Cost: $225
The PADI Adventures in Diving Certification consists of one evening of class followed by five dives,
three of which are electives chosen by you to fit your interests and desired direction in scuba training.
Once you have successfully completed the required deep and underwater navigation
dives, you may choose from more than 15 Adventure Dives, some of which are drift diver, night
diving, boat diving, and peak performance
buoyancy, to complete your course. Many of these dives may be completed
aboard one of Smokey Point's partner dive charter boats while enjoying the beauty of the San
Juan's or lower Puget Sound.
This class will hone the skills learned in Open Water and add many more, boosting your experience and confidence as a diver.
Check our Calendar for upcoming class dates.
Course Cost: $199
This is one of PADI’s most popular specialties – the PADI Enriched Air Diver course. Diving with enriched air nitrox lets you safely extend your
no stop time beyond the no decompression limits for air. Diving with enriched air means more time underwater – but you need to be certified as an Enriched Air Diver to get enriched air fills.
If you've already earned your PADI Open Water Diver certification, you're ready to take this course.
Some of the things you'll learn with this course:
- How to analyze cylinder contents
- How to plan enriched air dives using tables and dive computers
- How to safely increase your no stop time
Course Cost: $125
Challenging and rewarding best describes the PADI Rescue Diver course. This course will expand your knowledge and experience level. Rescue Divers learn to look beyond
themselves and consider the safety and well being of other divers. Although this course is challenging, it is a rewarding way to build your confidence. Rescue Diver training will prepare you to prevent
problems and, if necessary, manage dive emergencies. Many divers say this is the best course they’ve ever taken. You'll cover:
- Self-rescue and diver stress
- Emergency management and equipment
- Panicked diver response
- In-water rescue breathing protocols
- Egress (exits)
- Dive accident scenarios
Please note that an Emergency First Response class must be taken prior to taking the Rescue Diver course. Call, email, or stop by the store for more information.
Course Cost: $250
The Deep Diver Specialty course offers you the opportunity of a lifetime - going deep to see things others can only dream about.
In this course you will experience what it’s like to dive beyond 60 feet. Down there, it’s different. It takes additional training. Here’s how you get it:
- Learn deep dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and hazards
- Four open water dives that range from 18 - 40 metres / 60 - 130 feet
- Gain experience with diving deep under the direct, professional supervision of a PADI Instructor
Course Cost: $250
The TDI Intro to Tech course is the perfect course for divers who have heard about technical diving and want to find out more
about this exciting branch of advanced recreational diving. This course walks students through the special techniques, planning procedures and skills that set technical diving
apart from traditional sport diving. It will show them how to improve their dive planning methods, in-water skills and streamline their existing gear configuration, in a non-threatening
and fun learning environment. The specific skills this course will highlight are:
- Advanced Buoyancy Control
- Gas Management
- Situational Awareness
- Trim
- Gear Configuration and Selection
- Many More!
TDI’s Intro to Tech course is a useful stand-alone course for the diver who wants to become a more skilled, more proficient diver regardless of if he intends to move on to technical diving.
The course may also be used as an introduction to the TDI Advanced Nitrox course and the TDI Decompression Procedures course. And finally, it is also a good refresher for certified technical
divers who may want to refresh their skills or have them re-evaluated by a TDI technical instructor.
The TDI Advanced Nitrox Course qualifies divers to use enriched air nitrox from EAN 21 through EAN 100 to a depth of 40 metres/130 feet during dives hat do not require staged decompression.
Often taught in conjunction with the TDI Decompression Procedures course, this can be considered the foundation of your technical diving career. Advanced Nitrox is also a great course for those wanting to extend their bottom
times in shallower depths such as scientific diver, and a must for SCR or CCR divers. The course cover topics like:
- Equipment requirements
- Dive planning
- Oxygen tracking
- Blending methods
You will use the TDI Advanced Nitrox Diving manual for your course, which explains in an easy to understand practical manner the complex information that Advanced Nitrox divers need to know.
As sport divers planned decompression is not something that we do or have been taught. The TDI Decompression Procedures course prepares you for planned staged decompression diving. With a
maximum operating depth of 45m/150 feet, this course is your first step beyond the normal sport diving limits. Your TDI Instructor will provide you with valuable information and skills, among the topics covered are:
- Kit set-up
- Equipment requirements
- Decompression techniques
- Decompression breathing gases
- Gas management
- Contingency planning
The TDI Decompressions Procedures course combined with the TDI Advanced Nitrox course form the foundation of all other technical courses. After these two courses and some additional experience,
the stage has been set for you to move onto additional technical levels. Some of the materials you will be using include the TDI Divers Guide to Decompression Procedures, US Navy or Buhlmann Air Decompression Tables (made
of vinyl for easy in-water use and storage.)

Want to find out more about the many other exciting courses we offer? Looking for something specific you don't see here? Call,
email, or stop by the store and we'll fill you in. You can also get ahead of the sign-up process by
downloading our handy online PDF forms and completing them prior to class time.