Altitude Diver

Diving in a mountain lake or high-altitude quarry is not the same as diving at sea level, and the PADI Altitude Diver specialty teaches you exactly why. Reduced atmospheric pressure at elevation changes how nitrogen behaves in your body, which means standard dive tables and some computer settings need adjusting before you get in the water.

Over the course you will learn how to plan, organize and execute altitude dives properly, including how to recognise the specific hazards these environments bring, from colder water and lower visibility to the physiological effects of reduced pressure. You will also cover how to avoid and respond to emergencies that are more likely to arise in an altitude setting.

Practical skills form the core of the course: adjusting a dive computer for altitude use, or working through altitude dive profiles by hand using the RDP Table or eRDPML. These are skills you will actually use every time you dive somewhere above 300 metres elevation.

Completed in a single day, the Altitude Diver specialty is a genuinely useful qualification for divers who explore inland sites, and it pairs naturally with Dry Suit training for those tackling cold, high-altitude water.