The purpose of this document is to establish expectations and eliminate misunderstandings by spelling out what is involved in technical dive training, what the prices quoted by Atlanta Technical Divers do and do not include, and what students can expect during training.
Technical dive training is arguably more rigorous than most open water recreational dive training. Technical certification typically requires extensive academic, confined water, and open water efforts on the part of the student. Often considerable theory is required to understand the need for the skills and techniques involved. Once these skills and techniques are described and demonstrated, much practice is required to become proficient. ATD instructors facilitate and accelerate learning through proven instructional technique and feedback, but only hard work and regular practice on the part of the student can achieve success.
To be successful, divers must possess superior buoyancy skills and be able to handle significant task loading. Only divers that are detail oriented and disciplined are good candidates for this type of diving. The ability to objectively assess risk is critical.
ATD instructors will be happy to help you match your diving objectives with courses that can help you to attain your goals. We can help you to develop a training sequence, discuss scheduling, and answer any questions you might have.
Tuition is always due at the start of a course. Payment can be made by credit card through Pay Pal or by cash or check at the first session. (An additional fee of 3% will be required if utilizing Pay Pal.) We are happy to try and arrange a payment plan or schedule, but unless discussed in advance full payment is expected at the first session.
Technical training often involves additional expenses that are not included in the course tuition. These can include texts, dive tables, gas fills, equipment rentals, entrance fees, boat fees, non-scheduled trips, etc. ATD instructors will be happy to estimate additional costs associated with particular courses upon request.
No certifications will be issued until all course requirements have been met. This includes water skills, dive and bottom time minimums, academic work and final exams, and payment in full for course tuition and materials.
We dive every month. Our schedule for Florida cave diving trips (we refer to these trips as cave weekends) and local quarry practice is available on our web page. All technical divers are invited and encouraged to join us as often as possible. We look forward to diving with former, current, and potential students, and offering pointers and feedback.
Most courses can be completed with an academic session or two, 1-3 confined water sessions (pool or local quarry), and 1-3 weekend trips. Students that are not successful within this time frame are encouraged to gain additional experience by attending cave weekends and quarry sessions. During this additional practice ATD instructors will offer feedback and suggest strategies to help the student become prepared to re-attempt certification requirements.
When ready to re-attempt certification, previous students can join any scheduled class on a space available basis. No additional tuition will be required although the student will be responsible for any necessary entrance fees, boat fees, equipment rental, gas fills, etc.
If a previous student would like to re-attempt certification requirements during a cave weekend even though no corresponding class is scheduled, a fee of $100 will be required. (So if we're in Florida working with a cavern class but a previous student would like to complete an apprentice cave certification, a fee of $100 will be required.) If a previous student would like to schedule dives to complete unfulfilled certification requirements at other times then all the travel and diving expenses of the instructor must be covered and a fee would have to be agreed upon based on the situation.