Technical Decompression Training
NAUI Technical Decompression Diver teaches the theory, methods, and procedures of planned staged decompression diving using nitrox breathing gas mixtures. The official NAUI page states that students plan and conduct standard staged decompression dives not exceeding 46 meters or 150 feet, with nitrox or helitrox if combined with the NAUI Helitrox Diver course. The course is a major shift from no-stop recreational diving into formal ascent planning, gas reserves, and decompression discipline.
This course is for divers who already have a strong recreational and technical foundation. NAUI lists Master Scuba Diver or equivalent, Introduction to Technical Diving or equivalent, and proof of at least 50 logged dives with 15 on EANx as prerequisites, with a minimum age of 18 by the water phase. Students should already be stable in technical equipment, disciplined with buoyancy, and comfortable following a plan precisely under increased task loading.
Training normally includes academic decompression theory, equipment configuration, dive planning, gas use, ascent control, and open-water technical dives. In High Springs, Florida, Technical Decompression Diver can be a key step toward helitrox, trimix, advanced cave, or wreck training. The expected outcome is a diver who understands staged decompression as a structured procedure and can execute planned ascents with better gas management, team awareness, and contingency thinking.
