The future of deep tec diving belongs to the CCR (closed circuit rebreather) and the Tec 40 CCR course is where it all starts. If you’re interested in technical diving and want to dive a rebreather, the Tec 40 CCR course is your entry into the tec diving realm. This first level of training introduces you to Type T CCRs, which can be electronic CCRs (eCCRs) and manual CCRs (mCCRs). During the course, you focus on developing the discipline it takes to be a technical diver while learning the details of proper setup, predive checks, dive planning, failure and problem management and teamwork for CCR diving.

To take a Tec 40 CCR Diver course, you must:

• • Be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver

• • Be a PADI Enriched Air Diver

• • Be a PADI Deep Diver or show proof of 10 dives to 30 metres/100 feet

• • Have a minimum of 30 logged dives, with at least 10 dives using EANx deeper than 18 metres/60 feet

• • Be at least 18 years old

• • Before Training Dive 5, be certified as a PADI Rescue Diver

• • Before certification, have at least 50 logged dives.

You’ll learn to make no stop or limited decompression dives using a Type T CCR to a maximum depth of 40 metres/130 feet during eight training dives. You’ll also cover:

• Basic CCR function
• Tec equipment and CCR setup and checklists
• Diving CCRs and handling potential problems
• Decompression software and open-circuit bailout requirements
• Post-dive procedures and disassembly
• Thinking like a Tec CCR diver

You’ll use standard tec diving equipment appropriate for the local environment, including your exposure suit, mask, fins and weight system. Snorkels are optional, but a collapsible snorkel can be carried in your pocket. You’ll also need a Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB) and reel, an audible surface signaling device, slate and a compass. Your PADI Tec 40 CCR Instructor will advise you about the Type T CCR you’ll learn to use and suggest a CCR dive computer with open-circuit bailout capability (if not integrated into the CCR), offboard life support system, and oxygen analyzer along with other beneficial gear.

After certification as a PADI Tec 40 CCR Diver, you’ll need to qualify if you want to use a different Type T CCR model because procedures vary with each model. However, you don’t need to repeat the entire course. Just take a PADI Tec CCR Qualifier program that focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to use a different Type T CCR model.