Underwater navigation specialty

Underwater navigation skills, beyond enabling the diver to repeat a chosen dive route, also constitute a highly important safety tool. The ability to follow a planned route, conserve precious air, and adhere to the dive plan depends to a great extent on the diver’s capacity to navigate underwater.

In addition, this specialty serves as an introduction to developing the skills required to lead other divers. Needless to say, a group leader should be able to navigate and carry out a pre‑planned dive route.

Course objective:
Improving proficiency in compass use and in techniques for navigation above and below the water. This specialty is a mandatory requirement towards the Senior Diver – Dive Master rating and the Senior Sport Diver – Master Diver rating. At the end of the course, divers will know how to navigate to a dive site using a variety of methods, and will be able to prepare a dive route map and conduct a dive according to it.

Prerequisites:
Two‑Star Diver (or an equivalent rating from another diving organization).
Age 15 on the first day of the course.

Course structure and topics:
The duration of the course is at least two days and it includes two classroom sessions and four water sessions (dives).

The classroom session will cover:

• Principles of marine navigation (above and below the water).

• Navigation using a compass.

The water sessions will include four dives:

• Navigation using a compass.

• Navigation using natural features and a compass.

• Dive patterns and taking bearings.

• Preparation of an underwater map.

To register – visit one of the TIDF’s dive centers in the Mediterranean or in Eilat.​

The Israeli Diving Federation has more than 20 dive centers, from Achziv in the north to Eilat in the Red sea, so you can choose between a dive course close to home, a course in the Red sea, or even a combined Mediterranean-Red sea course.