Specialty Diver Certifications

One of IVS's most popular programs, “Voodoo Gas”, as some call it…what is it, and how can it make my diving so much better? Are there any risks or reasons why I should, or should not, use it on every dive? Learn this and so much more by attending IVS’s EAN / Enriched Air / Nitrox Specialty Certification class! You’re only one evening away from unlocking the secrets of “Voodoo Gas”!

The Solo Diver / Self-Reliant Diver program teaches experienced recreational divers how to safely dive independently of a dive buddy or strengthen your buddy team skills. The course stresses on proper dive planning, personal limitations, accident prevention as well as the benefits, hazards, and proper procedures for diving solo. You will also learn the additional equipment that is required for self reliant diving including it's proper usage and assembly. This is the prefect course for underwater photography, underwater video divers and as a preparation for those preparing to enter into professional or technical level training.

Designed to introduce the diver to safely exploring the depths beyond open water limits and to provide the knowledge, skills & techniques to safely participate in deep diving activities to 130 ft, the recreational limit.

Sidemount diving is just what the doctor ordered with regards to getting that load off your back when entering or exiting the water. It also is ideal for helping maintain a high degree of trim and stability in the water too! Training includes both a single tank and two tank configurations.

Designed to be an introduction to altitude diving and to help the student diver develop the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary for altitude diving.

The AWARE - Coral Reef Conservation Specialty course teaches divers, snorkelers and non-divers about the vital role coral reefs play in the marine environment and how these ecosystems are currently threatened. The course familiarizes participants with the current state of the world’s coral reefs and explains how individuals can help protect the living reef from further decline.

This course is designed to introduce divers to the most common families and species of fish found in temperate and tropical waters. Divers learn basic fish identification and scientific surveying techniques. Through an overview of Project AWARE and other preservation and research efforts, such as the REEF Fish Survey Project, divers also learn the importance of personal involvement in aquatic environment conservation.

Some of the greatest diving takes place from boats of all sorts, and this course is designed to be an introduction to boat diving from a variety of platforms. It will help the student diver develop the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary for safe & comfortable boat diving.

Designed to introduce divers to the skills & excitement of using diver propulsion vehicles. Familiarizes student divers with the knowledge, planning, organization, procedures, techniques, potential problems & hazards associated with using DPVs.

Drift diving allows the diver to cover a large expanse of water during a dive, and makes diving where currents are present much more enjoyable. This course is designed to be an introduction to drift diving and to help the student diver develop the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary for safe & comfortable drift diving.

The purpose of the PADI Multilevel Diver Specialty course is to familiarize divers with the theory, skills, knowledge, planning, organization, procedures, hazards, benefits and enjoyment of multilevel diving with PADI’s eRDP/ML dive planner and/or with modern dive computers.

This course is designed to be an introduction to night diving and to help the student diver develop the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary for safely executing dives after dark.

The Project AWARE Specialty program is designed to familiarize divers and non-divers with the plight of worldwide aquatic ecosystems. It also describes what individuals can do to help protect aquatic resources.

PADI’s Search and Recovery Diver Specialty course will teach you effective ways to find objects underwater and safely bring them to the surface. Small, large or just awkward, there is a safe and proper way to bring them up.

This exclusive IVS program is designed to provide our divers with the skills and techniques necessary to locate and take undersea game in a legal, ethical manner. Shellfish, crustaceans, and gamefish are covered and tips on best methods to approach, take, transport and prepare are included. Learn to recognize legal species and understand complex game regulations specific to the area you will be hunting.

This course is designed to be an introduction to the underwater aquatic environment and to help the student diver develop safe and responsible interaction with aquatic life.

Be the diver everyone wants to follow and make your sense of direction legendary with the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty course. This program includes techniques for navigating open water, wrecks, reef systems, confined spaces and more!

The PADI Underwater Videographer Specialty course shows you how to create videos that are interesting, entertaining and worth watching again and again.

Wanna stay warm and toasty on a dive? Then dive dry. Yes! Unlike a wetsuit, a dry suit seals you off from the outside water and that keeps you warm! Even in surprisingly cold water. Dry suits let you dive more challenging dive sites, and extend your dive season. When you have the right cold water scuba diving attire, you can stand up to the elements and take advantage of the generally better visibility offered by winter months — especially at inland dive sites such as quarries, lakes, sinkholes and caves etc. As a dry suit diver, you’re equipped to scuba dive some of the world’s most incredible dive sites in the cooler regions that are best enjoyed in a dry suit even in the warmer months.

The purpose of the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course is to polish a diver’s buoyancy control beyond the Open Water Diver level. The goal of PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy training is to enhance the student diver’s buoyancy control abilities through knowledge development and practical skills practice.

AWARE Coral Reef Conservation is a non-diving educational program designed to enhance the knowledge of divers and non-divers alike as it pertains to understanding coral reef systems. Participants are also introduced to a number of organizations that work to restore, repair and protect coral reef systems worldwide. This is a classroom-only program, that shares much of the key learning points with the PPB program. As such, we incorporate the key elements of this program into our IVS-exclusive PPB/CRC combination program.

Ready to venture off the beaten path of shallow reef diving? The ocean, as well as the lakes and rivers we visit, is teeming with fine examples of maritime construction that for one reason or the other, is not afloat today. The Wreck Diver program is your entryway into safely exploring these manmade treasures lurking beneath the waves. The course is designed to familiarize divers with the skills and knowledge to explore wrecks safely in a variety of conditions with an emphasis on fun and safety.

The Cavern Diver course offers the certified diver a introductory glimpse into the truly amazing and beautiful world of underwater caves. This course allows the diver to explore that portion of the cave system within the daylight zone. You have the opportunity to experience the overhead environment in a controlled setting to determine if cave diving is of interest to you.

If the spirit of adventure and unusual, challenging diving appeals to you, try diving under the ice. During the course, you dive with a PADI Professional in one of the most extreme adventure specialties recreational diving offers. Explore the unique aquascape found only under the frozen surface of a lake or river. You can be one of the few that have ever dived under a solid ceiling of ice. Plus, imagine the look on your Divemaster’s face on your next Caribbean trip when you flash your PADI Ice Diver certification. You might even get a chance to play with your exhaled air bubbles on the bottom of the ice or an opportunity to try the unique sport of upside down, bottom of the ice, skiing. For safety, all open water dives require the use of a tether line to surface support personnel.

What better way to share the wonders of the underwater world with non-divers than to take great photographs of whate you see on your dives! This course is designed to be an introduction to underwater photography and to help the student diver develop the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary to compose, capture and edit great underwater digital pictures. eLearning option available.