Ice Diver

PADI Specialties

We can offer any of the PADI specialty courses upon request. 

Ice Diver and Wreck Diver are popular specialties that are usually held on a yearly basis depending on demand and are particularly good to do while you're in Wisconsin as we have plenty of icy lakes, and some of the best-preserved shipwrecks in Lake Michigan.

Prices vary, although most specialty courses are around the $200 mark depending on requirements such as number of dives, charter boats, etc.

 

PADI Ice Diver:

Explore the unique aquascape found only under ice. 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 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.

What You Learn

You will complete a minimum of three ice dives for your certification. Dives are typically done as a group working with support personnel, divers, tenders, and safety divers. You are under the ice to learn to control buoyancy, navigate under the ice, and keep in contact with the lead diver and tenders via line pulls.

You learn:

  • To plan and organize ice dives
  • Reasons and opportunities for ice diving,
  • Equipment considerations
  • About site selection, preparation and hole-cutting procedures
  • How to practice the procedures and techniques for handling the problems and hazards of ice diving
  • To use specialized ice diving equipment, safety lines, signals, communications, line tending and line-securing techniques
  • How to manage equipment problems
  • About the effects of cold, emergency procedures and safety-diver procedures