About The Technical Diver
About The Technical Diver
Well then, time to write some words about The Technical Diver. All blame goes to Richard Devanney, which is me- the person writing this. Hello. That was a deliberate attempt to go from the 3rd person to the 1st person so the rest of the page doesn’t sound weird.
I’ve been a technical diving instructor for 13 years, and have held tech instructor ratings with TDI, SSI Xr, PADI TecRec, BSAC, IANTD, and Raid, and diver ratings with GUE. Obviously, I don’t pay the renewal fees for all that, most of my tech courses are taught with TDI. I own a JJ-CCR and being underwater is my favourite underwater thing to do, along with wreck and wall diving. Although I’m a full cave diver, I haven’t dived caves for a while and would certainly need a decent refresher in navigation before attempting any circuits again.
Why I created the website
I created The Technical Diver for two reasons, to promote the dive training that I offered, and to collate articles and videos that would be useful to technical divers. There is a lot of information out there, but it’s not always easy to find. Over time the website has become much less about my training. This was initially because I moved around a lot and was not in a position to be able to teach. However, since COVID, my employment has involved me being more at sea than under it. I’m still involved in the diving industry, but not teaching as much.
This website is not aimed at any particular diver, there is information that should be useful to all. I should probably point out that there is no substitute for proper training in scuba diving. I don’t necessarily personally agree with every single thing that is in the videos or articles section, but I do think it’s good to see and hear different perspectives and approaches to technical diving.
Diving Background
I have managed dive centres in Thailand, Iceland, and Indonesia, managed a liveaboard in Truk Lagoon, and managed the rebreather diving on a superyacht- the owner dived on a rEvo and we did some interesting diving in Massachusetts, the Bahamas, Antigua, and the British Virgin Islands.
I currently manage a dive centre in Norway over the summer and work in Antarctica from November to April as a dive guide.
A week and a half after moving to Norway I managed to break my leg. For my efforts, I received a titanium trim weight. The diving in Norway is considerably better than people seem to think it would be. The visibility is good, there are numerous WW2 wrecks, and there is a lot of marine life.
Dive training with The Technical Diver
Courses available include Intro to Tech, sidemount, Advanced Nitrox, Deco Procedures, Extended Range, Trimix Diver, Advanced Wreck, and Solo Diver. I used to teach CCR diving on the Poseidon 6 and se7en- it was the first unit I got certified on. It’s also the first unit I had to bail out from for real- on the first two dives of the course with the instructor ahead of me, completely oblivious!
The Poseidon is great to dive, but also frustratingly temperamental to set up without endless battery errors. I own and dive a JJ-CCR, and the difference in setting it up is night and day. I was getting set to do my JJ instructor, but then COVID happened and my career took a different turn so I’m not teaching enough now to justify it. I’m happy fun dive these days.
I hope you enjoy the content on this site. For information on any of my courses, contact me.
Scuba Diving Book
Finally, although it will be of very little use to most people that read this website, when living in Bali I wrote a book for beginner scuba divers. It’s called “Scuba Diving- A short guide to open water training” and is available on Amazon kindle.
It’s firmly aimed at those thinking of learning to dive, and provides information to help them understand what they will learn on the course, how they are structured, duration, requirements, and what they will be able to do once qualified. I’ve also been meaning to write a book about technical diving, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Header image photo credit: Courtesy of Tony Wong
