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DiveWithSteini · Herrenberg

Advanced & Specialties

Continuing training should improve a specific skill or prepare you for new conditions. We put the training pathway together based on your diving experience.

  • Advanced Adventure one-to-one · €899
  • Theory-based specialties · €249
  • Practical specialties · €449 to €599
  • Intensive specialties · €649 to €899
Price

What it costs

Advanced Adventure, one to one

€899

6 sessions · Drei ausgewählte Specialty-Bereiche und sechs Freiwassertauchgänge. · Included: Standard-Leihausrüstung, Gas, Eintritte, Brevetierung und Gebühren, Durchgehend 1:1, in deinem Tempo

Five dives, five topics. Afterwards you know which direction to take next.

Advanced Intensive, one to one

€1,290

Alles aus Advanced Adventure, dazu zusätzliche Trainingstauchgänge über das vorgeschriebene Minimum hinaus, Trockentauchen und die komplette Leihausrüstung. · Included: Alles aus Advanced Adventure, Zusätzliche Trainingstauchgänge über das vorgeschriebene Minimum hinaus, Trockentauchen inklusive Handhabung und Bleiverteilung, Komplette Leihausrüstung, nicht nur das Standardset

More water time per topic, for when the skills should really stick.

Individual specialties: theory €249, practice €449 to €599, intensive €649 to €899. Where a price starts “from”, the total depends on dive site, equipment and the practical scope needed.

All prices and what is included →

5,0 out of 5 stars5,0 · 8 Google reviews

SDI Advanced Adventure

The Advanced course combines three selected specialty areas and six open-water dives. Which areas we combine depends on your experience so far and the dive sites where you plan to dive later.

Dive more calmly and precisely

Advanced Buoyancy Control, Navigation and Drysuit make sense when buoyancy, ascents or orientation still demand too much of your attention.

  • Buoyancy and trim
  • Propulsion techniques
  • Navigation
  • Drysuit and ascent control

Getting to know new conditions

Deep Diver, Night / Limited Visibility, Drift, Boat and Altitude expand the range of conditions in which you can dive. Dive site, equipment and external costs are agreed before booking.

Theory and special interests

Computer Nitrox and Equipment Specialist can take place without an extensive open-water block. Photography and video combine technique with a suitable practical component.

Which skill are you missing?

Describe briefly what did not go the way you wanted on your recent dives.

Course catalogue

Every course I can teach you

Sorted by what you want to achieve, not by certification logic. Every course runs mostly one-to-one, and every price is a final price.

Into the water for the first time

You have never been underwater, or you simply want to try it calmly first. This is where it starts, with no prerequisites and no time pressure.

A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Snorkelling

SDI Snorkel Diver

You move calmly through the water with mask, snorkel and fins.

Snorkelling is not diving in miniature, it is its own thing, and often the calmest way back into the water. You learn how mask and snorkel need to fit, how to fin efficiently and how to clear the snorkel without any rush. If you want to, you can then duck-dive short distances and come back up under control, in your own time and without anyone waiting for you.

  • Suitable forFor families, travellers and anyone who would rather start without a cylinder.
  • ScopeOne session in the pool or at the lake, about two to three hours
  • RequirementYou should be able to swim and feel comfortable in the water. I provide the equipment.
from € 249First steps
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Scubility Scuba Discovery

SDI Scubility Scuba Discovery

You breathe underwater and feel how light your body becomes down there.

Different rules apply underwater. Weight hardly matters, movement becomes easier, and a lot simply happens by itself. We start in warm, shallow water, at your pace and with as much support alongside you as you would like. What you need for that we discuss calmly beforehand, and gladly with the people who usually accompany you.

  • Suitable forFor anyone who wants to get underwater and needs support that takes its time.
  • ScopeOne preliminary conversation and a first session in warm, shallow water. Everything after that at your pace.
  • RequirementNo certification and no experience needed. We work out any health considerations together beforehand.
After a personal conversationFirst steps

Dive calmer and more precisely

When air consumption, trim or orientation still take up too much attention, that is exactly what we work on. Everything else becomes easier afterwards.

A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Buoyancy

SDI Advanced Buoyancy Diver

You hover level in the water, without finning and without touching the bottom.

Buoyancy is the skill everything else rests on. If you lie calmly in the water, you breathe less, see more and stir up nothing. We work on your weighting, your position in the water and your breathing rhythm, and add finning techniques that let you move precisely even over a soft bottom. In the end you handle small tasks without losing your depth.

  • Suitable forFor you if your air runs out faster than other people's, or if you want to stop touching the bottom.
  • ScopeOne pool session and two open-water dives, usually within one day
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. Your own equipment helps, but is not required.
from € 449In water
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Underwater Navigation

SDI Underwater Navigation Diver

You find your way back to the exit without guessing and without surfacing.

Finding your way underwater is mostly craft: reading a compass, counting time and kick cycles, using natural features. We start with simple courses and patterns, then move to longer distances in poorer visibility. After that you plan a dive so that you arrive back underwater exactly where you intended. That takes a lot of tension out of every dive.

  • Suitable forFor you if you tend to surface at the end of a dive just to check where you actually are.
  • ScopeOne theory session and two open-water dives in one day
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. You can borrow a compass from me.
from € 449In water
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Computer Diving

SDI Computer Diver

You understand your dive computer and set it up deliberately, not by accident.

Most divers use a small part of their computer and trust the rest blindly. We go through your own device together: settings, alarms, ascent rate, no-decompression time and what the display is actually telling you in uncomfortable moments. Afterwards you download your dives yourself and can review them in your own time.

  • Suitable forFor you if you have been wearing your computer exactly as it came out of the box.
  • ScopeOne theory evening of about three hours, online or here in the vaulted cellar
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. Bring your own computer and its manual.
€ 249Theory

Getting to know new conditions

Cold, depth, darkness, long distances: each of these changes a few rules. We go through them one at a time, before you meet them by chance.

A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Dry Suit Diving

SDI Dry Suit Diver

You dive dry, warm and calm, with your ascents fully under control.

A dry suit extends your season to the whole year, but it changes buoyancy control, because two volumes of air now work at once. That is what we practise in the pool first, until valves, air distribution and your position in the water feel natural. Then we go to open water. The course also covers how to look after the suit and what really matters when buying one.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want to keep diving through autumn and winter instead of pausing.
  • ScopeOne theory session, one pool session and two open-water dives across two appointments
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. I provide the suit and undergarment for the course.
from € 649Intensive
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Deep Diving

SDI Deep Diver

You plan deeper dives yourself and dive them with an honest reserve.

Depth does not make diving harder, it makes it less forgiving: your gas lasts a shorter time, no-decompression limits shrink, colour and light disappear. So we work on planning, gas supply and controlled ascents first, and add depth step by step. Along the way you learn how nitrogen narcosis feels for you personally and how to notice it early.

  • Suitable forFor you if wrecks, walls or dive sites beyond your current depth range are on your list.
  • ScopeOne theory session and several open-water dives at increasing depth, usually across two days
  • RequirementSome diving practice and a certification beyond Open Water. We agree beforehand whether an intermediate step makes sense.
from € 449In water
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Night and Limited Visibility Diving

SDI Night / Limited Visibility Diver

You dive calmly in darkness and murky water, and stay with your buddy.

At night the same lake becomes a different place: quieter, smaller, and everything that matters sits inside your light beam. Beforehand we sort out lamp choice, hand signals with light and how the two of you stay together. Then we enter at dusk and exit in the dark, so you experience the transition consciously. Murky daytime water follows the same logic and is part of the course.

  • Suitable forFor you if darkness or visibility under two metres has been taking the calm out of your diving.
  • ScopeOne theory session and two open-water dives on a single evening
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. I provide the lamps; you are welcome to bring your own.
from € 449In water
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Diver Propulsion Vehicle

SDI Diver Propulsion Vehicle Diver

You run a scooter safely and never hand over control while doing it.

A scooter opens up distances you would otherwise never cover, and it forgives inattention less readily than fins do. We practise body position, turns, descending and ascending on the unit, and shutting it down calmly when something jams. You also replan your dive, because battery, gas supply and the way back now depend on each other.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want to cover a large dive site in a single dive.
  • ScopeOne theory session, a briefing on the unit and two open-water dives
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent and stable buoyancy. Whether you bring your own unit is something we agree beforehand.
from € 449In water

Understand it yourself

Not just using gas, equipment and technique, but being able to check and calculate them yourself. This is where diving becomes self-determined.

A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Computer Nitrox

SDI Computer Nitrox Diver

You dive nitrox, measure your gas yourself and set your computer accordingly.

Enriched air extends your no-decompression time in the right depth range. What matters is that you measure your gas yourself, know the depth limit that comes with it and set your computer accordingly. That is exactly what we practise, with the analyser in your hand rather than only on paper. After this you will not take a cylinder without checking it yourself.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want longer bottom times on a trip or in the local lake.
  • ScopeOne theory evening with hands-on gas analysis, about three to four hours
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. Training dives are not required; we can add them if you would like.
€ 249Theory
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Equipment Specialist

SDI Equipment Specialist

You understand your gear, care for it properly and spot problems early.

Most aborted dives are not caused by the diver but by a small detail on the equipment. We take apart regulators, inflators, valves and O-rings together, so you know what happens inside and what you are allowed to do yourself. After that you maintain your gear sensibly, handle the small things yourself and ask better questions when buying.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want to know what you may service yourself and when the workshop takes over.
  • ScopeOne workshop day in the vaulted cellar, about five hours
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent and up. No prior technical or hands-on experience needed.
€ 249Theory

TDI — technical diving

Three courses that build on each other: first understanding the gas, then the way of working, then planned decompression. They stand together because they belong together — and apart from the rest because they feel different.

A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

TDI Nitrox

TDI Nitrox Diver

You analyse your gas, work out the depth limit and document it properly.

The sticker on a cylinder is a claim, not a measurement. You determine the oxygen content yourself, label the cylinder and derive your maximum depth from the value you measured. We then transfer all of it to your computer and talk through the mistakes that happen most often with those settings, and how you avoid them before they reach the water.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want not just to use nitrox but to do the numbers behind it yourself.
  • ScopeOne theory evening with gas analysis. A guided practice dive can be added.
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. The digital learning material is included in the price.
€ 249Theory
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

TDI Intro to Tech

TDI Intro to Tech

You dive precisely as part of a team, level in the water and with planned gas.

Technical diving does not start with more cylinders, it starts with better fundamentals. First we look at your position in the water and your equipment, and only then decide what you will dive during the course. After that you practise while hovering: finning techniques, gas planning with your own consumption, team procedures and deploying a marker buoy. The course stays within no-decompression limits.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want to find out whether technical diving suits you, without committing to it.
  • ScopeOne theory and equipment day plus at least three open-water dives
  • RequirementSolid diving practice and a certification beyond Open Water. We do one dive together first.
€ 899Intensive

Taking responsibility

From here on it is no longer only about your own dive, but about the people in the water next to you.

A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Search and Recovery

SDI Search and Recovery Diver

You search systematically, find what was lost and lift it under control.

Something drops into the water, and suddenly the bottom is large and the visibility small. You learn search patterns that still work in poor visibility, clean handling of line and spool, and how to work with a lift bag without being taken to the surface yourself. We start in the manageable setting of a pool and then work outdoors, where bottom and visibility have a say.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want to recover lost items and work safely with lines while doing it.
  • ScopeOne theory session, one pool session and several open-water dives across two appointments
  • RequirementOpen Water or equivalent. Calm buoyancy matters more here than a high number of logged dives.
from € 649Intensive
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Air Fill Station Technician

SDI Air Fill Station Technician

You fill cylinders safely and know when to turn one away.

Standing at a fill station means taking responsibility for what someone else will breathe later. You learn how a compressor works, what to watch for in filters and air quality, how to assess a cylinder before filling it and what matters about valve, test date and markings. Part of that is saying no calmly when something is not right.

  • Suitable forFor you if you fill cylinders at a club or a dive centre, or are about to start.
  • ScopeOne theory session plus hands-on instruction at the fill station, about one day
  • RequirementA diving certification. Minimum age and any further requirements are clarified before you sign up.
€ 249Professional

Dive Experience Leader

SDI Dive Experience Leader

You guide guests through their first experience underwater, calmly and safely.

Some people do not want a certification straight away; they want to find out what water feels like from below. Guiding that situation well is a skill in its own right. You learn to read your guests, brief them briefly and clearly, and run the session so that nobody is overwhelmed. How far your authorisations reach is something we clarify before you start.

  • Suitable forFor you if you will be looking after beginners and guests at a dive centre or club.
  • ScopeTheory and supervised practice; the scope depends on what you already bring
  • RequirementA diving certification and time in the water. We check the exact requirements before you sign up.
After reviewing your qualificationsProfessional
A real DiveWithSteini diving photo.Image: tdisdi.com

Assistant Instructor

SDI Assistant Instructor

You teach theory and supervise skills as part of a teaching team.

Assistant Instructor is the step from guiding to teaching. You deliver theory sessions yourself, supervise skills in the pool and learn to address a mistake so that the mistake disappears rather than the confidence. We deliberately prepare you for instructor training, so that little of it comes as a surprise once you get there.

  • Suitable forFor you if you want to teach and are serious about the path towards instructor.
  • ScopeTheory, your own teaching presentations and assisting on live courses, spread over several weeks
  • RequirementDivemaster or equivalent. We look at where your training stands together beforehand.
After reviewing your qualificationsProfessional
Diver in a drysuit sitting on a tailgate after a cold-water dive
Drysuit · honest picture

What cold-water diving really looks like

Muddy boots, a tailgate, a flask of tea: this is the part the brochures skip. Cold-water diving is equipment, routine and a certain calm about the weather. The drysuit specialty gives you exactly that, so a November lake feels like an option, not an ordeal.

Comparison

Advanced: two ways to do it

Both paths lead to the same certification. The difference is how much water time and equipment you get on the way — and whether the dry suit is part of it. If you dive mainly in local lakes, the intensive route pays for itself quickly, because the dry suit is what turns three months of season into twelve.

Advanced Adventure

€899

  • The dives required for the SDI Advanced Adventure Diver certification
  • One-to-one throughout, at your pace
  • Standard rental equipment included
  • Gas, entries, certification and fees included
More water time

Advanced Intensive

€1,290

  • Everything from Advanced Adventure
  • Additional training dives beyond the required minimum
  • Dry suit including suit handling and weighting
  • Complete rental equipment, not just the standard set
  • More water time for whatever you personally need to work on
SDI Specialties

The specialties in detail

Specialties are not collectibles. Each one below removes a specific limitation — a season, a depth, a light condition, a piece of equipment you did not understand. Pick the one that opens up the diving you actually want to do; we can also combine several into an Advanced Adventure path.

Three categories, three prices: theory specialties are largely dry (€249), practice specialties include open-water dives (€449 to €599), intensive specialties need more water time and equipment (€649 to €899). All amounts are final prices for one-to-one training. Full overview on the prices page.

Diver in horizontal trim
Practice

Advanced Buoyancy

Hovering motionless, hands free, fins clear of the bottom. The single specialty that improves every other dive: less gas used, less silt stirred up, more attention left for what you actually came to see.

€449 to €599one-to-one, final price

Diver navigating in open water
Practice

Underwater Navigation

Compass work, natural navigation, distance estimation. The point is not passing an exercise but returning to the exit without surfacing to look around.

€449 to €599one-to-one, final price

Drysuit diver at a lake
Intensive

Dry Suit Diver

The specialty that extends your season to twelve months. Buoyancy behaves differently in a drysuit, and so does an emergency. You learn suit handling, weighting and the failure cases before you need them.

€649 to €899one-to-one, final price

Diver at depth near a wreck
Intensive

Deep Diver

Beyond 18 metres the picture changes: narcosis, gas consumption, no-decompression limits, colder water, less light. This specialty is about planning and honest limits rather than depth records.

€649 to €899one-to-one, final price

Diver at dusk
Practice

Night & Limited Visibility

Diving in a beam of light. Orientation, buddy contact and light signals work differently in darkness — and the same skills carry over directly to murky local lakes on a grey day.

€449 to €599one-to-one, final price

Technical diving equipment
Theory

Computer Nitrox

Nitrox from 22 to 40 percent oxygen: gas analysis, maximum operating depth, oxygen exposure, computer settings. Mostly theory, immediately useful, and a prerequisite for much of what follows.

€249one-to-one, final price

Regulator parts in the workshop
Theory

Equipment Specialist

How your equipment actually works. Regulators, BCDs and exposure suits from the inside, plus maintenance and simple field repairs. Taught in our own workshop, on real parts.

€249one-to-one, final price

Not sure which one fits? Tell me your certification, roughly how many dives you have logged and where you want to dive next — I will suggest the two that give you the most, not the most expensive ones.