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DiveWithSteini · Herrenberg

TDI — technical diving

Technical diving does not start with more cylinders, it starts with better fundamentals. Three courses that build on each other: first understanding the gas, then the way of working, then planned decompression.

What TDI is

TDI stands for Technical Diving International and is the technical branch of SDI. Where recreational diving stops — no-stop limits, one breathing gas — TDI begins: several gases, planned decompression, redundant equipment, team procedures.

That sounds like a different sport. Mostly it is different preparation. The dive is worked out beforehand instead of decided on the way. What people usually notice first is how much fine work sits in the fundamentals they thought they had long since mastered — trim, buoyancy, gas consumption.

Two divers in a technical configuration in cold green water

Cold green water, not a glossy brochure. That is exactly why technical diving starts with the basics and not with the number of cylinders.

How I teach TDI

The same way as everything else: one to one, with time. That is not a selling point here, it is the condition. In open water the standard allows up to four students per instructor. Four people dropping and retrieving a stage cylinder at the same time can be supervised by one instructor — they cannot be accompanied.

Before every TDI course we do one dive together. Not as a test, but so that we both know where we are starting. After that we decide which configuration you will dive during the course, and what you own, rent or simply try out first.

  • Briefing before every dive, feedback straight afterwards
  • Exercises done hovering and in trim, not on the bottom
  • Learning material digital, certification digital too
  • Special rental equipment is stated before you commit

The two courses

Meant in this order, but not necessarily booked in it. Nitrox is the entry point with the best effort-to-benefit ratio; Intro to Tech shows whether the way of working suits you.

TDI Nitrox

€249

One theory evening with gas analysis. No dive required.

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 it.

Requires: Open Water or equivalent.

View TDI Nitrox →

TDI Intro to Tech

€899

One theory and equipment day, at least three open-water dives.

Trim, finning techniques, gas planning based on your own consumption, team procedures, buoy deployment. The course stays within no-stop limits — it is the trial, not the clearance.

Requires: a certification beyond Open Water, solid practice.

View Intro to Tech →

What I do not teach

TDI has more courses than these two — Decompression Procedures, Advanced Nitrox, Extended Range, Trimix, Advanced Wreck, rebreathers. I do not currently teach them.

If your route goes further than this, I would rather tell you now and point you to someone who teaches the next step. A course I cannot certify is no use to you.

Where do you start?

Send me your certification, roughly how many dives you have, your deepest over the past year and a short description of your equipment. Then I will tell you which of the three is due — even if the answer is “none of them yet”.