SDI Wreck Diver
Become a certified shipwreck diver Rental Gear Included!
SDI WRECK DIVER
Wreck diving can be one of the most exciting aspects of sport diving, however every effort must be made to maximize safe diving techniques. The SDI Wreck Diver Course will discuss the equipment and techniques commonly employed while wreck diving. This course may be taught as a non-penetration, 2 dives required, or as a limited-penetration course, requiring 3 dives. Limited-penetration is defined as a swim through or within the ambient light of entry point.
Wreck Diver Specialty
Imagine descending through the water and suddenly seeing the outline of a sunken ship appear beneath you… a place filled with history, mystery, and adventure. The Wreck Diver Specialty course is designed to give you the skills, confidence, and awareness to explore these incredible sites safely and with purpose.
As you progress through this course, you naturally begin to feel more in control of your environment. You learn how to move with precision, think ahead, and navigate complex structures while staying calm and focused.
What You Will Learn
You’ll develop essential techniques that transform the way you dive around wrecks:
- Wreck Navigation:
Learn how to orient yourself on large and complex structures using reference points, natural navigation, and reels—so you always know where you are and how to return safely. - Hazard Recognition:
Instantly recognize and avoid potential risks like entanglement, silt-outs, and unstable structures, giving you a strong sense of awareness and control. - Specialized Equipment Use:
Gain confidence using dive lights, reels, cutting tools, and slates—equipment that makes wreck diving safer, easier, and more enjoyable. - Surveying & Mapping:
Discover how to observe, document, and understand a wreck’s layout, helping you plan smarter dives and explore more efficiently. - Advanced Finning Techniques:
Master techniques like the frog kick so you glide effortlessly without disturbing silt, keeping visibility clear for you and your buddy.
Who This Course Is For
This course is perfect for divers who feel drawn to underwater exploration and want to:
- Discover and research wreck sites
- Learn proper line handling and navigation techniques
- Map and understand wreck structures
- Experience the excitement of underwater history
Course Structure
Wreck diving is one of the most exciting areas of scuba diving—but it requires the right training and mindset. This course emphasizes safe diving practices at all times.
You can choose between:
- Non-Penetration Course: Minimum of 2 dives
- Limited Penetration Course: Minimum of 3 dives
Limited penetration means exploring areas within the ambient light zone, always staying within a safe and visible exit.
As you complete this course, you’ll begin to see wrecks not just as dive sites—but as stories waiting to be explored… safely, confidently, and with skill
Availability: Contact us for booking information
Name: SS Milwaukee
Date Sank: 1929
Depth: 125 feet
Lives Lost: 46
Location: Lake Michigan
Name: Norlond
Date Sank: 1922
Depth: 65 feet
Lives Lost: 0
Location: Lake Michigan
Size
Length: 152.50 feet
Beam (Width): 25 feet
Weight: 522 tons
Video
Name: Wisconsin
Date Sank: 1929
Depth: 125 feet
Lives Lost: 9
Location: Lake Michigan
Size
Length: 209 feet
Beam (Width): 40 feet
Weight:2142 tons
Video
Name: Lumberman
Date Sank: 1893
Depth: 60 feet
Lives Lost: 0
Location: Lake Michigan
Size
Length: 126.5 feet
Beam (Width): 23.5 feet
Weight: 159.89 tons
Video
Name: Prins Willem
Date Sank: 1954
Depth: 69 feet
Lives Lost: 0
Location: Lake Michigan
Size
Length: 258 feet
Beam (Width): 42.1 feet
Weight: 1567 tons
Video
Who this course is for:
Individuals who wish to know more about the wreck diving including:
- Researching wrecks
- Mapping wrecks
- Proper use of lines while wreck diving
- Exploring underwater history
Course prerequisites:
- SDI Open Water Scuba Diver, or equivalent
- Minimum age 18, 15 for limited penetration course with parental consent
- Minimum age 10 with parental consent for a non-penetration course
- Junior Open Water Divers may not participate in any penetration activities or dives deeper than 18 metres/60 feet
- Divers must have a deep diver specialty certification or be able to provide proof of experience in order to dive deeper than 18 metres/60 feet in this course
What you can expect to learn:
The SDI Wreck Diver course takes an in-depth look at all of the following and more:
- Why wreck dive?
- Surface supports
- Communications, when and if necessary
- Back-up procedures
- Buddy system
- Buddy contact
- Contact with varied visibility
- Buddy lines
- Line signals
- Buddy positioning in close proximity
- Navigation/charting
- Usage of the slate
- Larger than normal
- Pre-dive marking
- Pre-planning the dive using charts, other information
- Directional determination
- Disorientation
- With/without buddy
- Lost buddy
- Light failure
- Emergency procedures
- Special equipment
- Lights: primary and backup, size, burn time, and usage
- Knifes and cutting devices
- Limited visibility diving
- Silt-out
- Psychological considerations
- Light usage
- Importance of light and backup
- Dark vision, don’t shine light in buddy’s eyes
- Life lines and reels
- Type of line
- Tie-offs
- Directional markers
- Line handling and reeling must be practiced on land prior to performing this skill underwater
- Special emergency procedures
- Safe Wreck
- Hazardous or otherwise unsafe wrecks
- Mapping the wreck
- Vertical, horizontal, and feature identification
What’s in it for you?
Upon successful completion of this course graduates may:
- Dive wrecks that are similar to the type of wrecks they were exposed to during training
- Plan and execute a wreck dive
Also, the SDI Wreck Diver certification counts towards a single specialty rating to achieve the SDI Advanced Diver Development program.
SDI Wreck Diver minimum requirements:
- Open Water Dive 1
- Pre-dive review of dive computers
- Plan dive
- Test lights
- Familiarization with areas
- Basic charting outside wreck
- Usage of lines outside wreck, optional
- Surface and log dive
- Open Water Dive 2
- Plan dive
- Figure surface interval
- Descend
- Team complete mapping
- Usage of lines outside wreck, optional
- Surface and log dive
- Open Water Dive 3
- Plan dive
- Descend
- Usage of lines inside wreck, optional
- Surface and log dive
- Open Water Dive 4 (Optional)
- Plan dive
- Planned dive explained
- Dive/explore as determined
- Surface and log dive
