There are few skills as important to a diver as navigation. But getting past the obvious safety issues like being able to get back to the boat, there’s at least one other reason. Wouldn’t you like to impress all your dive buddies by being able to move effortlessly throughout the dive site and always come up exactly where you want? You will be the diver everyone wants to follow!
Underwater navigation isn’t something you’re born with; it comes from techniques that are taught and practiced.
Your Underwater Navigator instructor will teach you about distance estimation, techniques for navigating from natural landmarks as well as compass navigation. You’ll practice using basic navigation skills to relocate a submerged object or position starting at the surface, and you’ll learn underwater map-making and application and how to use several navigation patterns.
When you complete the course, you will have the skills to set out from the shore or a boat and guide you and your buddy through a dive then resurface exactly where you intend. The ability to navigate successfully gives you the confidence to venture farther from the decent line so you can explore more of the dive site free from the stress that comes from not knowing where you are. More diving, less worrying.
Underwater navigation can be challenging, but in the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty course, you master the challenge. You learn the tools of the trade, including navigation via natural clues and by compass, as well as:
Underwater navigation is an important skill no matter what type of scuba diving you’re doing. It’s especially useful when night diving, wreck diving, or when you’re searching to recover a lost item underwater.