Tec dive sites

The tec diving course offers the possibility of visiting some extreme dive sites. Some of them are known to normal divers but at these depths, CJ´s drop off, Duppy waters, The Pinnacle are some of the most popular vertical walls on the Turtle Harbour, North Side of the island. More remote and less (or not) visited by normal divers are the sea mounds. Located by GPS satellite coordinates, these places used by some fishermen don´t see human diver action and are crowded with fish and healthy coral. Besides, on the final decompression in the blue we had the chance of sharing waters with Manta Rays, Marlins, Sharks and Dolphins. Only tec diving puts you in this situation, drifting in mid water, off shore and on top of a sea mound, every new dive expedition to these magic locations opens the door to incredible marine life encounters.

The Tec Diving Gear

Tec diving uses extensive methodologies and equipment to manage the added risk involved in decompression diving. The gear must be in top shape and, in a group of four, we are talking about 16 regulators and 20 tank valves ! Utila Dive Centre has the most complete equipment room in the Bay Islands plus the Tec Room where we keep our special stuff.

Besides the private tec gear, we keep here 3 complete sets of tec gear including Dive Rite backplates with harness, double BCD´s and balanced diaphragm regulators for the back set. We use Scubapro MK2 for decompression tanks, simple and reliable. We have also accesories like lift bags, reels, pouches, slates and knives, always ready.

The gas blending station consists of a Bauer K26 compressor with air storage banks, a Coltri compressor connected to a Nitrox stick, a 4 tank cascade Oxygen system, a 3 tank cascade Helium system, plus 2 Oxygen and 1 Helium analyzer.

I enjoy taking care of this gear myself, with 7 years experience as Equipment Technician in UDC and Cross Creek, certified by Mares, Scubapro and Sheerwood, I train every month new PADI Equipment Specialists always eager to help me out to practice their new skills.

Tec diving in Utila

Originally brought to Utila in 2001 by CD Andy Phillips, Tec diving is becoming increasingly popular among dive professionals and the diving community in general. Every month new tec divers get certified at Utila Dive Centre and become members of this growing family. There are also tec diving trips organized for the already certified, often to sea mounds that can be found only by GPS or sheer walls on the north side of the island.

On these sites, the diver enjoys an extensive display of marine life and underwater landscapes that are only available to those who are trained to cross the No Deco Limits. Ocasional trips to the neighbour island of Roatan and Cayos Cochinos offer a different experience within 1 or 2 hours of boat ride, and always the possibility of spotting and swimming with whale sharks, manta rays or dolphins.