Diveheart works with certified scuba divers and Adaptive Divers (individuals with a disability) to create Adaptive Dive Teams that allow everyone to experience zero gravity underwater. A Diveheart Adaptive Dive Team consists of the Adaptive Diver, and two Adaptive Dive Buddies. For certified scuba divers, taking a Diveheart Buddy Course is the first step to becoming part of a Diveheart Adaptive Dive Team.
Diveheart has several Adaptive Dive Buddy certifications, each building on the other in terms of the experience and responsibility needed by the buddy candidate. Diveheart prides itself on offering total immersion training for all of its Buddy Courses.
Diveheart believes in a duty to the adaptive diver, so all Diveheart courses are designed to provide buddies with the best knowledge base, training, and experience possible. This allows buddy candidates to create the safest Adaptive Dive Teams.
To accomplish this, the buddy candidate cannot simply enroll in a Diveheart course and receive a card, they will have to earn the certification. In the case of Diveheart’s Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy and Adaptive Scuba Instructor courses, the candidates will also need to complete a required 30 experiences diving with adaptive divers, prior to earning a certification.
Based on this logic, Diveheart does not consider the required “30 diving experiences with adaptive divers” a pre-requisite to the Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy or Adaptive Scuba Instructor (AADB/ASI) courses, but rather a *Pre-Requisite to the certification. A buddy candidate that meets all the hard pre-requisites (age, certs, etc), can enroll in these advanced Buddy Courses without having any experiences diving with adaptive divers.
When a candidate with no experiences diving with adaptive divers finishes the Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy or Adaptive Scuba Instructor course they will have earned a Diveheart Adaptive Dive Buddy certification. But, they will have the knowledge and training of an Advanced Adaptive Buddy or Adaptive Scuba Instructor. This allows the candidate to function as a more qualified and safer team member on Adaptive Dive Teams as they complete their 30 experiences diving with adaptive divers.
Diveheart has provided a way for these Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy and Adaptive Scuba Instructor candidates to log experiences diving with adaptive divers via the Diveheart Experience Log Page. Once the candidate acquires all 30 experiences, they submit the logs to their instructor or directly to Diveheart Headquarters, who then requests an upgrade for that candidate to receiver their Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy or Adaptive Scuba Instructor certification card at no extra cost whatsoever. They earned it!
Have questions? Email training@diveheart.org for more information!
The Diveheart eLearning courses have set prices and are to be completed prior to attending the practical portion of the course. The price of the manuals can vary depending on how the candidate chooses to acquire them. Manuals are also to be read prior to arriving to class. The price and schedule of the Practical Portion of the course is set by the instructor or training facility, not by Diveheart.
This course introduces Adaptive Diving to certified divers interested in working with adaptive divers (individuals with disabilities)! This is Diveheart’s entry-level Buddy Course. Upon earning their certification, Adaptive Dive Buddies will have the ability to participate on Diveheart Adaptive Dive Teams!
– Minimum of 15 years old
– Certified Open Water diver, or equivalent, with at least 20 logged dives
– Been diving, or taken a refresher course, in the past two years
– Have current CPR/First Aid/AED training (must be good through the entire course)
– Comfortable performing all of Diveheart’s Buddy Tune-Up Skills PRIOR to attending the practical portion of the course
– Proficient in scuba skills including buoyancy control (RECOMMENDED that candidate has completed a Buoyancy Control Course)
Diveheart Adaptive Dive Buddy eLearning Course: $215
Diveheart Buddy/Instructor Manual: $70
Practical Water Training: Price Varies
This course builds on Diveheart’s Adaptive Dive Buddy Course, introducing advanced skills, techniques, and protocols used when working with adaptive divers that require a higher degree of assistance while diving. Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy candidates will also use and become familiar with more specialized adaptive diving equipment, such as full face masks. Upon earning their certification, Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddies will have the ability to lead Diveheart Adaptive Dive Teams!
– Minimum of 18 years old
– Minimum of Certified Rescue Diver, or equivalent, with at least 40 logged dives
– Been diving, or taken a refresher course, in the past two years
-Have current CPR/First Aid/AED training (must be good through the entire course)
– Comfortable performing all of Diveheart’s Buddy Tune-Up Skills PRIOR to attending the practical portion of the course
– RECOMMENDED that candidate has a Full Face Mask Certification
*Pre-requisite to certification: 30 experiences working with adaptive divers underwater, a minimum of 15 having taken place in open water environments. See Above for more information.
Diveheart Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy eLearning Course: $265
Diveheart Buddy/Instructor Manual: $70
Practical Water Training: Price Varies
*Please Note: If you are already a Diveheart certified Adaptive Dive Buddy, and would like to take this eLearning course to upgrade your certification level, please email training@diveheart.org before registering for your next eLearning course! You may qualify for an upgrade promo code!
This course is for certified instructors who want to learn how to teach Diveheart courses. Upon earning this certification, Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructors will have the ability to teach and certify Diveheart Adaptive Divers, Adaptive Dive Buddies, and Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddies.
– Minimum of 18 years old
– Diveheart Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy certification, which can be taken at the same time as this course
– Minimum certification of an active, teaching status instructor with a recognized recreational agency
– Have current professional Liability Insurance
– Been teaching scuba courses, or diving, or taken a refresher course in the past two years
– Have current CPR/First Aid/AED training (must be good through the entire course) OR be certified and in teaching status as an instructor for these certifications
– Comfortable performing all of Diveheart’s Buddy Tune-Up Skills PRIOR to attending the practical portion of the course
– RECOMMENDED that candidate has a Full Face Mask Certification or Specialty Instructor Certification
*Pre-requisite to Certification: 30 experiences working with adaptive divers underwater, a minimum of 15 having taken place in open water environments. If candidate already earned a Diveheart Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy certification, this pre-requisite has been met. See Above for more information.
Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructor eLearning Course: $400
Diveheart Buddy/Instructor Manual: $70
Diveheart Adaptive Diver Manual: $40
Diveheart Adaptive Diver Profile Slate: $20
Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructor Slates: $60
Practical Water Training: Price Varies
*Please Note: If you are already have a Diveheart certification, and would like to take this eLearning course to upgrade your certification level, please email training@diveheart.org before registering for your next eLearning course! You may qualify for an upgrade promo code!
Diveheart works with certified scuba instructors from all recognized recreational scuba diving agencies around the world to get adaptive divers (individuals with disabilities) underwater to explore the possibilities in zero gravity!
Adaptive Diver candidates interested in pursuing a certification will work with a Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructor. The agency that the Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructor is professionally certified through (i.e. PADI, NAUI, SDI, etc), is used to provide the Adaptive Diver candidate with all traditional open water scuba training knowledge, including physics, physiology, equipment, environment, and more!
The adaptive diver candidate will follow that agency’s open water course curriculum, completing the knowledge development, confined water scenarios, and open water scenarios according to that agency’s standards. If the adaptive diver candidate is able to complete everything, they will earn a certification through that respective agency.
However, if there are skills that the adaptive diver candidate is unable to perform on their own, or to that agencies standards, the candidate will no longer qualify for that agency’s certification. But that’s alright! This is where Diveheart’s Adaptive Diver eLearning Course and Adaptive Diver manual come into play. Through these tools, the Adaptive Diver candidate will learn all about how being a part of an Adaptive Dive Team can allow them to scuba dive!
The Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructor will work with the adaptive diver candidate and Adaptive Dive Team members to complete skills the adaptive diver candidate is unable to perform on their own. Together they will determine the roles and responsibilities of every member of the Adaptive Dive Team as it pertains to completing skills and exploring the underwater world!
Have questions? Email training@diveheart.org for more information!
The Diveheart Adaptive Diver certification course is geared towards children, adults, and veterans with disabilities that want to gain an internationally recognized scuba diving certification. This course will be taken in conjunction with all other training required by the Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructor’s professional certification agency. These courses are frequently one-on-one courses with tailored pacing.
The Diveheart Adaptive Diver eLearning course introduces Adaptive Diving to anyone interested in learning about diving with a disability. There is no exam, and everyone is welcome to take it and learn about adaptive diving and Diveheart! An Adaptive Diver Candidate seeking certification is required to take this course and read the Diveheart Adaptive Diver Manual.
– Minimum of 10 years old
– A current RSTC approved Medical, signed by the candidate’s primary physician, clearing them to dive
Diveheart Adaptive Diver eLearning Course: $115
Diveheart Adaptive Diver Manual: $40
Diveheart Adaptive Diver Profile Slate: $20
Practical Water Training: Price Varies
*Please Note: Diveheart has several scholarships available for application to adaptive diver candidates to help offset costs. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, or in supporting an adaptive diver candidate, please email info@diveheart.org. If you have questions about the course, please email training@diveheart.org.
Diveheart has created some simple log pages that our buddy and adaptive diver candidates can use to track their scuba diving experiences!
In order to earn a Diveheart Advanced Adaptive Dive Buddy or a Diveheart Adaptive Scuba Instructor certification, the candidate must gain real-world, hands-on experiences diving with adaptive divers. The Diveheart Experience Log Sheet is available to help them track these experiences so that when they reach the 30 required experiences they can apply to upgrade their Diveheart certification level!
The Adaptive Diver Log Book Page can be used by anyone to log their scuba dives!