Become a specialty diver in one of the following categories on the North Shore and around Hawaii. Get 5 specialties and become a PADI Master Diver.
Night Diver Specialty
As the sun drops behind the tide pool at sharks cove, you gear up, and walk to the water’s edge. Although you have done this shore dive during the day, you drop into a whole different world. Your dive light brings the dark water to life, unveiling scene of nocturnal critters.
The Fun Part
Introduce yourself to the whole new cast of critters that comes out after the sun goes down. See your favorite dive sites from a whole new perspective at night.
What You Learn
- Night dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques, and potential problems
- How to control your buoyancy at night
- Entries, exits, and underwater navigation at night
- Nocturnal aquatic life, since many of the plants and animals you’ll see are different
3 Scuba dives total.
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification
Wreck Diver Specialty
Oahu is the capital of wreck diving in all the Hawaiian Island and Hawaii Eco Divers has access to most of them. Whether the result of a accident or sunk on purpose as an artificial reef, wrecks open fascinating windows to the past. Most divers find wrecked ships, airplanes, and even automobiles nearly irresistible because they’re intriguing to explore, exciting avenues of discovery, and usually teeming with aquatic life. The PADI Wreck Diver course teaches you the ins and outs of rewarding, responsible wreck diving.
The Fun Part
The fun part of the PADI Wreck Diver course is visiting wrecks, unlocking mysteries and starting to gain the knowledge and experience that allows you to see things that others overlook. Sometimes, only the trained, experienced eye recognizes that a small hole or open door likely caused the vessel’s demise.
What You Learn
- Techniques for diving exploring shipwrecks, and how to avoid common hazards
- How to research and learn the background of your favorite wrecks
- Wreck scuba diving equipment considerations
- Considerations and techniques for entering intact wrecks
- Experience in planning, organizing and making at least four wreck dives under the supervision of your PADI Instructor
4 Scuba dives total
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification
Deep diver specialty
After your first few scuba dives, you soon want to explore a bit deeper. There’s something exciting and mysterious about the depth that attracts dives. Oahu has amazing shipwrecks and they are all found in deep water.
What You Learn
- Techniques for diving in the deeper range of 18-40 metres/ 60-130 feet
- Deep scuba diving equipment considerations
- Experience in planning, organizing and making at least four deep dives under the supervision of your PADI Instructor
4 Scuba dives total
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification
Digital Underwater Photography Specialty Diver
Underwater photography is one of the most popular diving specialties, and the rise of digital underwater photography has made it easier and more fun than ever. The PADI Digital Underwater Photographer course gets you going quickly with today’s modern digital equipment, whether you use a point-and-shoot snap camera or a sophisticated D-SLR like the pros.
What You Learn
- How to choose the right underwater camera system for you
- The PADI SEA method for getting great shots quickly
- The three primary principles for good underwater photos and videos
2 Scuba dives total
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification
Underwater Videography Specialty Diver
Other than taking someone diving, there’s only one way to show someone the sounds, motion and dynamics of the underwater world: video. The PADI Underwater Videographer Specialty course shows you how to create videos that are interesting, entertaining and worth watching again and again. Use your editing skills to share your clips with friends and family as well as with the world through YouTube, Facebook and more. Use your underwater videos to turn more of your friends into dive buddies.
What You Learn
- Selecting, maintaining and caring for your underwater video equipment
- Videography fundamentals, such as
- exposure
- focus
- shot types
- moves
- story line
- shot sequencing
4 Scuba dives total
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification
Underwater Naturalist Specialty Diver
Want to see new things on even the most familiar dive sites? Underwater Naturalist specialty course gives you insight on underwater ecology, habitats of both aquatic plants and animals, and symbiosis. This knowledge will help you look closer on your next dive to notice sea creatures and behaviors you may have previously missed.
The Fun Part
Learn about why some creatures behave the way they do and what their role is in the aquatic ecosystem.
What You Learn
- Terrestrial and aquatic world major differences
- Key aquatic life groupings, interactions, and information that dismiss negative myths
- Roll of aquatic plants, predator/ prey interactions, and food chains within the ecosystem
- Responsible diver interactions with marine life
2 Scuba dives
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification
Peak Buoyancy Performance Specialty
Would you like to move effortlessly underwater, use less air, and descent, ascent or hover as if by thought? Excellent buoyancy control is what defines skilled divers, you can achieve this too! The Padi Peak Buoyancy Performance specialty course improves the skills you learned as a beginner diver and takes them a step further.
The Fun Part
The fun part of this course is giving your dive skills a polish you may not have thought possible.
What You Learn
- Attain neutral buoyancy
- Use the right amount of weight
- Streamline your body for smooth movement through the water and saving air
- Hover effortlessly
2 Scuba dives
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification
Fish Identification Specialty Diver
One of the most common questions after surfacing from a dive is “what was that fish?”. If you find yourself asking this question frequently and would like to be the one with the answers instead, this Padi AWARE course is for you. Roughly 25% of the reef fish species in Hawaii are endemic, meaning they only exist here. Once you learn to recognize fish by main families and characteristics you can easily look up the local name or inquire about it with you dive professional. These basic fish identification skills can be applied on dives all over the world.
The Fun Part
You’ll find you enjoy your dives even more when you recognize the creatures that you see. The fun part about this course is you can use the skills you learn on every scuba dive vacation because once you learn the main fish families and characteristics it will help you decipher the species you see all over the world.
What You Learn
- How to Identify characteristics of fish families and species
- About the local endemic species of Oahu
- Fish survey strategies and techniques
- Dive planning, procedures, and organization for fish identification
2 Scuba dives
Pre-requisites – Open water dive certification