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Texas Scuba Academy
SDI Advanced Buoyancy Diver
Open Water certifiedSDI Certified

SDI Advanced Buoyancy Diver

Master effortless hovering, zero reef contact, and better air consumption on every dive.

$149.95Enrollment Open
Have questions? Call (512) 489-4404
  • ✓eLearning access as soon as you check out
  • ✓We’ll be in touch to schedule your sessions
Taught by Brady Huddleston
SDI Course Director & Instructor Trainer · PADI IDC Staff Instructor · American Red Cross Instructor
Meet the team

What's included

✓SDI eLearning and course materials
✓Personal instruction from a certified SDI Instructor
✓All required training equipment provided
✓Lifetime SDI certification, recognized worldwide
✓Flexible scheduling — we handle the pool location and gear
“Best decision I made. The instructors were patient, the small class size meant real attention, and I booked everything online without a single phone call.”
— Recent Open Water graduate

Who it's for

This course builds on prior certification and experience — here's what you'll need before you start.

✓
SDI Open Water Scuba Diver, SDI Junior Open Water Diver, or equivalentBase certification required
✓
Minimum age 1810 years old with parental consent

What you'll learn

Knowledge Development

✓Why we care about buoyancy: protecting aquatic life, reducing fatigue and effort, reducing air consumption for more bottom time, and enabling better photos/video
✓When a buoyancy check must be performed: when equipment changes, when the diving environment changes, after time away from diving, and during every dive
✓Buoyancy factors: additional equipment, cylinder weight changes as air is consumed, lungs vs. BCD, BCD vs. dry suit, physical fitness, breathing patterns, suit compression under pressure, weight position and distribution, streamlining equipment and body position, and efficient kicking style
✓Weighting considerations across exposure protection: swimsuit, 3mm and 5mm wet suit, cold-water suit with hood, and dry suit
✓How to perform a standard buoyancy check with an almost-empty cylinder

Practical Training

✓Assembling dive equipment and completing a pre-dive check
✓Pre-dive buoyancy checks with both an almost-empty and a full cylinder, adjusting weight to achieve correct buoyancy
✓Controlled descent
✓Hovering exercises: fine-tuning with breath control, fine-tuning with BCD or dry suit, and close-to-bottom no-touch exercises
✓Swimming exercises and a controlled ascent including a hovering safety stop
✓Logging the dive, noting the amount of weight used

Frequently asked questions

Not at all — this course is great for newer certified divers who want to build the right habits early, and equally valuable for experienced divers who've picked up bad habits along the way. If you've been diving a while and still feel like you're fighting the water, this is the course for you.

Simple process

How it works

💻

eLearning at home

Complete the academic portion online at your own pace — videos, quizzes, no classroom required.

🌊

Open water dives at the lake

Skills and dives happen at a local dive site, on a date we set with you.

🎓

Get certified

Finish your dives and we issue your certification — card in hand, recognized worldwide.

Ready?

Ready to get in the water?

Book online in minutes. eLearning starts instantly. We’ll be in touch to schedule.

Call (512) 489-4404

Already certified? Advanced Adventure Diver is a popular next step.