SSI Computer Diving
Your computer shows a number. You surface when it tells you to. Few divers ever learn what it actually calculated to get there.
This isn't a knowledge gap most divers need to close. SSI Computer Diving is for the ones who are curious anyway, who want to know exactly what their computer is telling them instead of just trusting it.
Availability: Contact us for booking information
Computers Are Built to Be Used Without Understanding Them. This Course Is for the Diver Who's Curious Anyway.
Inert gas absorption, decompression models, M-values: none of it is necessary to dive safely with a modern computer, which is exactly why most divers never learn it. This course is for the diver who wants to know what is actually happening underneath the display.
Academic sections build from decompression theory through modern computer technology and features. $249 per diver (group) or $349 (private). Prerequisites: Open Water Diver, minimum age 10.
Trusting Your Computer and Understanding It Are Two Different Things.
If you have been diving with a computer for a while but could not explain what an M-value is or how your computer models gas absorption, that is completely normal. Computers are designed to be used without that knowledge. This course exists for divers who want it anyway.
This is exactly what continuing education is for. Not to prove you are advanced. To replace blind trust in a screen with genuine understanding of what it is telling you.
Computer Diving Is for the Diver Who Wants to Know What the Numbers Mean
This is usually the right next step if any of these sound familiar.
You want to understand your computer, not just follow it
Learn what the algorithm is actually calculating, not just how to read the display.
You are shopping for a new dive computer
Understanding the technology and features helps you make a genuinely informed purchase decision.
You do multi-day, multi-dive trips
Real understanding of surface intervals and repetitive dive planning helps you dive smarter across a full trip.
You are interested in Optimize or Precision-lane courses ahead
Computer diving knowledge is foundational for nitrox planning, deep diving, and eventually technical diving.
Choose Your Optimize-Lane Course
You want to understand the technology behind your dives
Best for divers who want real command of dive computer algorithms and features.
You want longer no-decompression time directly
Best for extending bottom time, which pairs naturally with deeper computer knowledge.
You want the full physiology behind decompression theory
Best for the deepest possible understanding of the physics and physiology your computer is modeling.
What Computer Diving Actually Covers
"This is just for tech-obsessed divers."
The course is built for any curious diver who wants to understand their equipment better, not specifically for technology enthusiasts.
"I'll need to buy a new, expensive computer."
The course teaches concepts that apply to any dive computer. You do not need to purchase new equipment to take or benefit from this course.
"This is the same as Nitrox."
Nitrox focuses on gas planning for extended no-decompression time. Computer Diving focuses on the algorithm and technology itself, including computer features and selection.
"This requires advanced math skills."
The course explains concepts in practical terms, not as a math class. You do not need to perform manual calculations to understand and apply what is taught.
What You’ll Train
A fully academic course covering decompression theory and computer technology.
Build the foundational understanding of how your body actually processes nitrogen during and after a dive.
Learn what your computer is calculating, including M-values, pressure gradients, and the models behind the numbers.
Apply the theory to real multi-dive day planning, understanding why surface intervals matter the way they do.
Cover the history and modern advances in dive computers, useful context whether you are buying new equipment or understanding what you already own.
Course at a Glance
| Price | $249 per diver (group) · $349 per diver (private) |
| Format | Online academics via MySSI app · no in-water component |
| Prerequisites | Open Water Diver (any agency) · minimum age 10 |
| Certification awarded | SSI Computer Diving · lifetime certification, recognized worldwide |
Ready to understand what your computer is telling you?
SSI Computer Diving: $249 · Austin, TX
Self-paced academics, no in-water component required. Call (512) 451-3425.
Signup now!!Computer Diving Sits in the Optimize Pathway
Optimize is about tools and efficiency. Computer Diving builds the theoretical foundation that makes every other Optimize-lane course, especially Nitrox, easier to understand at a real level.
Control / Comfort
Buoyancy, navigation, and other confidence-building skills.
Optimize
Nitrox, computers, equipment, and other tools that make diving more efficient.
Access
Wreck diving, deep diving, decompression diving, and other ways to reach new environments and depth.
We Build Divers We Would Trust With Our Own Families.
The best divers don’t chase certifications. They build capabilities. Computer Diving is a clear example of capability over certification: understanding your equipment at a real level is a capability you carry into every single dive, not a one-time card.
Tom’s instructors connect decompression theory directly to the computers and conditions you will actually dive with, not abstract academic content. Tom’s has been Austin’s only SSI Dive Center since 1982. We were teaching scuba in Austin before any of the other Austin dive shops opened. Over 18,000 certified divers and over 400 five-star Google reviews.
Decompression Theory You Can Actually Use
Concepts taught in terms that apply directly to your real diving, not abstract math.
Open Longer Than Any Other Austin Dive Shop Still in Business
Four decades of teaching divers to understand their equipment, not just operate it.
A Smart Pairing With Nitrox
Computer Diving knowledge makes Nitrox planning and repetitive dive days significantly easier to manage.
One of Austin’s Largest Instructor Teams
Available to answer questions and discuss the material beyond the self-paced curriculum.
We follow DAN dive safety protocols.
Tom’s follows Divers Alert Network (DAN) safety standards and recommends DAN dive accident insurance for every certified diver. Safety is not a checkbox on our website. It is the foundation of how Tom’s has operated since 1982.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The concepts taught apply to dive computers generally, regardless of brand or model.
Both. Most divers report planning repetitive dive days more confidently and understanding their margins better after this course, not just academic knowledge.
Nitrox focuses on gas planning and extending no-decompression time with enriched air. Computer Diving focuses on the underlying decompression theory and the technology itself.
Yes. Understanding the technology and features covered in this course makes you a much more informed buyer if you are shopping for new equipment.
No in-water component means no medical screening is required for this course specifically.