SSI DPV Diving Course
A diver propulsion vehicle covers more ground, but it also changes everything about gas planning and buoyancy management.
Safe DPV operation, handling, failure procedures, and how to integrate a scooter into a dive, across 2 open water training dives.
Availability: Contact us for booking information
A Diver Propulsion Vehicle Covers More Ground, but It Also Changes Everything About Gas Planning and Buoyancy Management.
A DPV lets you cover far more of a dive site than finning ever could, but that range comes with real tradeoffs: different trim and buoyancy, different gas planning, battery burn time to manage, and situational awareness at a speed your Open Water training never anticipated.
SSI DPV Diving teaches you to operate a scooter safely, including failure procedures and team positioning, across 2 open water training dives. $249 per diver (group) or $349 (private). Prerequisites: Open Water Diver, minimum age 12.
Speed Changes the Dive, Not Just the Distance
If you have never used a scooter, it is reasonable to assume it is simply faster finning. It is not. Trim, buoyancy, gas consumption, and situational awareness all change at DPV speed, and none of that is covered in standard training.
This is exactly what continuing education is for. Not to prove you are advanced. To replace assumptions about scooter diving with the specific skills that make it safe and genuinely enjoyable.
Is this you?
This Course Is for the Diver Who Wants to Cover More Ground Safely
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This is usually the right next step if any of these sound familiar.
You want to cover more of a large wreck or reef
A DPV opens up sites that would otherwise take multiple dives to see properly.
You want an easier way to handle current or long swims
Scooters make covering distance against current dramatically less tiring.
You want more time on subjects, not more time swimming
Less energy spent getting there means more energy and bottom time for what you came to see.
You want to actually understand the equipment and its limits
Battery burn time, failure modes, and maintenance are all covered directly, not assumed.
Not sure?
Choose Your Optimize-Lane Course
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You want to cover more ground on a dive
Best for large wrecks, reefs, and sites where distance is the limiting factor.
You want a better handle on dive planning tools instead
Best for divers focused on understanding their computer's calculations.
You want to read conditions before adding equipment
Best for building water-reading judgment, which pairs well with DPV use in current.
Setting the record straight
What DPV Diving Actually Involves
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"DPVs are just for showing off."
A scooter is a genuine tool for covering ground efficiently on legitimate dive plans: large wrecks, long swims, and current management, not a novelty.
"I can figure it out myself without training."
Burn-time management, entanglement risk, and the buoyancy and trim changes at DPV speed are specific skills this course is built to teach.
"It is basically the same as normal navigation."
Team positioning, communication, and navigation all change meaningfully at DPV speed and are covered directly.
"Any diver can rent one without training."
This certification is what responsibly enables that. Many operators require it before renting a DPV.
What You’ll Train
Six academic sessions covering the vehicle, its use, and its failures, followed by 2 open water training dives.
DPV types and components, physiological considerations, entries and exits, situational awareness, gas and burn-time planning, and maintenance and failure procedures.
Build confidence with DPV maneuvering and positioning in open water, to a maximum depth of 100 feet (60 feet for divers age 12–14).
Master DPV skills and emergency situations, including smooth and controlled maneuvering, buoyancy management, and team positioning, to a maximum depth of 100 feet (60 feet for divers age 12–14).
Course at a Glance
| Price | $249 per diver (group) · $349 per diver (private) |
| Format | Online academics via MySSI app · 2 open water training dives |
| Equipment | DPV provided or bring your own · ask Tom’s for current options |
| Prerequisites | Open Water Diver (any agency) · minimum age 12 |
| Certification awarded | SSI DPV Diving · lifetime certification, recognized worldwide |
Ready to cover more ground on your next dive?
SSI DPV Diving: $249 · Austin, TX
Online academics plus 2 open water training dives covering safe scooter operation and failure procedures.
Register Here Call Tom’s Email Tom’sWhere this fits in your pathway
DPV Diving Sits in the Optimize Pathway
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Optimize is about tools and efficiency. A DPV is one of the most direct efficiency tools in diving, letting you cover more distance with less effort, and it pairs naturally with Waves, Tides & Currents for divers using one in current.
Control / Comfort
Buoyancy and trim skills that make adapting to DPV speed and handling easier.
Optimize
Nitrox, computers, equipment, and other tools that make diving more efficient.
Access
Wreck diving and other larger sites where covering more ground pays off most.
Why Tom’s Dive & Swim
We Build Divers We Would Trust With Our Own Families.
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The best divers don’t chase certifications. They build capabilities. Operating a DPV safely and efficiently is a real capability: it changes what sites and swims are realistically within reach on a single dive.
Tom’s instructors bring hands-on scooter experience to every training dive, not just the academic curriculum. 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.
Cover More of a Site With Less Effort
This course exists specifically to make bigger sites and longer swims realistic and enjoyable.
Open Longer Than Any Other Austin Dive Shop Still in Business
Four decades of preparing Austin divers for the equipment and environments they actually use.
Failure Procedures, Practiced, Not Just Explained
Both open water dives include hands-on practice of the skills that keep a DPV dive under control.
One of Austin’s Largest Instructor Teams
Flexible scheduling to fit both open water training dives around your calendar.
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
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Do I need to own a DPV to take this course?
No. Ask Tom’s about current equipment options for training.
What is the minimum age?
12 years old, with a reduced maximum training depth of 60 feet for divers age 12 to 14.
Is this the same as normal navigation training?
No. Team positioning, communication, and navigation all change meaningfully at DPV speed, and this course covers those differences directly.
What happens if the DPV fails underwater?
Failure procedures are covered directly in the academics and practiced conceptually before your open water dives, alongside routine maintenance and pre-dive inspection.
Is there a medical screening required?
Yes. All students complete an SSI Medical Statement before any in-water activity.
Book online, call, or email, whichever is easiest for you.