SSI Dry Suit Diving Course
Cold water should not be a barrier. A dry suit turns a season into a year-round commitment.
Buoyancy control in a dry suit, thermal management, and the techniques for cold-water environments, across a confined water session and 2 open water training dives.
Availability: Contact us for booking information
Cold Water Should Not Be a Barrier. A Dry Suit Turns a Season Into a Year-Round Commitment.
A wetsuit works until the water temperature drops far enough that it stops working, and then your diving season ends. A dry suit removes that ceiling entirely, keeping you warm and comfortable at temperatures that would send a wetsuit diver back to the truck.
SSI Dry Suit Diving teaches you to select, use, and troubleshoot a dry suit correctly, including the buoyancy and emergency skills specific to diving dry, across a confined water session and 2 open water training dives. $249 per diver (group) or $349 (private). Prerequisites: Open Water Diver, minimum age 10.
A Dry Suit Adds a Second Air Space You Have Never Had to Manage Before
If you have only ever dived wet, this is a fair thing to be unsure about. A dry suit is not a wetsuit that happens to be dry. It is an additional air space you inflate and vent, and it changes your buoyancy control in ways your Open Water training never covered.
This is exactly what continuing education is for. Not to prove you are advanced. To replace uncertainty about a second air space with the specific skills that make dry suit diving comfortable and controlled.
Is this you?
This Course Is for the Diver Who Wants Cold Water Off the Table as an Excuse
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This is usually the right next step if any of these sound familiar.
You want to keep diving through the colder months
Local diving does not have to stop when the water temperature drops. A dry suit removes that limit.
You are heading somewhere with genuinely cold water
The Pacific Northwest, quarries, and many temperate destinations reward divers who are properly equipped and trained.
You are tired of being cold at the end of every dive
Staying warm is not a minor comfort issue. It affects gas consumption, judgment, and how much you enjoy the dive.
You are working toward wrecks or other demanding sites
Many deeper and colder Access-lane sites are far more enjoyable, and safer, in a properly used dry suit.
Not sure?
Choose Your Optimize-Lane Course
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You want cold water off the table as a limitation
Best for divers who want to extend their season or travel to colder destinations.
You want better communication and cold-face tolerance
A different kind of cold-water and communication advantage. Pairs well with Dry Suit.
You want to understand your gear more broadly first
Best for building general equipment literacy before specializing in dry suit systems.
Setting the record straight
What Dry Suit Diving Actually Involves
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"I will just be cold and uncomfortable anyway."
A properly fitted dry suit with the right undergarment keeps you genuinely warm. This course covers suit selection, insulation, and accessories specifically so you are not cold.
"Buoyancy in a dry suit is too hard to control."
It is a specific, learnable skill, not a harder version of what you already know. The confined water session and open water dives are built around exactly this.
"I need to own a dry suit before I can take this course."
Many divers rent a suit for training and their first several dives before deciding to buy one. Ask Tom’s about rental options.
"This is only for technical or commercial divers."
This is a recreational specialty open to any Open Water Diver. Plenty of recreational divers use dry suits simply to stay warm.
What You’ll Train
Online academics, a confined water session, and 2 open water training dives.
Why dry suits matter, selecting a suit and valves, choosing insulation and accessories, dressing and diving techniques, and suit care and repair.
Practice buoyancy control, valve use, and getting comfortable moving in a dry suit before your first open water dive.
Apply dry suit buoyancy and diving techniques in open water, transitioning smoothly from the confined water environment.
Focus on emergency procedures specific to dry suit diving, such as managing an inflator stuck open or unexpected air migration, at a maximum depth of 33 feet.
Course at a Glance
| Price | $249 per diver (group) · $349 per diver (private) |
| Format | Online academics via MySSI app · confined water session · 2 open water training dives |
| Prerequisites | Open Water Diver (any agency) · minimum age 10 |
| Certification awarded | SSI Dry Suit Diving · lifetime certification, recognized worldwide |
Ready to make cold water a non-issue?
SSI Dry Suit Diving: $249 · Austin, TX
Confined water session plus 2 open water training dives focused on dry suit buoyancy and emergency procedures.
Register Here Call Tom’s Email Tom’sWhere this fits in your pathway
Dry Suit Diving Sits in the Optimize Pathway
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Optimize is about tools and efficiency. A dry suit is one of the most direct tools for simply diving more, in more places and more months of the year, and it pairs naturally with Full Face Mask Diving for cold-water divers.
Control / Comfort
Buoyancy and confidence-building skills that make dry suit diving easier to pick up.
Optimize
Nitrox, computers, equipment, and other tools that make diving more efficient, in any water temperature.
Access
Wreck diving, deep diving, and other environments that are often colder and more demanding.
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. Diving comfortably in a dry suit is exactly that kind of capability: it removes a limitation on where and when you can dive, permanently.
Tom’s instructors dive dry suits regularly for local cold-season diving and travel, not just for teaching this course. 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.
Keep Diving Through the Colder Months
This course exists specifically so cold water stops being a reason to sit out part of the year.
Open Longer Than Any Other Austin Dive Shop Still in Business
Four decades of preparing Austin divers for the conditions they actually encounter, including cold water.
You Don’t Need to Own a Suit to Start
Ask about renting a dry suit for training and your first dives before committing to buying one.
One of Austin’s Largest Instructor Teams
Flexible scheduling for your confined water session and open water training dives.
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 dry suit to take this course?
No. Many divers rent a suit for training. Ask Tom’s about rental availability.
Is buoyancy really that different in a dry suit?
Yes, meaningfully so, since the suit itself is an air space you inflate and vent. That is exactly what the confined water session and open water dives are built to teach.
What is the maximum depth for the training dives?
The second open water training dive, which focuses on emergency procedures, has a recommended maximum depth of 33 feet (10 meters).
Can I combine this with Full Face Mask Diving?
Yes. Both are Optimize-lane, cold-water-relevant specialties that many divers take together.
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.