SDI UNDERWATER NAVIGATION COURSE
Underwater Navigation Course in Jacksonville, Florida
Find your way.
Build practical compass and natural-navigation skills so you can plan a route, stay oriented, and find your way back to your planned exit point.
Cost: $350 (due on first day of class) - $100 Deposit
Open Water Certified Required | 2 Training Dives | SDI Certification | Small Class Sizes
Course price includes SDI eLearning, instruction dives, and certification card. Students provide personal gear and are responsible for gas fills and site entry fees.
WHAT IS THE UNDERWATER NAVIGATION COURSE?
Know Where You Are Going Underwater
Underwater navigation is more than following a compass heading. It is about understanding your environment, establishing a reference point, tracking distance, recognizing natural landmarks, and staying oriented throughout the dive.
The SDI Underwater Navigation Diver course builds on the basics introduced in Open Water and gives you a more structured way to plan, execute, and review a route underwater. You will practice using a compass, natural features, distance estimation, and team communication to return to your intended exit point.
This course is especially valuable for Florida springs, shore diving, wrecks, lower-visibility sites, and any dive where simply following another diver is not enough.
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Learn how to set headings, maintain a course, and work through common patterns without staring at your compass the entire dive.
Use a Compass
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Read the Environment
Use depth changes, bottom features, light, current, slope, landmarks, and other natural references to support your navigation.
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Plan a Route Together
Practice establishing a starting point, communicating the plan with your buddy, tracking distance, and returning to your intended exit.
READY TO FIND YOUR WAY?
GET CERTIFIED ON YOUR SCHEDULE
Complete the eLearning at your own pace
Meet with an instructor for a focused planning session covering compass setup, natural navigation, distance estimation, route planning, and buddy procedures
Complete two instructor-led open water training dives focused on practical compass and natural-navigation exercises
SDI Underwater Navigation Diver
Includes SDI eLearning, instructor-led navigation planning, two open water training dives, certification processing, and digital certification card.
Choose a preferred training time during booking. We’ll confirm the final location and course details with you afterward.
$350
Total
Training With a Buddy?
Navigation is one of the best specialties to complete with the person you regularly dive with. Book together, choose a preferred training timeframe, and we’ll coordinate a small-group session focused on the planning, communication, route tracking, and return procedures you will use together on future dives.
Frequently Asked Questions
This course is for certified divers who want to rely less on following other people and build a more intentional understanding of where they are, where they are going, and how to return to their planned exit point.
The course includes two instructor-led open water training dives, along with eLearning, route planning, briefings, and debriefings.
You should have an appropriate underwater compass for the course. A wrist-mounted, console-mounted, computer integrated, or retractable compass can work well depending on your configuration. Contact us before booking if you want help choosing one.
No. Structured compass patterns are part of the training, but the goal is to combine compass skills with real environmental awareness, route planning, distance estimation, and buddy coordination.
Yes. The Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive is a required dive in the SDI Advanced Adventure course, and it counts as the first dive toward the full SDI Underwater Navigation Diver Specialty.
If you completed Advanced Adventure with Precision Depth Diving, you will receive a $100 discount on the Underwater Navigation Specialty and complete the remaining required training dive.
No. Advanced Adventure is not required to enroll in the Underwater Navigation Specialty.
However, if you complete Advanced Adventure first, the required Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive counts as your first dive toward this specialty. You would then be eligible for a $100 discount on the Underwater Navigation Specialty and only need to complete the remaining required training dive.