1.1 INTRODUCTION
Scuba diving from boats is an everyday occurrence. Whether on a private vessel or one of the many charter dive boats available worldwide, divers are frequently not aware of the special procedures and etiquette used when boat diving. This course is designed to introduce divers to some different types of boat diving and the skills needed to plan and conduct a boat dive with maximum safety.

1.2 WHO MAY TEACH
Who may teach this course?
1. An active SDI Instructor or Assistant Instructor that has been certified to teach this specialty.

1.3 STUDENT – INSTRUCTOR RATIO
Academic:
2. Unlimited, so long as adequate facility, supplies and time are provided to insure comprehensive and complete training.
Confined Water (Swimming pool-like conditions):
3. N/A.
Open Water (Ocean, lake, quarry, spring, river or estuary):
4. A maximum of eight (8) students per Instructor. However, it is the instructor’s discretion to reduce this number as conditions dictate.
5. The Instructor has the option of adding two (2) more students with the assistance of an active Assistant Instructor or Divemaster.
6. The total number of students an instructor may have in the water is twelve (12) with the assistance of two (2) Assistant Instructors or Divemasters.

1.4 STUDENT PRE-REQUISITES
7. Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver.
8. Ten (10) years or older.

1.5 COURSE STRUCTURE AND DURATION
Open Water execution:
9. Two (2) dives are required with complete briefs and debriefs by the Instructor.
10. Dive plan must include Surface interval, Max no-deco time, etc. to be figured out and logged.
11. All dives must be completed from a boat.
Course Structure:
12. SDI allows instructors to structure courses according to the number of students participating and their skill level.

1.6 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS
Administrative Tasks:
13. Collect the course fees from all the students.
14. Ensure that the students have the required equipment.
15. Communicate the schedule to the students.
16. Have the students complete the Liability Release and Medical history forms.
17. The Instructor should review the Liability Release and Medical Forms before starting on the course.
Upon successful completion of this specialty the instructor must issue the SDI Boat Diver specialty experience card. The Instructor must:
18. Issue one of the following cards:
A. A SDI Insta-Card.
B. Use either a SDI diver registration form or a Pre-paid Diver certification form to file for the specialty certification card if a SDI certification card is requested.
19. Award card and certificate.

1.7 REQUIRED EQUIPMENT
20. Boat equipped with proper safety equipment, including but not limited to oxygen and first aid kit.
21. Basic SDI Open Water SCUBA equipment as prescribed earlier in this manual.

1.8 APPROVED OUTLINE
Instructors may use any additional text or materials that they feel help present these topics. The following topics must be covered:
22. Types of Boats and Features of those boats
A. Live-Aboard.
B. Charter boat.
C. Private boat.
23. Safety Features
A. Life Preservers.
B. Life Boats.
C. Flares.
D. Radio.
E. Throw Rings.
F. US Coast Guard requirements.
G. First Aid kit.
H. O2 kit.
24. Exiting and Boarding the boat
A. Type of ladder.
B. How to use ladder.
C. Entries.
25. Planning Boat Trips
A. Types and sizes of boats.
B. Location.
C. Degree of difficulty of dives.
D. Air available on boat?
E. Food/beverages.
F. Sleeping Gear necessary?
G. Weather.
H. Dive Planning.
26. Determining Equipment necessary
A. Use of a checklist.
B. C-card and Log book.
C. Extra tank.
D. All Open Water Equipment.
E. Spare parts kit.
F. Camera photo equipment.
G. Game Equipment.
27. Boat Procedures
A. Loading.
B. Captain and crew briefs of special procedures.
C. Special Rules.
D. Crowded Area Procedures.
28. Lines
A. Anchor line.
B. Descent lines.
C. Tag line.
D. Stern safety line.
E. Decompression Bar.
29. Underwater Navigation from a boat
A. Natural Navigation.
B. Anchored - no current.
C. Anchored - current.
30. Drift diving.

1.9 REQUIRED SKILL PERFORMANCE AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Students are required to successfully complete the following:
31. Open Water – Dive one (1)
A. Plan Dive.
B. Shore Briefing.
C. Review of procedures.
D. Captain’s brief and travel to dive destination.
E. Entry.
F. Diving procedures.
G. Exit.
H. Log Dive.
I. Care of equipment.
32. Open Water – Dive two (2)
A. Attempt to use a different type of boat or, at least, use a different entry point from the boat.
B. Plan dive.
C. Pre-Dive briefing.
D. Review procedures.
E. Boat briefing and travel to dive destination (if has not already been done).
F. Entry.
G. Planned dive.
H. Exit.
I. Log Dive.
J. Care of equipment.