NAUI Helitrox

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NAUI Helitrox Course

with Dayo Scuba, Orlando, Florida

The NAUI Helitrox Course provides the training and experience necessary to gain the knowledge and understand the hazards of utilizing helium for dives to maximum depth of 150 feet (45 meters) that may require stage decompression, utilizing nitrox mixtures and/or oxygen during decompression.

All students MUST wear backmounted doubles for this course, we will NOT teach anyone how to decompress in a single cylinder!

Students are permitted to utilize ONE nitrox mix or oxygen for decompression on this course.

This course is commonly taught in conjunction with the NAUI Technical Nitrox course and the NAUI Decompression Techniques Course, and together these courses form a strong base for divers wishing to pursue deeper and more technical dives.

Agencies we teach for:
NAUI TEC

Course Cost:
$299 per person

This includes your NAUI Helitrox study guide, your dive training, a certification card and photos (above and below water).

We offer a discount for students enrolling in combo courses; call us for details!

Other costs:
What not included is gear hire, gas fills, food, lodging, dive site fees & transportation. Dive site fees range from $15-$40, depending on site. Often we visit the ocean to get our required depth for dives, and charters range from $60-$100 per person. We use helium, nitrox and oxygen for the NAUI Helitrox Course, which costs more than air.

Gear you need to provide:

NAUI Technical Equipment Configuration (NTEC) is mandatory. For purposes of safety, uniformity of instruction and functionality, gear configurations for water work and training exercises must be the same for instructors and students.

Standardized rigging of bottom and stage cylinders, isolation manifolds, cylinder gauges, inflators, primary regulators, and backup regulators is crucial to the safety, success and effectiveness of technical diver training.

Students and Instructors must wear the following:

1. Backplate (no plastic) with one single webbing, no quick release, and 4 d-rings; plus crotch strap with d-ring
2. Wing's with 45-55 pounds lift-no bungee type
3. Double Cylinder Tanks, nitrox cleaned, with a minimum gas capacity of 160 cu ft.
4. DIN Isolation Manifold on double cylinder tanks-300 DIN preferred
5. Two DIN Regulators both high performance, serviced within the last year.
6. One regulator must be equipped with a 7 foot hose, the other on a necklace around the neck.
7. Brass Pressure Gauge on 24-inch hose for doubles- no consoles.
8. Stage Tank Cylinder for 100% O2, aluminum 40 cu ft preferred.
9. Regulator with 40-inch hose for stage tank cylinder with brass pressure gauge on 6-inch hose.
10. Hip mounted Light Canister, and head with optional Goodman handle.
11. Two suitable back up lights.
12. Two Bottom Timers
13. Depth Gauge wrist mounted
14. Primary Reel with minimum of 250 foot of line
15. Spool with minimum 120 ft. line
16. Lift Bag (two if drift deco planned)
17. Small cutting device, mounted on the waist or arm.
18. Primary low volume mask plus second backup mask
19. Non-buoyant fins with optional stainless steel spring straps--no V cut
20. Wrist Slate for tables (or wet notes)
21. Two leg pockets on drysuit for extra gear
22. Optional- Argon cylinder tank for dry suit

What the course entails:
The NAUI Helitrox Course is an academic and water based course that builds on the knowledge and skills acquired during the technical nitrox course. This course examines the theory, methods and procedures of planned stage decompression diving, utilizing Helium based mixtures, and then lets the students have practical diving experience by planning, and flawlessly executing no less than 4 dives.

How we teach it:
There are two parts, the academics and the “wet” portion.

Academics

The academics are done mostly at home from your NAUI Helitrox Study Guide. This guide is very well structured, a very informative learning tool, and an excellent alternative to multiple day or evening lectures. Some topics covered are:

* Physics
* Physiology of deeper diving
* Equipment considerations
* Dive tables vs computer generated tables
* Gases used for diving & their properties
* Emergency planning and procedures
* Deeper Dive Planning and execution

When you meet with your Instructor he/she will review the academics and you will complete a written test. You need to achieve at least 75% on your written test to pass. Detailed dive briefings and land drills will precede the diving.

Land Drills

* Selection and preparation of equipment suitable for soft overhead environments

* Demonstrate familiarity with basic and technical hand signals, gas switching procedures, gas matching among team members
* Demonstrate adequate pre-dive planning using limits based on personal gas consumption, oxygen exposures at planned depth with actual mix for decompression profiles.

Wet Training

For the wet training, we typically do three days in the water (at least 6 dives), and a series of vital skills such as:

* Demonstrate buoyancy control (ability to hover at fixed position in water column without moving hands or feet) at all times.
* Demonstrate comfort swimming at the surface and at depth carrying single decompression stage cylinder.
* Remove and replace mask, deployment of back-up mask.
* Show good awareness of buddy and other team members through communications, proximity and team oriented dive practices
*Demonstrate ability to manage a freeflow from a primary regulator in controlled fashion (shutdown drill), and switch to back-up regulator.
* Conduct appropriate safety and decompression stops while maintaining neutral buoyancy
* Conduct team oriented and solo drills for lift bag deployment



* Demonstrate ability to share air with a buddy as both recipient and donor in a controlled manner while maintaining position in water column.
* Throughout all dives demonstrate mature, sound judgment concerning dive planning and execution.
* Properly execute the planned dive within all pre-determined limits.
* Students shall participate in a diver rescue simulation to include management of a diver experiencing underwater convulsions.

Note: this is not a fully inclusive list, just an overview!

All dives will include a pre-dive briefing, START check, safety stop and post dive critique.

START is an acronym for pre dive checks as follows: S-Drill (OOA drill and Bubble Check), Team (buddy equipment checks), Air (gas matching), Route (entry/exit and planned path underwater), Tables (depth, duration, waypoints and schedule).


Planning and flawlessly executing dives is a skill that students must demonstrate during their Helitrox Course.

It should be noted that participation in the decompression techniques class does not guarantee certification. Each student must do the required number of dives, all the skills, and demonstrate that they are comfortable with planning and executing safe dives utilizing multiple gasses before they receive their certification card.

After successful completion of your academics and water work, you will awarded your certification as a NAUI Helitrox Diver.

Here at Dayo Scuba we also “mentor” our students (at no extra cost), so you can also gain additional experience in this type of diving with us after your have completed your course.

Age requirements:
You must be at least 18 years old to receive a NAUI Helitrox certification, there is no maximum age.

Minimum number of students per class:
We need 2 or more people to make a NAUI Helitrox class; private, one-on-one classes can be organized for a separate fee.

How many people are in each class?
Our NAUI Helitrox classes range in size, from 1-4 students (4 is the maximum per instructor).

Schedule/Timing for NAUI Helitrox Course:
We train all the time, and have multiple instructors on staff, many full time, so we do weekday and weekend classes.

Call us or check out our Calendar for dates of upcoming courses.

How long does the course ake?
Usually we complete the wet portion of the NAUI Helitrox course in 2 days, with at least 4 dives. Sometimes it is necessary to be in the water more than 2 days because of learning difficulties or weather issues. If necessary, you can come back, free of charge, and join in another Helitrox course to finish your training. We will also train you for any extra days you may need to get you properly certified. It is our mission to make you a safe and competent diver.

Where we do our course:
We usually do our Helitrox training here around Orlando or in North Florida. We try to dive two different sites for the deco course, day one is usually a basic site, and day two is more advanced site. Common choices for training are Blue Spring, Hudson Grotto, Forty Fathoms and the ocean. If you are cave trained/training, we have a lot more sites to choose from.

Prerequisites for Course:

* Certified as a NAUI Technical EANx Diver or equivalent

* Certified as a NAUI Deep Diver or equivalent

* Minimum age: 18 years old.

* Proof of 50 logged open water dives. The instructor has final approval on accepting anyone into the class even though they may show poof of 50 logged open water dives.

* Before participating in the NAUI Helitrox course, you will be asked to fill out a standard liability release form and a medical statement. If you answer YES to anything on the medical form we will require that you get it signed off by a physician.

* is required for all technical dive courses.

* This class requires that all student divers already have excellent buoyancy skills. Do NOT take this class if you have none.

Standards for the NAUI Helitrox Course:

* Maximum depth for all Helitrox training dives will not exceed 150 feet/45 meters.

* Only two different gasses allowed per diver on all dives, the backgas and deco gas.

* At least four dives are to be made using a Helitrox mixture (26% O2, 17% helium), of which at least one must be a repetitive dive.

What you can do afterwards:

* Dive, dive, dive for longer, and deeper!

* You will be a safer, more competent and comfortable diver after completion of your decompression techniques course…..knowing you are a better diver, that now has the ability to multi-task while diving.

* The safe diving practices learned during your Helitrox course will apply to all types of diving you do in the future, including open water recreational diving.

* Continue your diver training with more specialized training, the NAUI Decompression Techniques Diver is a common follow ups to this course.

* The NAUI Helitrox course is the foundation for planning deeper, more safe dives.

To Register
Email/Call us or Sign up online now!!