1.1 INTRODUCTION
This course is designed to teach divers the skills, knowledge, and necessary techniques to properly conduct drift dives.

1.2 WHO MAY TEACH
Who may teach this course?
1. An active SDI 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. Both dives must be done as Drift Dives.
11. Dive plan must include Surface interval, Max no-deco time, etc. to be figured out and logged.
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 Drift Diver specialty experience card. The Instructor must:
18. Issue one of the following cards:
A SDI Insta-Card.
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.
Award card and certificate.

1.7 REQUIRED EQUIPMENT
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:
19. The Aquatic Environment – Causes and Effects
A. Tides.
B. Currents.
C. Waves.
D. Surge.
20. Equipment
A. Floats.
B. Lines.
C. Reels.
D. Compass.
21. Planning and Procedures
A. Buddy organization.
B. Problems and hazards.
C. Buoyancy Control.
D. Navigation.
E. Communications.
F. Safety Stop procedures.
G. Entries and Exits.

1.9 REQUIRED SKILL PERFORMANCE AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Students are required to successfully complete the following:
22. Open Water – Dive one (1)
A. The first dive should be in no greater than eighteen (18) msw / sixty (60) fsw and the instructor should guide it.
B. The instructor should demonstrate the proper use of float, lines and reels.
23. Open Water – Dive two (2)
A. The second dive should have the students planning, demonstrating and executing the skills learned from the first dive.