SDI-TDI-ERDI

Overview

Technical Diving International (TDI) claims to be the largest technical certification agency in the world. TDI is considered an innovator of new diving techniques and programs, and was one of the first agencies to provide training in mixed gas diving and rebreathers.

Bret Gilliam, David Sipperly and Mitch Skaggs founded TDI after splitting from International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD) in 1993. Their aim was to provide training materials and education for specialized diving situations. Although there were a few technical diving organizations at the time TDI joined the market, TDI had a training mission to shed new light on traditional diving limits, and offered courses that met the World Recreational Scuba Training Council standards.

TDI offers open circuit courses such as Nitrox and Rebreather, and also provides training for overhead environments like caves and wrecks, and for mixed gas. They were one of the first diving agencies to create a comprehensive insurance plan for technical diving instructors.

In 1999, TDI expanded and started a sister organization known as Scuba Diving International (SDI) focusing on the sport side of scuba diving. SDI’s curriculum was set up to take divers from the beginner level to instructor level, and place divers in a position to advance from recreational to technical diving.

There are a number of features that make this organization distinguished and unique. SDI teaches recreational diving from the technical diving perspective. It is also the only diver-training agency that requires students to have access to a modern dive computer on all dives during training from the very start. Last but not least, SDI offers a special training course for solo diving (Solo Diver Certification), while most recreational diver training organizations mandate diving with a buddy at all times.

SDI strives to be the innovator in scuba diving education. Their course materials are state-of-the-art, not to mention, include lavishly illustrated photography and graphics.

In 2000, another sister organization was launched called Emergency Response Diving International (ERDI) to teach public safety diving to public safety organizations. ERDI is the Public Safety diving (PSD) agency that trains police, fire, and other public safety organizations in search and rescue techniques in just about every submerged environment known. ERDI is the only public safety diving training agency that has their own insurance that endorses its own standards.

ERDI programs are used by some of the largest, successful, renowned departments for training.