SDI Shore and Beach Diver

The SDI Shore and Beach Diver Course at OCD Divers teaches you how to safely and efficiently enter and exit the water from shore‑based locations. While many divers associate shore diving with ocean surf, Texas offers excellent lake diving opportunities that require their own planning, navigation, and entry techniques. This course focuses on evaluating shoreline conditions, planning safe entries, and building confidence diving from a variety of lake shore environments.

What You’ll Learn

This course focuses on practical shore diving skills adapted for Texas lakes:

• Shore entry and exit techniques: Safe approaches for rocky, sloped, or uneven lake shorelines.
• Site assessment: Evaluating visibility, bottom composition, hazards, and access points.
• Navigation: Compass use, natural navigation, and shoreline reference points.
• Surface procedures: Dive flag use, float handling, and surface safety protocols.
• Emergency considerations: Managing surface emergencies and assisting divers from shore.
• Environmental awareness: Protecting Texas freshwater ecosystems and minimizing impact.

Program Overview

The Shore and Beach Diver Course is ideal for divers who want to expand their skills for local Texas lake diving or prepare for future coastal shore diving. Training focuses on real‑world scenarios and practical skill development.

Prerequisites: SDI Open Water Scuba Diver or SDI Junior Open Water Diver, or equivalent.

Minimum age: 18, or 10 with parental consent.

Equipment needed: A complete scuba kit appropriate for lake conditions. Additional items such as dive flags, reels, or lights may be recommended depending on the training site.

Where Training Takes Place

Training is conducted at Texas lake locations such as The Scuba Ranch, Wheeler Branch, and other shore‑accessible sites. These environments provide realistic conditions for practicing entries, exits, navigation, and shoreline procedures.

Required Gear

Divers must have a complete scuba kit including mask, snorkel, fins, boots, BCD, regulator set, gauges or computer, exposure protection appropriate for conditions, surface signaling devices, and a cutting tool. A dive flag and float may be required depending on the training site.

Gear packages and rental options are available. Visit our continuing education gear options here: Continuing Education Diver Add On Options

What Comes Next

After completing the Shore and Beach Diver Course, divers often continue with specialties such as Navigation Diver, Night and Limited Visibility Diver, or Search and Recovery Diver. This specialty also counts toward the SDI Master Scuba Diver pathway.