Expanding Horizons: TDI Tech Courses at Oceans 5 Gili Air

TDI Tech Courses at Oceans 5 Gili Air

TDI Tech Course | Scuba Diving Indonesia | Oceans 5 Gili Air

For over a decade, Oceans 5 Gili Air has been at the forefront of scuba education in the Gili Islands. As the only PADI Career Development Centre (CDC) on Gili Air, the dive center has built a solid reputation for its high-quality recreational diving courses and its exceptional PADI Instructor Development Courses (IDC). With hundreds of certified divers and dive professionals trained each year, Oceans 5 has long been a trusted name in diving education. But in a bold move that reflects the center's continued drive for innovation and excellence, Oceans 5 has recently expanded its scope to include two new departments: a Conservation Department and a Technical Diving Department.

While both of these new departments represent significant milestones for the dive center, it is the addition of TDI Technical Diving courses that has drawn particular interest from divers looking to go beyond recreational limits. Under the guidance of TDI Tech Instructor Ary, Oceans 5 is now offering a path for divers ready to explore the world of decompression diving and advanced diving procedures in a safe, structured, and professional environment.

The Drive Behind Expansion

Oceans 5 Gili Air has never been content with standing still. Known for pushing the boundaries of what a dive center can offer, their latest evolution responds directly to the needs of a growing diving community on Gili Air and beyond. The decision to invest in technical diving was not taken lightly. It followed careful planning, significant investment, and the realization that more and more divers are searching for experiences that go deeper—both literally and figuratively.

The first step toward launching the new Technical Diving Department was a major upgrade to the dive center’s infrastructure. In 2024, Oceans 5 introduced a brand-new compressor room, equipped with the latest technologies to support both recreational and technical diving needs. The installation included air cooling systems, high-capacity compressors, and a state-of-the-art membrane system capable of delivering custom nitrox mixes between 21% and 40%. This upgrade was not only a leap in air quality and safety standards—it was also the foundation upon which the tech department would be built.

With the technical infrastructure in place, the next step was finding the right person to lead the initiative. Enter Ary, a seasoned TDI Tech Instructor with years of experience in both recreational and technical diving. Ary is passionate about sharing the world of technical diving with others and brings a calm, methodical, and highly professional teaching style that aligns perfectly with the Oceans 5 philosophy of quality over quantity.

Meet the Instructor: Ary

Ary’s journey into technical diving started like many others—with a fascination for the unknown and a desire to extend bottom times beyond what recreational limits allow. After years of mastering recreational diving and gaining significant experience as an instructor, Ary took the leap into the technical realm, quickly rising through the ranks of TDI certifications.

Today, Ary is certified to teach up to TDI Decompression Procedures, a course that opens the door to staged decompression diving with air and enriched air mixtures. This course is ideal for divers looking to extend their bottom time at depths beyond recreational limits while learning how to manage the risks associated with decompression stops and gas management.

Ary’s courses are characterized by an emphasis on safety, preparation, and hands-on skill development. He believes that technical diving is not just about going deeper, but about diving smarter—with the right equipment, the right mindset, and the right training.

TDI Courses at Oceans 5 Gili Air

At present, Ary offers TDI courses up to the Decompression Procedures level, with plans to expand the offerings as the department grows. Here’s what’s currently available:

1. TDI Intro to Tech

This is the entry point for many divers curious about technical diving. The course focuses on foundational skills such as trim, buoyancy control, propulsion techniques, and team communication. Divers are introduced to twin sets or sidemount configurations and begin using redundant gas systems.

This course is an eye-opener for many recreational divers who want to improve their control in the water and get a taste of what tech diving entails without entering the decompression realm.

2. TDI Advanced Nitrox

This course allows divers to use enriched air nitrox from 21% to 100% oxygen for dives that do not require staged decompression. It’s also a prerequisite for many higher-level TDI courses and includes critical planning skills, equipment configuration, and oxygen exposure management.

Advanced Nitrox is ideal for divers who want to use richer oxygen blends to extend their no-decompression limits or add conservatism to their dives.

3. TDI Decompression Procedures

This is where tech diving truly begins. The course teaches divers how to plan and execute dives requiring staged decompression using air and nitrox. Emphasis is placed on redundancy, emergency procedures, dive planning with software tools, and team coordination.

Upon completing this course, divers are qualified to conduct decompression dives to depths of up to 45 meters using a single decompression gas. It is a transformative experience that introduces a completely new way of thinking about dive planning, safety, and execution.

These TDI courses are taught in small groups, with personalized attention and plenty of in-water practice time. As with all Oceans 5 programs, the emphasis is on quality over quantity, ensuring that every diver graduates with confidence and competence.

Why Gili Air for Technical Diving?

At first glance, the Gili Islands may not seem like a traditional tech diving destination. The water is warm, the visibility excellent, and most of the dive sites are ideal for recreational diving. But look a little deeper, and you’ll find that Gili Air offers the perfect environment to begin a tech diving journey.

Many of the deeper walls and reefs around Gili Air and Lombok have drop-offs suitable for technical training, with little boat traffic and calm surface conditions. The proximity of the dive sites to the dive center also allows for easy logistics—meaning less stress and more focused training.

Moreover, Gili Air offers something few technical training locations can match: a relaxed island vibe that keeps divers centered and grounded during what can be an intense training process. After a day of deep dives and decompression theory, there’s nothing better than watching the sunset over Mount Agung with a fresh coconut in hand.

The Future of Tech Diving at Oceans 5

The introduction of the TDI Technical Diving Department is just the beginning. Oceans 5 has big plans to expand the program over the coming years, including:

• Adding TDI Helitrox and Extended Range courses.

• Introducing TDI Sidemount and Advanced Sidemount for those interested in alternative configurations.

• Collaborating with guest instructors for CCR (Closed Circuit Rebreather) try-dives and courses in the future.

• Hosting tech diving events and workshops with internationally recognized instructors.

The goal is clear: to make Oceans 5 Gili Air not just a hub for recreational divers and instructors, but also a recognized destination for high-quality technical diving education in Indonesia.

Integrating Conservation and Technical Diving

What makes the expansion at Oceans 5 particularly unique is that the new tech diving department is being developed alongside a brand-new Conservation Department. The dive center firmly believes that technical divers can play a crucial role in marine conservation—whether through deep reef surveys, wreck documentation, or technical support for scientific diving.

The Conservation Department offers 1-day, 3-day, and 7-day programs tailored to divers of all levels, focusing on coral identification, underwater debris management, and fish surveys. The vision is to eventually integrate technical divers into conservation initiatives that require extended bottom time or access to deeper reef systems, where few divers have gone before.

This dual development speaks to Oceans 5’s larger mission: to cultivate knowledgeable, responsible, and skilled divers who are not only adventurers—but stewards of the ocean.

Oceans 5: Still a CDC, Now So Much More

Even as it expands into conservation and technical diving, Oceans 5 Gili Air remains deeply committed to its core identity as a PADI Career Development Centre. The dive center continues to conduct monthly PADI IDCs led by in-house Course Directors Sander and Waz, transforming divemasters into capable and confident instructors.

With the addition of the tech department, Oceans 5 can now offer a complete journey from Open Water Diver all the way to Technical Diver—under one roof, with one philosophy of excellence guiding every course.

The new TDI programs are already generating buzz among the local and international dive community, and it's clear that Oceans 5 is not slowing down. Whether you're a recreational diver curious about twinsets or an experienced diver ready for staged decompression, the path to the technical depths begins here.

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