Instead of swimming against the water, you let the current carry you: effortlessly gliding across reefs, walls and coral gardens while the marine life comes to you. Nowhere teaches it better than Nusa Penida.
Drift diving is a style of diving where divers move with the current rather than swimming against it. When done correctly, it can feel surprisingly effortless: the current becomes your engine. You use less energy, cover greater distances and experience reefs from a completely different perspective.
“Drift diving is the closest thing to flying underwater. Sheer joy.”
Nusa Penida is known worldwide for its dynamic currents, spectacular reefs and frequent encounters with manta rays and mola molas, offering the perfect environment to build the skills that make drift diving safe, comfortable and incredibly rewarding.
The PADI Drift Diver Specialty combines independent study with practical training in open water. These are practical skills you’ll continue using throughout your diving career.
Understand how currents form, how to assess conditions and how to plan drift dives effectively.
Stay relaxed, streamlined and in control while moving with the flow.
Deploy a delayed SMB and use the equipment commonly associated with drift diving.
Maintain communication, positioning and awareness while drifting together.
Learn how drift dives are conducted safely from entry to pickup.
The PADI Drift Diver Specialty is completed in a single day. An early start means the theory, briefing and both certification dives all happen the same day. Prefer a lighter morning? You can also start your theory the evening before.
Not required, but it makes for a lighter morning on course day.
An early start means theory, briefing and both dives are all completed in a single day.
“I’d done 30 dives and never tried drift diving. In Nusa Penida the current just picks you up and carries you over the reef at speed: it genuinely feels like flying. The instructor was totally calm and made it feel effortless. Best dive of my life.”
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“I was nervous about currents before this course. One drift over Manta Point and I completely forgot to be scared. A manta ray appeared right next to us and glided alongside for a full minute. The Drift Specialty in Nusa Penida is unmissable.”
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“We did the Drift Specialty the day after our AOWD. It was the perfect next step. The SMB and live-boat technique were new to me but the instruction was so clear. We saw 4 mantas on the second dive. I’ll be back.”
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Many divers spend their first few drift dives fighting the water. The Drift Diver Specialty teaches you something different: relax, trust the current, work with it. Once you do, you’ll understand why so many experienced divers actively seek out drift dives wherever they travel.