Technical diving (sometimes referred to as Tec diving) is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope (in terms of depth, bottom time and type of diving) of recreational diving (although the vast majority of technical divers dive for recreation and nothing else). Technical divers require advanced training, extensive experience, specialized equipment and often breathe breathing gases other than air or standard nitrox.

The term technical diving has been credited to Michael Menduno, who was editor of the (now defunct) diving magazine aquaCorps Journal. The concept and term, technical diving, are both relatively recent advents, although divers have been engaging in what is now commonly referred to as technical diving for decades.