Best agency for learning Tech diving - criteria given - honest :)

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Epoque, you are based in the UK. You have several of the some of the world's top instructors on your doorstep. With GUE, you have Rich Walker, John Kendall, and sometimes Graham Blackmore (sometimes he is in Asia). TDI you have Mark Powell and several others. Paul Toomer for RAID. Ian France, Phil Short, and several others with IANTD. I forget which agency Martin Robson teaches for. Most of the top guys can be found at Tek Camp down at Vobster Quay in Somerset for a week in July. I suggest popping down to that for the week, and participating in the workshops with all of the instructors named above and more. The price ranges from £350-£550 (i think) for the week, and includes tons of stuff. Find an instructor you like, and then book a course with them. Most will teach courses in places like Croatia and Malta.
 
I am not an instructor but I will answer this... The best instructors are going to welcome the opportunity to give you references. Be wary of any instructors who are offended. Enough said.

...Asking you all as instructors out there - would you not be a little offended if someone asked for references etc.?...
 
How to find a good instructor..

This is not meant to be the only list of questions you should ask your potential instructor, but I think it is a pretty good starting point.

1. Ask the instructor for a list of references. Specifically, people he has taught in the past. Ask them about their diving background, and what they thought of the class, and how they have put those skills to use.

What you should be listening for are people that have continued their diving and have found the skills they learned to be valuable to them. Personally, I am less impressed with an instructor that has certified hundreds of divers but only a small margin gained anything useful than I am with an instructor that only produces 5-10 divers a year, but all of them learned useful skills, engaged in diving, and doing quite a bit.

2. Ask the instructor what kind of diving he does when he's not getting paid. When was the last time he went diving for fun?

In my opinion, your instructor should be passionate about diving. I believe that someone that is truly passionate will do their best and work harder than someone that is jaded, burned out, and only goes diving when he is being paid.

I also think it is good for an instructor to actively play "one level above" what they teach, but I know several instructors that I think very highly of that do dive for fun, but do not regularly dive a level above what they teach. So do not let this be a single deciding point, just consider it a bonus.

3. Ask the instructor about his teaching style, and what the schedule for each day look like.

What you need to listen for is a teaching style that fits with your personality. Even great instructors may run their courses in a schedule/format that is incompatible with you; some may go for a "boot camp" mentality where the first dive of the day begins shortly after 6AM, and the day ends at 7PM. Others may not want to get started until 10AM and finish by 4PM. And everywhere in between.

If you're the kind of person that likes to start at 10AM then the 6AM course may not be for you, and if you're the kind of person that expects/wants a boot camp, the 10AM course may not be for you.

4. Ask the instructor about gear configuration, what configuration he dives, and what he would expect from you.

Some instructors are dogmatic and rigid on their gear choices, others believe in "doing what works". And some are once again in between.

For instance, while I am not dogmatic about the gear my students use as long as it is safe, because the majority of my experience is in the "hogarthian" style, I may not be able to offer very helpful suggestions to someone diving side-mount.

5. Ask the instructor what his expected outcomes for the course are. What does he expect you to be able to do by the end of the course. What does "success" mean. What constitutes failure.

Your instructor should have an idea of what he expects from someone, and he should be able to articulate that coherently and intelligibly.

6. Ask the instructor who his mentors were. How did he learn to teach the material he is presenting? Who did he "study under". How long did it take him to become an instructor for the course you are taking. What is his diving experience for the course you are interested in taking.

Depending on the course, your instructor should have mentored under multiple different instructors over a period of time. It took me a year to become a cave instructor once I really decided to complete the process, and it took me six months (and close to 100 hypoxic trimix dives) to become a trimix instructor. I probably took longer than others, but if your instructor was able to become a cave instructor in a month (or less), or a trimix instructor in a week, well how much experience does he/she really have in the subject?

7. Ask your instructor why he/she wants to teach a particular course.

There are many reasons why someone teaches, and the majority of them are valid. This may give you a better insight into your instructor.

8. Ask your instructor when was the last time he took a course, co-taught with someone else, or participated in a workshop.

No one knows everything. Someone that still co-teaches, takes courses, or participates in workshops realizes there is still more to learn and by constantly seeking new sources of information, they are trying to improve.

I hope this helps.

Ken

Or you could just throw a dart at the GUE list of instructors and be humbled by whomever the dart lands on. You're basically guaranteed some of the best diving education money can buy.
 
Another +1 for Gideon Liew of GUE (Global Underwater Explorers). He is an incredible instructor, extremely skilled, patient, humble, intuitive, knowledgeable, observant, and with the phenomenal ability to pinpoint precisely how to get from the level your skills are at to where you want to be. Well worth checking him out while you're nearby.
 
Tech divers only tech dive to be bored. /s

I get it. Going somewhere that few people go is ****ing cool. Doing something difficult is ****ing cool. Learning about all the stuff is ****ing cool. Mastering all the skills is ****ing cool.

****ing cool in AJ's language might be 'thrilling' in OP's language. It doesn't have to mean reckless or foolhardy.

Yikes - I agree with AJ.

Gonna go die now.
 
But GUE won't let him fulfill his hopes of going deep straight away guys :D
 
Or you could just throw a dart at the GUE list of instructors and be humbled by whomever the dart lands on. You're basically guaranteed some of the best diving education money can buy.

Define "best" ... seems to me that what's best for one diver won't necessarily be the best for another.

I dipped my toe into the GUE pond, and while I regarded their training as excellent it simply wasn't a good fit for where I wanted my diving to go. I ended up with NAUI Tech ... with an instructor who not only provided me with quality training, but was far more in line with not just what I wanted to learn but also how I could best learn it. I've never regretted that decision, nor felt that somehow I could have done better by choosing a GUE instructor.

GUE is great training if you're of a certain mindset ... but not everyone is. And it isn't ... or shouldn't be ... a given that learning things in a different way makes that training somehow inferior. Not everyone sees the benefit in GUE's approach that many of you do. Not everyone will get the best training they possibly could by choosing GUE ... it really depends on the student as much as it does the instructor. I've worked at a GUE shop, and been witness to several classes by several GUE instructors ... even video'd a few of them for three of those instructors. And while most came out of those classes quite happy with their choice of agency/instructor, not everyone did.

There is no such thing as a universal "best" ... there's only a "best for me", and that depends very much on what you really want to get out of the class ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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