Recreational wreck instructor recommendations?

[Esprise Me]

...Or, rec wreck recs? Sorry.

I'm still just a baby diver, fewer than 100 dives, never been deeper than 100 feet, working on drysuit next month and doubles sometime after that, not ready for tec. But I really like wrecks. I've had a chance to dive a few of them, no penetration obviously, and I'm thinking about taking one of the no- or limited-penetration PADI or SDI or similar wreck diving courses. The consensus on this board seems to be that such a course can be great or a complete waste of time, depending on the instructor. So, any recommendations? SoCal preferred but I'm willing to travel. I would like to take an advanced wreck course eventually, but I need time to further refine my skills and fulfill the prerequisites. I'm not in a hurry to go deep or take on big challenges, but it'd be nice to have training to superficially explore some purpose-sunk wrecks.

 

[tbone1004]

I would highly recommend taking a cavern or more ideally an intro to cave course instead. While I think advanced wreck for penetration can be very important, I have no idea what a recreational wreck course would actually teach....
I see nothing in the SDI standards that would compel me to waste money on that course. If you want to become a better diver with the goal of taking advanced wreck which it sounds like you do, then take a cavern/intro to cave course in Florida. It will teach you about diving in overhead environments without the expense and hassle of getting to wrecks *cave conditions essentially never change so you will get a LOT more bottom time in that kind of course since a cavern is basically a natural swimming pool*, so from a bang for buck perspective, it's a lot better. It also has much more emphasis on basic running of lines, lights, etc. and will put much more time into your buoyancy/trim/propulsion.

If you can travel, Ted McCoy would be the first call I'd make. He has truly expansive experience wreck diving and instructoin in NJ including many dives on the Doria, and is one of the best cave instructors out there.

A different course of action would be to contact someone like @The Chairman or @LandonL and schedule a course that is more cavern w/ basic wreck. They could give you a day or two in cave country learning about actual diving skills, BPT, etc. then go to somewhere like Pompano or the upper Keys and dive some of their artificial reefs and give some wreck specific tips like dealing with current while on deco/safety stops, etc.

Taking a basic wreck course in and of itself though is IMO very much a waste of money

 

[Andrea VanEpps]

Call Eco Dive, 310-398-5759. There are several instructors that teach wreck diving and they're awesome! And a couple of them are also tech instructors, cave diving addicts and just good guys.

 

[tbone1004]

Call Eco Dive, 310-398-5759. There are several instructors that teach wreck diving and they're awesome! And a couple of them are also tech instructors, cave diving addicts and just good guys.

@Esprise Me
On the topic mentioned above. DO NOT! I repeat DO NOT take a basic wreck course from anyone who is not a qualified technical wreck diver *don't have to teach at that level, but they MUST dive at that level*. The risk of developing very bad habits are too high and then when you go to take the technical wreck course there is going to be a lot of work to undo what you have learned. Beginning with the end in mind is critical at this level and if you start off on the wrong foot it will be immensely frustrating for both you and your instructor to fix.

 

[guruboy]

I don’t see what useful skills a recreational level wreck course would teach that you couldn’t gain from taking deep, navigation, and buoyancy courses (or by just doing more dives as AOW and skip paying for specialties).

 

[Scott]

I don’t see what useful skills a recreational level wreck course would teach that you couldn’t gain from taking deep, navigation, and buoyancy courses (or by just doing more dives as AOW and skip paying for specialties).

Unless the deep, navigation and a buoyancy course include shooting a bag, running a line/reel, zero viz drills and kicks off the top of my head, then probably nothing could be gained.

 

[tbone1004]

@Scott I think he was talking about the basic wreck class where none of that is really required except maybe shooting a bag which I think is taught in the deep course, or at least should be.

 

[Esprise Me]

I don’t see what useful skills a recreational level wreck course would teach that you couldn’t gain from taking deep, navigation, and buoyancy courses (or by just doing more dives as AOW and skip paying for specialties).

My AOW included the first dive of each of those, but I haven't done any of them as a stand-alone full specialty. Are you saying completing those 3 courses would be more educational than taking a rec wreck course? I can't imagine it would be cheaper.

As I understand it, a wreck class should include at least a few new-to-me skills such as running a line, which I'm not going to just naturally pick up over the next hundred dives. I'm open to taking a cavern class instead. I'm also open to instruction that doesn't lead to any official certification. I appreciate the suggestions so far and am open to more.

 

[tbone1004]

@Esprise Me I wouldn't bother with specialties. Take something like GUE Fundies or a cavern class and you'll be far more prepared for "rec wreck" diving than you would by taking all of those specialties AND a basic wreck course.

 

[Esprise Me]

Interesting; what does cavern cover that wreck doesn't?