Trimix instructors

[LPA]

Been considering moving into trimix, but haven't figured out which instructor to go with. Which made me wonder what the big names are in deep technical diving.
As an example for cave diving you have Edd Sorrenson, Jill Heinerth, Brian Kakuk; wreck diving has John Chatterton; sidemount has Andy Davis, Steve Martin
(btw this is by no means a comprehensive list, just an illustration, and also some names like Edd could also fit under sidemount, plus am not considering any geographical constraints here).

Is there anyone like that for deep dives or would you end up with any of the likes above? In the end, trimix diving is just another tool and not related to any specific diving type (e.g. cave, wreck etc.). Also am not considering rebreather here yet, thinking being that that will mostly be constrained by which system I end up going with if/when I decide to do so.

 

[lermontov]

i dont know any where you live but id suggest asking people you know who have done such courses if they were happy with the service and price - im my experience big names charge more

 

[Wibble]

They don't have to be big names, but you do need to get on with them as there's multiple courses to do.

Before that though, you need to have your core skills -- buoyancy, finning, trim -- well and truly sorted. If not, doing the technical courses will be very hard work and a strong chance of failure.

The main thing is to chat to them. Make sure that they actually dive as technical divers with helium and probably a rebreather. What you don't want is some recreational instructor who's "done their tek tikit".

A big name instructor's great, but you may find they're strict and don't cut much slack.


But it's fun! Enjoy!

 

[LPA]

Fully agree with both comments, and should have asked the question differently.
Probably will end up with either a local instructor or one of my past technical instructors. But was just curious if there are 'big names' in deep technical diving.

 

[Marie13]

There are several SB members who have taken Trimix with Chatterton and written class reports you can search for.

 

[NothingClever]

@LandonL is a great trimix instructor and has ideal conditions (IMO) in Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida.

He’ll start the course with “Why do you want to take this course?”

Next you’ll do a dryland skills self-assessment straight out of the coursebook and discuss it together.

Next he’ll review the course standards. Tom Mount’s philosophy on chakras not required.

Then you’ll head to shallow water (shore dive) for an actual skills inventory and any remediation. I spent time learning a skill I didn’t get in my AN/DP course and cleaning up another skill.

Then it’s on to academics-dive-academics-dive. I’m a hard copy course book guy. Landon is flexible and can handle both old school and eLearning students.

You’ll do a lot of hard work on the shallow shore dives. I think his approach is sound. Work out all the bugs where risk is low, you can surface easily if there are real problems, you’re not burning boat gas and your back gas lasts forever. The capstone boat and wreck dives cost a lot of money. It’s no fun to be on a deep dive checking out a black tip shark prowling about knowing that you have four or five failure drills to get through. Landon doesn’t task saturate you in the deep like he does in the shallow work. You’ll still get air gunned for a few problems to validate all the skills you trained on during shore dives. But you won’t be facing a mountain of failures because you will have done those in shallow water. Better to sweat in peace (drill after drill in shallow water) than bleed in war (fail at basics on an expensive boat dive).

Aquí Water Sports (Landon’s shop) banks He so no messing about with shop-to-shop logistics.

Landon has a great relationship with Jimmy Gadomski and ScubaTyme that is right down the street from Aquí Water Sports. Jimmy is an accomplished technical wreck diver and instructor so he knows where to drop you and understands everything about your profile.

Clear water and wrecks are great. Lots to explore on the wrecks. Bluewater deco while drifting gets lots of ominous press…not sure why. Shoot balloon, hold stop, stare into space, check buddies, solve world problems in your head, sort out debrief notes, decompress to schedule.

Lots of hip little hotels and eateries in the area. Book in advance. Hotel pickings are slim on short notice.

SoFlo — hands on the clock can be a little bendy. Great Italian coffee shop up the street to kill time.

 

[rddvet]

Big name does not equal excellent instruction. There are several "big name" instructors here in cave country that put out horrible students. There's also those I call the "kave kardashians" that have a presence on social media that makes them seem like the best of the best instructors, but are acutally a-holes that put out ok students at best
Then there's others like Chatterton with a big name, but who teaches some weird crap nobody else teaches.
It's always best to get referrals from people you know doing the dives you want to do (and make sure you see those people in the water to make sure they actually look good).
Some of the best instructors I know are known by many, but aren't "big names"

 

[BoltSnap]

My issue with some of these "celebrity" instructors is that they are terrible teachers/educators and have a very distracting ego that takes away from the learning experience.

 

[Wibble]

My issue with some of these "celebrity" instructors is that they are terrible teachers/educators and have a very distracting ego that takes away from the learning experience.

A bit too generalised; there's a normal distribution here where some are really excellent, some are OK and some are Klingons (or was that kardatitions, whatever the heck they are).

One I've used is a well known and published author who's excellent and I'd recommend him at the drop of a hat. The thing is, I like his style; others don't. One of the ones mentioned above apparently has a reputation for making grown men cry!


You must get on with their teaching style. In the initial courses (ANDP and equivalent), there's a lot of basic stuff to learn. Later courses are improving on those initial skills and more time's spent elsewhere. There's a good chance that you'll end up going off to do CCR later and that instructor may well be in the frame for teaching that. MOD1 is hard by the way.

 

[BoltSnap]

A bit too generalised

You miss this part in what I said:

...with some of these...