Any instructors in the NYC area?

[mikeny9]

Hello everyone,

I've been reading a lot about DIR and would love to improve my skills. I'm trying to locate an instructor near me. I looked on the UTD website at instructor profiles but the website doesn't provide their general operating area. Are there any UTD instructors in the NYC area? The closest ones I've found are affiliated Submerged out of Rockville, MD.

Thanks!

 

[divad]

You should talk to gothamdivers.com..... they seem to be most GUE-friendly shop in town, and allaboutscuba.com who is a GUE guy.

 

[tbone1004]

hopefully you see evad and my post before they get deleted. I don't believe any UTD instructors are up there, and while GUE is no longer using the term DIR, partially because of UTD actually, I believe Bob Sherwood teaches Fundies out of Dutch Springs on a semi-regular basis so I would contact him first.

 

[mikeny9]

Thanks guys, I've already been in touch with Bob. I plan on doing fundies with him when I can, even if I take some UTD courses. Doing both can't hurt right? Everything I've ready about GUE fundies is worth every penny, regardless of what diving religion people subscribe to. I'll check out Gotham Divers too.

 

[tbone1004]

the problem is they don't really acknowledge each others courses, so once you subscribe to one, you have to commit otherwise you'll be taking courses multiple times

 

[decompression]

If I may, from the UTD standards and procedures;

You can enter a class at your current level – Divers and Instructors alike can move into a UTD class at your current or next level - it is not necessary to start from the bottom. UTD Instructors are always available for an evaluation dive prior to your class.

So, taking any course (GUE or other) is fine. A simple evaluation by a UTD instructor will allow you to participate in a "next level" UTD course. Or begin with essentials.

Mikeny09, you'll find the skills for UTD/GUE are very similar, In fact many of us dive in teams together.

I highly recommend starting fundies or essentials.

Most UTD instructors are willing to travel and would be happy to arrange something with you.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions....

Jay

UTD #114


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[tbone1004]

Jay, thanks for clarification, I know GUE didn't accept anything, but wasn't sure about UTD. What he said though, the skills are all basically the same for the backmount stuff. That said, if the GUE route is more convenient and you can go laterally into UTD if you like their mentality better, I would start with GUE so you don't have to start at the beginning. A huge part of why I don't have any GUE training is that I would have to start back at square one, and it isn't worth it at this level for me.

 

[mikeny9]

Thanks tbone and Jay, all good points. Would there be any disadvantage to taking both UTD Essentials and GUE Fundamentals except to my wallet? It'd be good to get a feel of how both are.

evad, I spoke with Tim from Gotham Divers, and while they don't teach any UTD/GUE things they definitely are friendly toward them. Tim mentioned Gotham sticks to SSI for recreational classes, and IANTD for tech classes. They're the only place that does trimix fills in the city. They also do quite a lot of wrecks; it seems like a great group to get to know.

 

[decompression]

That's awesome. Essentials and fundies are almost identical, so no real benefit there. Checkout the IANTD instructor there as several that I know will give you similar skills, certainly at tech level. Have a good look at the courses for UTD/GUE and see what interests you. You've got wrecks in mind already so checkout the overhead protocols course which is the stepping stone for both wreck and cave, very cool course.


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[DDR]

FWIW, I'm happy to vouch for Submerged. Jon and Tanya are both great instructors. I live in north Jersey and they were incredibly helpful and flexible getting my training done.