Brother just moved to Austin..

[ae3753]

Since George is a cave diver, we actually learned about horizontal trim, frog kick, and helicopter turns from him. I can still clearly hear George telling us to have our chest down and knees up in our OW dives. And he was religious about no danglies.

Tough and rigourous are attributes I would align with George. He pushes you to be better, but doesn't hand hold.

He's not too structured, and that may be one of his weaknesses. However, in Austin, most people (and divers) are pretty unstructured so I don't consider his actions uncharacteristic of the town. Actually, being transplants to Austin, it took us a while to adjust to the laid back life style.

As for military-style and "superior," our OW training wasn't military, but we did conduct skills that are not part of many curriculums today. For example, we did buddy breathing. So when we encountered this in our PADI DM training, Elissa and I started to laugh.

As for "correct," I know that George has a higher standard. In our AOW class, one of the divers balked at the number of dives required. He said something like, "But my friend got his AOW by only doing blah blah blah." At that point, George said that it might be acceptable for another instructor, but not for him.

Oh, he's definitely not DIR.

 

[PvilleStang]

Neal B. would also be a great instructor. I've worked with him a lot, and he's a very qualified instructor, and dives a hog rig. Never really got into the DIR thing with him though. Him and Layne both have Tech experience, so they would be excellent people to learn from, for OW and future endeavors. I think the best way to get in contact with Neal is through Austin Aqua Sports.

 

[Mack Diver]

I also do business with Tom's and can recommend them. But we are lucky to have many good shops here in Austin.

If your bro' is located south I'd recommend talking to Mack at Oak Hill Scuba as well, a good shop with good folks and much easier to get to if you are south. I also have heard good things about Scubaland and have used them for Reg. service and some purchases. They have both north and south locations.

And there are many other shops in area that I did not mention because although I have browsed at and made purchases in them, I have not spent enough time and money there to make a recommendation good or bad.

Thanks Mat.

It would depend on what part of town he is in. If he is up north, I'd suggest Dive World. Central would be Tom's. South would be Oak Hill Scuba. It might also depend on what cert agency he's looking for. Dive World is PADI, Tom's is SSI and Oak Hill does PADI and NAUI.

 

[ryanpublic]

Up front I do most of my diving stuff out of the south store at Scubaland. But I'm still getting re-started with all this scuba stuff. If I were getting my first Open Water Cert I would think where the checkout dives are should be a consideration (in addition to staff and price and recomendations). I picked Scubaland because their checkout dives were at Aquarina Springs as opposed to the Lake (in the winter) and it's kind of hard to dive there for most normal folks. They either allow you to dive the with a class (still hit you up for an extra $25/day) or you can pay $225 AND VOLUNTEER there. It's a special place because the water is near 70 all year long and vis is very good (probably 20-30 feet). Plus this place has a lot of cool history.

Scubaland does checkouts at Aquarina Springs in the winter. (PADI with a north and south store but the pool is at the north store)

Dive World also dives at Aquarina during winter. PADI with two stores on 620. North store is at Lake Creek and 620, South store just south of 2222 and 620. (BTW I think they have a boat)

Tom's does checkouts at the Lake according to their website (SSI Burnet and Koenig).

Oak Hill is also at the lake right Mack? (Padi and NAUI).

Clearwater Divers on Burnet is PDIC and checkouts at the lake.

If you want to go on and take more classes most agencies recognize the first open water cert from each other.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

You know, Ryanpublic brings up a very good point about where the dives are conducted.

I only know one diver that was 'turned off' by Travis diving, but I've heard it's fairly common (I am not a dive pro, so my diver community is small).

My suggestion is to do the class room and pool work here with a referral to Cozumel.

Seriously.

 

[danktex]

When I did my check out dives they were in Travis and I am glad they were. If I didn't dive Travis I would not be able to dive that often and my skills would be crap. Don't be afraid of the murky lake. Even cold it is your friend.

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

Tom's does checkouts at the Lake according to their website (SSI Burnet and Koenig).

Tom's will do Aquarena as well in colder months, they poll the classmembers and take the majority choice.

 

[ryanpublic]

Didn't mean to knock the Lake but Aquarina is warmer in the winter, clearer and definitely worth seeing at least once in your scuba life.

In the summer Travis is nicer because the temps go up (sometimes into upper 80s), better parks, and it's cheaper. (also not as many weird lame restrictions). Plus while nothing excersizes you navigation skills like the lower vis at Travis, it's still clear enough to be fun.

 

[Slipstrm]

Since George is a cave diver, we actually learned about horizontal trim, frog kick, and helicopter turns from him. I can still clearly hear George telling us to have our chest down and knees up in our OW dives. And he was religious about no danglies.

Tough and rigourous are attributes I would align with George. He pushes you to be better, but doesn't hand hold.

He's not too structured, and that may be one of his weaknesses. However, in Austin, most people (and divers) are pretty unstructured so I don't consider his actions uncharacteristic of the town. Actually, being transplants to Austin, it took us a while to adjust to the laid back life style.

As for military-style and "superior," our OW training wasn't military, but we did conduct skills that are not part of many curriculums today. For example, we did buddy breathing. So when we encountered this in our PADI DM training, Elissa and I started to laugh.

As for "correct," I know that George has a higher standard. In our AOW class, one of the divers balked at the number of dives required. He said something like, "But my friend got his AOW by only doing blah blah blah." At that point, George said that it might be acceptable for another instructor, but not for him.

Oh, he's definitely not DIR.

Yeah I'd vote for Clearwater Divers as well, If you wanna learn how to dive and be your best. Clearwater Standards are way above the average.
Dive with the best or dive with the rest....