victorzamora
Contributor
Hey guys. A good buddy Joe Downing and I just passed Cavern/Intro with Michal Turek as my instructor. I was really nervous about going into the class because I didn't know what to expect. It was straight forward, progressed slowly, everything was clear. If you have your fundamentals mostly down and can keep yourself calm, you'll be fine.
Experiences
I have nothing but positive things to say about Edd Sorenson, Frank, John, and Jay from the shop. I was VERY excited to meet Edd and was afraid of Frank. I'm in college, I'm broke, and I love diving. Frank's fame had preceded him (luckily)...so I was on the look out! Edd took the time to go over TONS of information with us. He showed me his harness, which never made tons of sense to me. After he went over why each one of them was necessary/beneficial, I still wasn't completely convinced....but I understood the decisions. After a few dives, I found great reasons for nearly all of the mods, and found myself wishing I could trade rigs on one dive. After all of our diving was done, Michal met us at the shop Sunday morning to go over the test and finish up paper work. We had a few hours to burn and no diving to do. Because of my financial situation, I knew I couldn't afford all of the mods but definitely needed at least a few of them done. Edd ran out to get some tubing to swap the inflator location, Frank and Jay helped me install everything I could do for free or cheap. They really did everything they could to help me out, even when there was little to nothing in it for them. They advised on relief valves, pointed me in the direction of Steve Gamble, they gave tips and tricks. Edd talked about all of the big names I have been reading about. Absolutely fantastic guy. The only thing he tried to sell me on was that becoming a better diver was a necessity and that sidemount was better than backmounted anything. He told us about fifteen minutes into the first day that he refused to sugar coat or euphemise anything, and that was true. He said what he thought no matter what, and he never seemed to have any agenda in what he told us. What he said seemed learned purely from experience.
Now, for Michal. I told him I liked Edd's no-BS policy as I've adopted a similar thing in my life. I've already passed, so I don't need to butter him up. What I say is honestly the truth. I've been working on sidemount for SEVERAL months now, and I progressed more in sidemount in 3 days with Michal than in months of diving without him. He did more for my trim and buoyancy than months of focusing on trim and buoyancy alone. I was okay before him, but he really forced it all to get better. He was extremely patient. Joe and I had TONS of questions for him, which I'm sure got old quickly. One thing he did that I loved was he explained WHY. I'm an engineer, so answers are completely useless without a reason WHY. They won't stick, I won't absorb them. I can remember them, but I won't LEARN them. Michal was extremely knowledgeable. He frequently dives well above the level he was teaching us at, so his ability to have "foresight" into the world of diving and where we can expect to go was fantastic. Not once did he answer a question or tell us a rule without a very logical explanation, an example of how that could apply short-term, and an example of how that could apply long term. Michal is not a big name. I searched for him on the forums but could only find one review. Well, I'll tell you that I'd recommend him to everybody I know. The only negative thing I can say about him is that he has too much integrity to pass you just because it's easier than failing you....failing was something I was originally afraid of after spending the time and money to take the class. He told us directly that he didn't care about our feelings, being unsafe was unforgivable and he would NOT pass us. If you want to learn, go to Michal. If you want an easy C-card, go to somebody else. I'll be back to Michal when I get the time and money to keep progressing in my learning...and I'll be practicing until then to make him proud (and to pass Full Cave, and to not die in a cave).
Experiences
I have nothing but positive things to say about Edd Sorenson, Frank, John, and Jay from the shop. I was VERY excited to meet Edd and was afraid of Frank. I'm in college, I'm broke, and I love diving. Frank's fame had preceded him (luckily)...so I was on the look out! Edd took the time to go over TONS of information with us. He showed me his harness, which never made tons of sense to me. After he went over why each one of them was necessary/beneficial, I still wasn't completely convinced....but I understood the decisions. After a few dives, I found great reasons for nearly all of the mods, and found myself wishing I could trade rigs on one dive. After all of our diving was done, Michal met us at the shop Sunday morning to go over the test and finish up paper work. We had a few hours to burn and no diving to do. Because of my financial situation, I knew I couldn't afford all of the mods but definitely needed at least a few of them done. Edd ran out to get some tubing to swap the inflator location, Frank and Jay helped me install everything I could do for free or cheap. They really did everything they could to help me out, even when there was little to nothing in it for them. They advised on relief valves, pointed me in the direction of Steve Gamble, they gave tips and tricks. Edd talked about all of the big names I have been reading about. Absolutely fantastic guy. The only thing he tried to sell me on was that becoming a better diver was a necessity and that sidemount was better than backmounted anything. He told us about fifteen minutes into the first day that he refused to sugar coat or euphemise anything, and that was true. He said what he thought no matter what, and he never seemed to have any agenda in what he told us. What he said seemed learned purely from experience.
Now, for Michal. I told him I liked Edd's no-BS policy as I've adopted a similar thing in my life. I've already passed, so I don't need to butter him up. What I say is honestly the truth. I've been working on sidemount for SEVERAL months now, and I progressed more in sidemount in 3 days with Michal than in months of diving without him. He did more for my trim and buoyancy than months of focusing on trim and buoyancy alone. I was okay before him, but he really forced it all to get better. He was extremely patient. Joe and I had TONS of questions for him, which I'm sure got old quickly. One thing he did that I loved was he explained WHY. I'm an engineer, so answers are completely useless without a reason WHY. They won't stick, I won't absorb them. I can remember them, but I won't LEARN them. Michal was extremely knowledgeable. He frequently dives well above the level he was teaching us at, so his ability to have "foresight" into the world of diving and where we can expect to go was fantastic. Not once did he answer a question or tell us a rule without a very logical explanation, an example of how that could apply short-term, and an example of how that could apply long term. Michal is not a big name. I searched for him on the forums but could only find one review. Well, I'll tell you that I'd recommend him to everybody I know. The only negative thing I can say about him is that he has too much integrity to pass you just because it's easier than failing you....failing was something I was originally afraid of after spending the time and money to take the class. He told us directly that he didn't care about our feelings, being unsafe was unforgivable and he would NOT pass us. If you want to learn, go to Michal. If you want an easy C-card, go to somebody else. I'll be back to Michal when I get the time and money to keep progressing in my learning...and I'll be practicing until then to make him proud (and to pass Full Cave, and to not die in a cave).
Last edited:
