Current opinions on Padi Tec-rec?

[Colliam7]

Be honest with the Instructor - tell him/her that you are seriously considering signing up for training with them, and want to be sure it is a 'good fit' - for both of you - before beginning.

1. Ask for student references. And, not just for technical training.
2. Arrange to make a recreational dive with the Instructor, requesting feedback on your buoyancy and trim, as a preliminary to taking a tec course.
3. Ask to do a 'Discover Tec' course with the Instructor. That is one way to determine how compatible the two of you are, and how comfortable and flexible the Instructor is.

As an Instructor, I know that I may not be a good fit for every student. Better that the student and I find that out early.

How many years of experience I have, what dives I have done, how many students I have trained, etc. are all relevant indicators. But, how well my approach to teaching meets the students needs is a primary issue, and sometimes the best way to find out is to 'test the water' (if you will pardon a bad pun).

 

[taimen]

Good advice except that only one (padi) instructor is responsive to @Jake

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Thanks for the replies so far. Most everyone has mentioned that the value of the course is mostly based on the caliber of the instructor. Besides asking the instructor how much experience they have, how does one determine whether an instructor is any good or not?

I have an entire chapter on choosing an instructor for advanced training in my second book with 30 interview questions you can ask. SB will not let me copy and paste the questions for some reason. But to summarize a few of them:

How long has the instructor been teaching in the configuration you want to learn in? If it's a sidemount tech class or they allow sidemount, do they have the experience or did they attend a weekend workshop that let them offer sidemount.

How many tech dives do they do teaching and for fun? Even non-deco in the tech configuration.

What are the average class sizes? I never take more than 4.

How long does the class take? The answer is - As long as it takes to produce a safe, skilled, and knowledgeable diver. For some people in an AN/DP class that's a week and 7 or 8 dives. For others, it may be longer and 10-12 dives.

Do they fail students? There comes a point with some when you have to say, "No, you should not be tech diving and you won't get a card from me."

Do they refuse students who are not ready? If your buoyancy and trim are not excellent and you are still messing with some basic skills, I'm not going to take your 700-900 bucks for an AN/DP class only to have to remediate basic skills.

What are the course prerequisites above the agency ones? Most good tech instructors have their own standards you need to meet before you can even start the class.

Do they have recommendations from past students? They should have no trouble giving them to you.

These are just a few questions. You also need to look at personalities, schedules, flexibility, etc.

I've taught the AN/DP class as one unit and it takes a week with 9-10 dives. I've also split it for another group and they ended up getting 11 dives in. Standards call for 6.

 

[stuartv]

If you go with TDI you can combine light trimix(up to 20%) with the AN/DP course.

That is true, but only if the TDI instructor is certified to teach TDI Trimix. If they are, then they can combine TDI Helitrox (i.e. trimix with up to 20% helium) into one course along with AN and DP (requiring no additional dives). If they are not certified to teach Trimix, then they cannot teach Helitrox.

I only clarify this in case someone reading this is ever told by an instructor that you cannot combine Helitrox with AN/DP. That just means that THAT INSTRUCTOR can't do it. That doesn't mean that it is not perfectly fine with TDI.

IANTD also has a class called Advanced Recreational Trimix and I *think* that course is similar to TDI Helitrox. But, I haven't taken it and IANTD does not publish much detail on their course standards for general public consumption. This is just hearsay, but I think IANTD has a prereq called just Recreational Trimix, but I think it is like PADI and SDI Nitrox in that it does not require dives. ART requires dives and I think it may actually result in a certification to a deeper depth than what TDI does (i.e. 45m/150'). But, again, I am REALLY not sure about that. Just something for the OP to check into if they want to research additional options.

 

[rabe]

I've done the Tec40 with PADI, and I'll do 45 soon (still with PADI).
I have found the study material too easy and light, and it doesn't go too much on to the "science" of diving, which it was a bummer for me. Luckily, I have studied independently from other sources, so I was able to cover those aspects.
The biggest critic I have, however is: PADI manual must be updated.

Other than that, at the end of the day, the most important thing is the instructor.

 

[Mike1967]

Helitrox

That's if you're rich and can afford trimix fills

 

[runsongas]

That's if you're rich and can afford trimix fills

capped at 20% helium, so the cost isn't onerous as long as you aren't trying to dive it oc in truk/bikini.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Before embarking on any tech courses, I'd suggest either a gatekeeper course with GUE or UTD (fundies/essentials), or a workshop with an instructor who can teach such a course. Dealing with skills issues in a tech course is not the best use of that time, in my opinion.

 

[Billy Northrup]

Before embarking on any tech courses, I'd suggest either a gatekeeper course with GUE or UTD (fundies/essentials), or a workshop with an instructor who can teach such a course. Dealing with skills issues in a tech course is not the best use of that time, in my opinion.

I did that by happenstance, did fundies before deco (Padi and tdi) and it was a really good move on my part. It just happened that way, I wasn't that smart at the time

 

[Mike1967]

capped at 20% helium, so the cost isn't onerous as long as you aren't trying to dive it oc in truk/bikini.

$135AU for twin 12.2s, that's dear in my world.