DIR-F Class

[SeaJay]

Just got back minutes ago from a cruise on the Sovereign of the Seas that involved three days in the Bahamas, including a day-long stay on Royal Caribbean's private island, Cocoa Cay. What a great trip. Lots of pictures to go up later on my website, at http://www.USCBscuba.com. Seen: Two airplane wrecks, a shipwreck, another shipwreck, a "wall" with a 6500' bottom, (no, that's not a typo), blacktip sharks, a spotted manta ray with a 5' wingspan, countless tropical fish including yellowtails, angels, parrotfish, etc... I even brought back (quite illegally) an enormous conch shell.

Anyway, so I came home and hit my email, and I have gotten a response about the DIR-F class that I've been inquiring about recently. Seems that there's one in Atlanta (about a five hours' drive) at the end of January. I've been trying to find this class for months now... I was thrilled to see that the class is a possibility.

Here's what it said:

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. I found out last
week that I am one of the "lucky" folks who is having my DirecTV DSL
turned off next month, so I have been scrambling this week to find a
new E-mail home. Please note the change of E-mail address - all
future correspondence should be directed to me here.

Anyway, the DIR-F course is set for Fri, Jan 31 through Sun, Feb 2.
Friday night lecture will be held in Atlanta at a location that is
still TBD at this point. It will start around 6:00-7:00 PM and last
until about 10:00-11:00 PM.

Saturday and Sunday will be done at Blue Water Quarry in Pelham, AL.
This will involve an overnight stay, which is not included in the
course price - you will need to make your own arrangements for that.
I can give you some hotel info for Pelham if you need it.

Cost of the course is $400, which includes course fees, local
expenses for Andrew and Mike, and two days entrance to the quarry. It
does not include lodging, food, transportation, or gas fills. To
secure a spot in the class, I will need your $400 payment in full,
paid by check to me personally at this address:

(name withheld)
(address witheld)
Atlanta, GA 30345

I need the money by January 10. Sorry for the short notice, but the
class is only a month away, and I need time to make arrangements.

Thanks again for your interest - please do not hesitate to ask if you
have any other questions.

-(name witheld)

I 'bout fell outta my chair. $400!?? Are you kidding? For DIR-F?? I have a pretty good idea of what to expect in the class, based on other's writeups here... And what the hell am I getting for a whopping $400? Add in food and hotel and driving time and gas, and this trip's gonna cost me around $600!!

Here's the killer... My cruise... Guess how much? $529 per person. And that wasn't even the "cheap" seats.

That's rediculous.

I watched the DIR III video recently, and George says proudly, "Computers don't do anything for you... And for the price, you can get all of the good gear that works, and still save money."

Not if I'm taking his class! Sheesh!

No way I'm doing that.

Now, the flip side of this whole thing is that down there in the Bahamas, I saw horrible, terrible things... People with no skills whatsoever... Destroying reefs and totally out of control, near the edge of "the wall." People penetrating that shouldn't have been... It was seriously dangerous... I stood by, hovering, as a newly certified Rescue Diver, waiting for something to go wrong. I 'bout gave up when I saw someone "drop" a buoyant disposable camera, and then shoot to the surface (about 50') to go get it and bring it back down. People like this shouldn't even be diving. It's the same guy I saw sit down on the coral, breaking off decades of growth...

The Divemaster that dove with us even seemed oblivious. Maybe he's just used to it.

But one guy (who was wearing a bp/wing, but also an Air II, a computer, and had never heard of DIR) and I simply hovered, using mostly frog kicks and helicopter turns to maneuver, while we watched this guy in horror. When I saw him look at me and shake his head, I knew that he and I were on the same wavelength.

...So I'm dying to do DIR-F. But there's no way I'm paying that kind of money for the class. I just don't think that I'd get $400 (plus) out of it. Now this idiot sitting on the coral... God! I can't believe some people.

Anyone have any better suggestions for DIR-F? If this is the way it's going to be, I'll listen and learn, and keep an open mind, taking in all I can... But I just ain't gonna pay that kind of dosh...

 

[O-ring]

Mine was about $290 if I remember right, but it was the same deal...we had to pay for gas fills, hotel room, and quarry passes (including quarry passes I guess my class was about $320).

As far as I know, the cost of the class varies with instructors and participants. I was told that the cost would be whatever it cost to fly the instructors into town to do it and their associated expenses divided over the number of students. Is the class you are talking about going to be a very small class? You could always try to get a few more people in it to spread out expenses.

I would PM MHK and ask him about it...I bet he is the Mike mentioned in your correspondence and could give a much more accurate answer than most of the rest of us.

 

[Cave Diver]

I understand your concern about $400 for the class. I had very similar feelings prior to taking the class (mine was $350). WHAT could they possibly teach me that was worth that kind of money?

Well, I went anyway. And I have to admit, I did learn alot and it did improve my skills. I already had "good" bouyancy control, but the class helped to fine tune it. Not to mention introducing task loading while maintaining bouyancy and emphasizing buddy awareness.

If you can afford to take the class, my recommendation is that you do it. If you have not read some of the previous DIRF reports posted here, you might want to check them first. Lost Yooper, Large Diver and myself all wrote comprehensive reports of our class which you may find useful. Others may have as well. If you would like the links to them, let me know and I will post them.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[wb416]

Why twice? Once for myself, and then I made an offer to a few friend that if anyone took the next one in the Detroit area, I would take it with them. So 2 1/2 months later, I was in another one with a friend that took it.

So all told, I paid more than $400 and I found it more useful the second time than the first.

Here's a link to the write up of my first class, if you're interested (I was in Lost Yooper's class in July):
http://www.bayareadivers.net/wb416/reports/GueFundamentals.htm

I think you'll find it worth the money, even at $400.

regards,
wb

 

[WreckWriter]

300 is standard price, not including instructor travel. If you're in an area where there's no local DIRF instructor, 400 doesn't sound unreasonable. Yea, I know its a lot but it is a good course.

I paid 300 for mine with a local instructor.

As others have said, I also plan to take it again in a few months.

Tom

 

[dcostanza]

I paid $300 for mine and there were 3 instructors that flew in to teach the class. I learned a lot, took a ton of notes and in the following weeks was able to hone the skills taught to where I'm a much better diver (and I had, in my humble opinion, excellent buoyancy skills before taking the class) as well as teaching me to be a much better buddy.

Was it expensive? Depends what you base the price of education on. I generally evaluate a course on whether or not I'll get a few good ideas. If so, then I'm more apt to take it.
My experience with the class was that it taught me much that was lacking in the numerous PADI courses I had taken up to that point. ( I came home with numerous items to work on as well as different approaches on how to develop a better diving foundation).

It was a very humbling weekend for me and as indicated earlier in this post, the following weeks I was able to take the knowledge and work on it at my own pace. I thought the course was worth it as it added to my knowledge base and skill sets.

After taking the class and knowing what I do...would I take the class if it would have cost me $400 instead of the $300??? My answer would be yes.

Best Regards
Don Costanza

 

[DiverBuoy]

I want to do the local So Cal version ... can't wait - I'm eagerly anticipating this class.

 

[Uncle Pug]

For Andrew G and Mike K ?

That is a Bargain.

 

[SeaJay]

...So you guys know these guys?

And they're worth it?

Jeeez...

I fully expected you guys to respond that I was being taken advantage of... I'm surprised that I'm getting the response that I am.

Man, I need to reconsider... My experience on this board thus far has been that the opinions expressed here, while I haven't always agreed with them, have, in the long run, ended up being much more "on" than I originally thought. Case in point: My posts about "eating my words" and that in my own personal quest for "the perfect rig," I'm ending up looking more and more DIR every day.

Something tells me that a $400 investment might end up saving me more than that in LDS->Ebay->DIR maneuvers alone.

Jeez, I can't believe that I'm considering this. Lemme sleep on it.

 

[Uncle Pug]

SeaJay once bubbled...
Lemme sleep on it.

Good night.