DIR/GUE OW class

[limeyx]

Yikes! I thought I was high on my guess...

Okay, new contest. Let's guess on how many students (collectively) they'll have in one year's time.

My guess is 20.

But what's the cost of Open Water, AOW, Nitrox and Rescue diver from other guys (plus optionally DIR-F to fix all the problems created ? Granted, probably not $1200 but not $200 either, and you still dont get the skills you'd get from this course.

I think it's a great idea and I'd have signed up in a snap if it were available when I started.

It's easy to see the course appealing to people who are serious about diving frequently and want to do it properly -- which I think has always been the GUE stance on things.

Sometimes you *do* get what you'd paid for.

 

[ericfine50]

But what's the cost of Open Water, AOW, Nitrox and Rescue diver from other guys (plus optionally DIR-F to fix all the problems created ? Granted, probably not $1200 but not $200 either, and you still dont get the skills you'd get from this course.

I think it's a great idea and I'd have signed up in a snap if it were available when I started.

It's easy to see the course appealing to people who are serious about diving frequently and want to do it properly -- which I think has always been the GUE stance on things.

Sometimes you *do* get what you'd paid for.

But - You have to also look at it from someone that is not a diver. They may not have any idea if they want to dive all the time, dive local,whatever or just go away to dive a few times a year.

Yes - there are going to be guys that research the internet for information about training, and they might like this class. But, it seems a bit much for your first introduction into scuba. Tack gear onto that and you have probablly 1500.00 before they get finished. That is a hefty investment for someone that is not sure if they really like the sport.

 

[JeffG]

I think it's a great idea and I'd have signed up in a snap if it were available when I started.

You say that now, but would have you have said that when you started? I know I wouldn't drop $1200 US to get certified and yet I paid for fundies twice (which after expenses would be ~80% of that price) because I was at a point to actually appreciate what was being taught.

I think it will be the greatest class that nobody ever takes.

 

[limeyx]

You say that now, but would have you have said that when you started? I know I wouldn't drop $1200 US to get certified and yet I paid for fundies twice (which after expenses would be ~80% of that price) because I was at a point to actually appreciate what was being taught.

I think it will be the greatest class that nobody ever takes.

You have something of a point. I'd sure like to hope I would have

In my case, I had the benefit of working within 10 feet of a DIR diver for 4 years or so, so maybe that's not representative of everyone! I am pretty sure that if he had laid out all the costs to me, I'd have done it.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

I think it will be the greatest class that nobody ever takes.

:lol:

You shoulda listened to your mom more

.

 

[Jason B]

Seems to me that putting Open Water, AOW, Nitrox, and DIR-F (with extra content-your words) in an 8 day class is like the "zero to hero" 8 day full cave classes. I know many instructors that will not even teach those because of all the info that is lost due to system overload in such a short time. Granted there are some that can pull it off, it's just not the norm.

In fact, if DIR-F is now 4 days, that means they are getting OW, AOW, and nitrox in 4 days! So many of you guys complain about people getting certified OW in a weekend. This doesn't appear to be much different.

I understand that you will have less students per instructor but that doesn't change the vast amount of knowledge a student will have to obtain in such a short period time.

Of course, I'm in no way trying to change anyone's mind on this matter, just pointing out how I see it.
Seems like a step backwards for GUE to me....

That said, good luck in your endeavors.

 

[JeffG]

:lol:

You shoulda listened to your mom more

.

I do hope I'm wrong, but my gut says I'm not.

 

[pants!]

Seems to me that putting Open Water, AOW, Nitrox, and DIR-F (with extra content-your words) in an 8 day class is like the "zero to hero" 8 day full cave classes. I know many instructors that will not even teach those because of all the info that is lost due to system overload in such a short time. Granted there are some that can pull it off, it's just not the norm.

There's not much info. Nitrox is an hour or two.

All the rest is simple fundamental diving. It's not a traditional OW class plus DIRF plus AOW. It's a single, teach them the right way the first time class. Fixing all of the wrong things is harder.

DIRF is four dives, and that so far does a pretty decent job of turning OW clusters into decent divers.

This class will be 16 dives. I tell you, if my OW class was 16 DIRF-level dives instead of 10 very silly dives that consisted of kneeling on the bottom for 5 minutes, demonstrating some skills, then swimming around aimlessly, I would have been a very different diver.

 

[mdb]

This class will be 16 dives. I tell you, if my OW class was 16 DIRF-level dives instead of 10 very silly dives that consisted of kneeling on the bottom for 5 minutes, demonstrating some skills, then swimming around aimlessly, I would have been a very different diver.

Exactly. 16 dives =$75.00 per dive. Not a bad rate at all, plus all the classroom, texts, etc. I think the skeptics and naysayers are wrong. GUE is moving in the right direction.

 

[MHK]

Exactly. 16 dives =$75.00 per dive. Not a bad rate at all, plus all the classroom, texts, etc. I think the skeptics and naysayers are wrong. GUE is moving in the right direction.

I think this is an extremely important point. Let's put aside the money for a second and consider what the intention of GUE is, and then once the underlying premise is understood then we can address the economics.

Those that are comparing the GUE OW class to a combination of BOW, AOW, & Nitrox are really missing the point and comparing apples and oranges. Take, for example, a stereotypical Nitrox class. You may get 2 "dives", or you may not, but the point is that even if you did get 2 dives more often then not there are no skills associated with that dive(s). Take, for another example, the "deep" dive in the AOW class. Again, more often then not, other then perhaps a math problem or two you generally don't see much in the way of skills. The same could be said for the "night" dive, no real skills inasmuch as they escort a diver at night.

Comparing those types of dives to a true training dive, the kind that are experienced in the DIR-F class is an inapplicable comparison. Consider that GUE will require that atleast 50 CuFt of gas will need to be consumed for the dive to count, and couple that with the fact that we'll be doing the training in 20' of water. That translates to a significant amount of in-water time and a significant amount of instructor time when you consider a 4:1 max ratio. Comparing a dive such as that to a run of the mill training dive where a team of 10, or perhaps more, is knelt on the ground facing the instructor checking skills off a slate while overweighted is disengenuous.

In short, it's would be erroneous to suggest that a typical training type dive as the industry currently allows is in any way, shape or form what we envision as a training dive under the GUE OW paradigm.

Hope that helps.