Mucksavage
Contributor
I just thought I'd write a quick report on my journey into tech diving. I have been on a great dive trip for a couple of months taking in West Papua and Lembeh before getting to the Philippines. I've found that as an avid photographer I am increasingly diving either virtually on my own or on a profile not necessarily matched by others in the group.
I decided that it was time to get back in the classroom, brush up my skills and experience greater and safer independence in the water.
After a long search I settled on doing my Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures with Matt Reed of Triton Technical in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental (Visayas). Matt is one of the most experienced tech divers around and is a fantastic communicator. I thought I might find the course a bit of a chore - lots of theory - and fairly easy in the water as I have done lots of diving - wrong on both counts. The theory is fascinating - its all the stuff that all divers should know and perhaps knew a bit of once but have forgotten. And once I got in the water with a set of doubles on and a wing it really made me think again about the fundamentals and how key they are. The dives are usually on Apo Island so while many boats drip dozens of divers onto the shallow reef I can guarantee you wont see anyone else at 55m.
I benefited so much from the course (what I thought was once good bouyancy is now sublime, backward finning and helicopter kicks allow me to track that flamboyant cuttlefish, subtle movements allowing me focus by movement using 100mm macro etc etc) and enjoyed the taste of tech diving so much that I returned a few weeks later to complete Extended Range and Trimix with Matt at Triton. Knowing a sucker when he sees one Matt explained that I should really keep going and get the Advanced Wreck Course while my tech diving was in good shape.
I cannot recommend this course enough. It may not add anything to the typical divers fun dive experience but for challenging yourself and experiencing adrenalin it can't be beaten. It is also where all the other work clicks into place and it guarantees you will finish a more safety conscious, calm and problem solving diver - all invaluable should something one day go wrong for you or your Buddy on any dive.
This course is earned not bought and the other student on the course did not pass which I think is a testimony to the standards set by Matt at Triton Technical. I have worked as a DM in the past and have never even heard an instructor consider failing a student.
Matt takes his student to Subic Bay in Luzon and its straight into real wrecks of historic significance - including the New York - a ship built in 1891 and scuttled in 1944. The Spanish vessel El Capitan is a perfect training wreck, lying in 18m and with lots of overhead but with plenty of big holes to leave by should having no light, no mask, no air and being entangled on your own line get too much for you!
I'm posting this because it was a spontaneous decision to go into tech diving but the rewards are such that I am a more confident and knowledgeable diver and have now opened a door into a whole new world of diving.
I decided that it was time to get back in the classroom, brush up my skills and experience greater and safer independence in the water.
After a long search I settled on doing my Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures with Matt Reed of Triton Technical in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental (Visayas). Matt is one of the most experienced tech divers around and is a fantastic communicator. I thought I might find the course a bit of a chore - lots of theory - and fairly easy in the water as I have done lots of diving - wrong on both counts. The theory is fascinating - its all the stuff that all divers should know and perhaps knew a bit of once but have forgotten. And once I got in the water with a set of doubles on and a wing it really made me think again about the fundamentals and how key they are. The dives are usually on Apo Island so while many boats drip dozens of divers onto the shallow reef I can guarantee you wont see anyone else at 55m.
I benefited so much from the course (what I thought was once good bouyancy is now sublime, backward finning and helicopter kicks allow me to track that flamboyant cuttlefish, subtle movements allowing me focus by movement using 100mm macro etc etc) and enjoyed the taste of tech diving so much that I returned a few weeks later to complete Extended Range and Trimix with Matt at Triton. Knowing a sucker when he sees one Matt explained that I should really keep going and get the Advanced Wreck Course while my tech diving was in good shape.
I cannot recommend this course enough. It may not add anything to the typical divers fun dive experience but for challenging yourself and experiencing adrenalin it can't be beaten. It is also where all the other work clicks into place and it guarantees you will finish a more safety conscious, calm and problem solving diver - all invaluable should something one day go wrong for you or your Buddy on any dive.
This course is earned not bought and the other student on the course did not pass which I think is a testimony to the standards set by Matt at Triton Technical. I have worked as a DM in the past and have never even heard an instructor consider failing a student.
Matt takes his student to Subic Bay in Luzon and its straight into real wrecks of historic significance - including the New York - a ship built in 1891 and scuttled in 1944. The Spanish vessel El Capitan is a perfect training wreck, lying in 18m and with lots of overhead but with plenty of big holes to leave by should having no light, no mask, no air and being entangled on your own line get too much for you!
I'm posting this because it was a spontaneous decision to go into tech diving but the rewards are such that I am a more confident and knowledgeable diver and have now opened a door into a whole new world of diving.
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