DIR- Generic Drinking the DIR koolaid

[sigxbill]

I recommend UTD Essentials, or gue fundies asap. After that, if you really want a depth card, you can decide if you still want to go traditional agency, in which case you might consider deep diver instead of AOW. Or, you may be inclined to continue your DIR education - in which case you could do UTD or gue Rec 2 for a 100' card.

I recommend Jon Edwardson, who teaches in the GA area (Jon@marinesportsmanagement.com), or Ryan at AQUI Water Sports.

Good luck and enjoy,

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I recommend UTD Essentials, or gue fundies asap. After that, if you really want a depth card, you can decide if you still want to go traditional agency, in which case you might consider deep diver instead of AOW. Or, you may be inclined to continue your DIR education - in which case you could do UTD or gue Rec 2 for a 100' card.

I recommend Jon Edwardson, who teaches in the GA area (Jon@marinesportsmanagement.com), or Ryan at AQUI Water Sports.

Good luck and enjoy,

I’d highly recommend Ryan for anyone near or willing to travel to Ft. Lauderdale. He is exceptional in his expertise and generous with his knowledge.

 

[EireDiver606]

My card says 21m and 32% nitrox

 

[EireDiver606]

In my opinion, why would someone want to go back to a lower standard of training after GUE? To me, it doesn’t make sense and I’m sticking with GUE now. I drank the kool aid and now I’ve been indoctrinated. The technical divers and GUE divers in general have been far more friendlier and had no egos to me compared to rec divers who consider themselves instructors and who can’t hold neutral buoyancy while smashing up the bottom whenever they fin.

 

[PfcAJ]

You need AOW at some point.

Without it you’ll encounter problems and you just might miss out on diving. Unfortunately most of the world doesn’t know or care about GUE.

 

[seeker242]

I personally didn't really learn anything new in AOW. It was more like just a card to show the boats, rather than valuable scuba training. Knowing how to use a compass is for sure valuable but I already knew how to use one.

Well I'm convinced, then. I set up an account at GUE but damn did I feel completely unqualified after their application questions.

There are a couple things that you can do on your own to become "qualified" so to speak. Most important would be maintaining a somewhat still and stable position in the water, AKA hovering. And not that crossed legs hovering, actual scuba position hovering. Go on a shallow dive and get near the bottom and try to keep yourself there, in a stable position, without moving around. No touching the bottom! You will do a lot of that during the class. The easier you can do that, the easier the class will be.

If you are not already, become at least somewhat comfortable with no mask.

You can also do the swim test yourself, just to make sure you can do it. 300 yards in less than 14 minutes without stopping. And at least 50 feet on a breath hold.

If you can do the above, you are essentially "fully qualified"

 

[EireDiver606]

You need AOW at some point.

Without it you’ll encounter problems and you just might miss out on diving. Unfortunately most of the world doesn’t know or care about GUE.

Really? Not disputing, but where can you miss out by not having an AOW card? It seems to me that most real divers have heard of it.

 

[rjack321]

Really? Not disputing, but where can you miss out by not having an AOW card? It seems to me that most real divers have heard of it.

Most charters in Cali, FL, HI, Cozumel, etc are going to require AOW. They wont care about your GUE-F card or nitrox, but they will care about AOW.

 

[PfcAJ]

Really? Not disputing, but where can you miss out by not having an AOW card? It seems to me that most real divers have heard of it.

Plenty of boats wont take you to deepr sites without it. I've been carded plenty of times, especially down in the Florida Keys.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Plenty of boats wont take you to deepr sites without it. I've been carded plenty of times, especially down in the Florida Keys.

You must admit though, outside of the US, AOW isn’t universally required.