Rhone Man recenly undertook the combined TDI Advanced Nitrox / Deco Procedures / Extended Range course, and thought he might share his experiences with the board for others who were considering the same. Being a long term recreational diver, with no real expectations of going seriously into tec, I did the course more for the experience and the skills, rather than as the first step going over to the "dark side".
THE DIVE SHOP
No one teaches tec diving where I come from. In fact no one teaches it near where I come from, so given I had to get on a plane anyhow, I had a pretty free hand in choosing where and with whom to train. I ended up going with Pirate's Cove in Dominican Republic. I discovered latterly that everyone else goes there because that is where the famous John Chatterton teaches tec diving, but I have never actually heard of John before I started. As it happened, John wasn't there the week that I did my course anyhow, which was a shame because I bet he has a good story or two to tell.
Apart from the fact that it was reasonably close to where I live, and I assumed (wrongly as it happened, due to weather) that the water would be warm and clear like I am used to, Pirate's Cove seemed to have two big things going for it: it was very cheap (although this turns out to be because Dominican Republic is very cheap), and unlike just about every other place that I looked at, they were happy to lend you gear for the course instead of insisting that you bought or rented lots of expensive tec gear.
I am not sure if it is normal in the tec world, but the director of training, Uwe Rath, wasn't like any other instructor I have ever come across. He is in his mid-50s, speaks four languages, has an MBA, worked in marketing for many years, but also amassed about 18,000 dives and cut his teeth in tec diving with the hard core wreck divers up in New York. He also has a highly mischievous "class clown" sense of humour, which helps the learning atmosphere enormously.
THE TRAINING
The course ran over a week - diving in the morning and classes (or "exams") in the afternoon. Classes were classes, and really just repeated the contents of the books, but laced with lots of anecdotes from experience that brought the stuff to life. Personally, I have always enjoyed academics (my parents had to pry me out of university kicking and screaming), so to be honest it was a bit of a breeze. But I can see why people who don't like maths might dread that part of the course though. I still maintain that the last question on the TDI Extended Range exam contains a highly unfair "trick".
The more interesting bits were the equipment the actual skills classes. Normally we did one deep dive (usually a deco dive) followed by a shallower dive, with more of the "soft" skills on the shallower dive. The first couple of days are heavily involved in getting used to the additional gear. Day 1 we spent just trying to adjust to wearing steel doubles and BP/Ws, as well as getting the really soft skills out of the way (mask clearing, buddy breathing etc.). It was also a chance for the instructor to check we were not total idiots before we got in too deep (literally and figuratively).
Day 2 we added the sling tanks, and started to get much more closely involved in skills. Disassembling and re-assmebling gear underwater. It was funny - wearing steel doubles really threw me off at first and took a bit of getting used to. Wearing sling tanks never really bothered me at all once we were in the water - real pain in the proverbials when you are on the boat though.
Day 3 we started the deco dives. Funny thing occurred to me - in recrational diving everyone makes a big deal out of having to have nitrox computers. But both the instructor, and the other tec divers who we met all professed to just use air computers, but decompress on nitrox for additional safety margin. Interesting.
Day 4 was the deep dive to 180 feet. I am usually a "happy drunk" on narcosis, but I got a bad case of the paranoia and the tunnel vision and was very happy to get back to the line. Kept it all under control, but that was the first time I experienced narcosis that way (which I think was the point). Also started doing the free floating deco on a lift bag, which I found surprisingly difficult. Amazing how many skills which look easy are counter intuitive when you try them.
Day 5 starting to get repetitive. We were supposed to another deeper dive, but weather didn't permit so we basically re-did all of the core skills instead. Really was feeling pretty comfortable with all of them at this stage. On day 2 I was fumbling around for my second regulator like an idiot, and struggling to locate and unclip lift bags, but by day 5 it all seemed very natural.
THE PEOPLE YOU MEET
The other great thing about learning tec diving is you meet lots of really experienced divers who have lots of good stuff to share and all sorts of interesting tips and tricks. You also realise that it is a very dangerous sport. Stories about friends who died are common. I also got a chance to meet Howard and Michelle from Scubaboard (still not sure of the link between Pirate's Cove and Scubaboard, but they were great fun to chat to).
DEEP AIR
Before I left for the course I posted a thread (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/te...xtended-range-last-words-advice.html]this one) asking for any last words of advice, and it turned into a "deep air" bashing thread. With hindsight I can see why. Being too new to take sides in the debate, I had been to 150 feet a few times previously and felt a bit euphoric but never felt considerably impaired. However, I did feel pretty impaired at 180+ feet. Perhaps it is something that you get more acclimatised to with experience, but I can certainly see where the "deep air is dangerous" crowd are coming from.
WHAT NEXT?
Tec diving is clearly infectious. Having dipped my toe in, there is a real temptation to push on and open up new and deeper horizons. We'll see. But even if I never do, I learned a lot and became a much better diver for doing the course. Certainly anyone who hits Rescue Diver and is not quite sure where to go next, they should consider taking some lower grade tec courses. Even if you never go that deep, it will make you much better.
THE DIVE SHOP
No one teaches tec diving where I come from. In fact no one teaches it near where I come from, so given I had to get on a plane anyhow, I had a pretty free hand in choosing where and with whom to train. I ended up going with Pirate's Cove in Dominican Republic. I discovered latterly that everyone else goes there because that is where the famous John Chatterton teaches tec diving, but I have never actually heard of John before I started. As it happened, John wasn't there the week that I did my course anyhow, which was a shame because I bet he has a good story or two to tell.
Apart from the fact that it was reasonably close to where I live, and I assumed (wrongly as it happened, due to weather) that the water would be warm and clear like I am used to, Pirate's Cove seemed to have two big things going for it: it was very cheap (although this turns out to be because Dominican Republic is very cheap), and unlike just about every other place that I looked at, they were happy to lend you gear for the course instead of insisting that you bought or rented lots of expensive tec gear.
I am not sure if it is normal in the tec world, but the director of training, Uwe Rath, wasn't like any other instructor I have ever come across. He is in his mid-50s, speaks four languages, has an MBA, worked in marketing for many years, but also amassed about 18,000 dives and cut his teeth in tec diving with the hard core wreck divers up in New York. He also has a highly mischievous "class clown" sense of humour, which helps the learning atmosphere enormously.
THE TRAINING
The course ran over a week - diving in the morning and classes (or "exams") in the afternoon. Classes were classes, and really just repeated the contents of the books, but laced with lots of anecdotes from experience that brought the stuff to life. Personally, I have always enjoyed academics (my parents had to pry me out of university kicking and screaming), so to be honest it was a bit of a breeze. But I can see why people who don't like maths might dread that part of the course though. I still maintain that the last question on the TDI Extended Range exam contains a highly unfair "trick".
The more interesting bits were the equipment the actual skills classes. Normally we did one deep dive (usually a deco dive) followed by a shallower dive, with more of the "soft" skills on the shallower dive. The first couple of days are heavily involved in getting used to the additional gear. Day 1 we spent just trying to adjust to wearing steel doubles and BP/Ws, as well as getting the really soft skills out of the way (mask clearing, buddy breathing etc.). It was also a chance for the instructor to check we were not total idiots before we got in too deep (literally and figuratively).
Day 2 we added the sling tanks, and started to get much more closely involved in skills. Disassembling and re-assmebling gear underwater. It was funny - wearing steel doubles really threw me off at first and took a bit of getting used to. Wearing sling tanks never really bothered me at all once we were in the water - real pain in the proverbials when you are on the boat though.
Day 3 we started the deco dives. Funny thing occurred to me - in recrational diving everyone makes a big deal out of having to have nitrox computers. But both the instructor, and the other tec divers who we met all professed to just use air computers, but decompress on nitrox for additional safety margin. Interesting.
Day 4 was the deep dive to 180 feet. I am usually a "happy drunk" on narcosis, but I got a bad case of the paranoia and the tunnel vision and was very happy to get back to the line. Kept it all under control, but that was the first time I experienced narcosis that way (which I think was the point). Also started doing the free floating deco on a lift bag, which I found surprisingly difficult. Amazing how many skills which look easy are counter intuitive when you try them.
Day 5 starting to get repetitive. We were supposed to another deeper dive, but weather didn't permit so we basically re-did all of the core skills instead. Really was feeling pretty comfortable with all of them at this stage. On day 2 I was fumbling around for my second regulator like an idiot, and struggling to locate and unclip lift bags, but by day 5 it all seemed very natural.
THE PEOPLE YOU MEET
The other great thing about learning tec diving is you meet lots of really experienced divers who have lots of good stuff to share and all sorts of interesting tips and tricks. You also realise that it is a very dangerous sport. Stories about friends who died are common. I also got a chance to meet Howard and Michelle from Scubaboard (still not sure of the link between Pirate's Cove and Scubaboard, but they were great fun to chat to).
DEEP AIR
Before I left for the course I posted a thread (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/te...xtended-range-last-words-advice.html]this one) asking for any last words of advice, and it turned into a "deep air" bashing thread. With hindsight I can see why. Being too new to take sides in the debate, I had been to 150 feet a few times previously and felt a bit euphoric but never felt considerably impaired. However, I did feel pretty impaired at 180+ feet. Perhaps it is something that you get more acclimatised to with experience, but I can certainly see where the "deep air is dangerous" crowd are coming from.
WHAT NEXT?
Tec diving is clearly infectious. Having dipped my toe in, there is a real temptation to push on and open up new and deeper horizons. We'll see. But even if I never do, I learned a lot and became a much better diver for doing the course. Certainly anyone who hits Rescue Diver and is not quite sure where to go next, they should consider taking some lower grade tec courses. Even if you never go that deep, it will make you much better.
