GUE introducing learn to dive.....

[MXGratefulDiver]

Sounds like a nice idea, but almost by definition a newly certified Rec-1 diver will not have the same skill level as someone who was PADI/NAUI/Whatever OW certified, did a bunch of diving, then came to the Dark Side and passed Fundies.

So what happens to the large percent of students who don't pass GUE Rec-1? (After they're done pi$$ing and moaning here that they "signed up for a diving class in order to go diving on their honeymoon" and now they failed to get a card and can't go diving.) Will GUE issue a "Rec 1 - Provisional" card?

The largest segment of OW cert divers show up at an LDS or resort unable to tell their left fin from their right, and are happy to finish their OW course not much better off, but with a card in hand so they can go look at pretty fishies once a year. Not sure how many of them will be happy to have failed OW because they couldn't shoot a bag while maintaining perfect horizontal trim and bouyancy from mid-water while back-kicking.

I doubt the course is intended for those people ... I can't see GUE mass-marketing anything.

I suspect it's for those friends and family members of current GUE adherents who want their loved ones to learn to dive to the standards they've become accustomed to.

Does anyone have any information on what the course will cost?

I, too, am interested in how GUE intends to deal with the "provisional" student. Given their current teaching model ... wherein most students do not initially pass, but have to go out and practice skills for a period of time then do a re-evaluation ... it should be interesting to see how they intend to deal with this at the entry level, where the student won't have the option of going off on their own to practice.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[letterboy]

From GUE's site it reads that essentially any current GUE instructor can become a Rec 1 instructor. . .

 

[Blackwood]

You are correct.

I'd imagine they'd have to have taken OW1 in doubles, though (which the standards allow).

 

[letterboy]

Open Water Scuba Certification | Extreme Exposure

Wonder if this is the GUE OW or something else. . .

 

[Bismark]

The new GUE DPV I and DPV II classes are also going to be very interesting. I understand DPV I will be ready for January while DPV II is set for next summer. I have also heard rumblings about a Wreck course................

 

[Bismark]

Open Water Scuba Certification | Extreme Exposure

Wonder if this is the GUE OW or something else. . .

I believe this is something else and was available before.

 

[Gilldiver]

While I applaud GUE's desire to get into the intro market (this outline looks a lot like what I did in the 70's with rescue added in), I just don't see it going over for a number of reasons the first of which is GUE's limited instructor base with only 60 instructors world wide listed on the web page. Then you add in the time required for the open water class, which has to convert to increased expense of the intro course vs. the other agencies and added difficulty of the course vs. the tourist divers desire to do something between breakfast and Tennis and you have a very hard sell.

It may go over for those who have been introduced to GUE/DIR from friends or relatives, but that is a very small market base in and of itself.

 

[letterboy]

GUE is for a niche market anyway isn't it...
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[String]

Its been discussed elsewhere on here for over a week.

Its 2 courses welded together really with that time frame and i think will have a very very limited market. Mainly friends and relatives of existing GUE divers.
Nobody else is going to want to pay enough or know enough to choose that over another agency where they can learn in 4-5 days and cheaper. These people aren't divers, most aren't aware there ARE different agencies and have no idea whats involved so wont compare the courses based on content.

10 days to learn to dive to 21m.... Other agencies in that time frame you can do 30m. Thats what they'll see.

Will be very interesting to see if it ever does get large number of takers just how many people can go from nothing to competent in a twinset in 10 days. I have my doubts.

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

This is what I got from our local DIR guys who attended the GUE conference, where all this was presented.

But is this really aimed at "new divers" or at bringing in current rec divers into the DIR mindset?

GUE Rec 1 is an entry level course for non-certified people, and is equivalent to a Fundies Rec pass as far as progressing within the GUE curriculum. For now, Rec Level 1 divers will still need to earn a Tech pass before moving on to Tech 1 or Cave 1. There is some discussion that Rec 2 and/or Rec 3 certifications might also qualify as a Tech pass (if done in doubles and with a can light), but that has not been completely fleshed out yet (and probably will not be until the Rec 2 and Rec 3 courses are completed).

Do they mean 8-10 full days?

The suggested course length of 8-10 days is recommended to be spread out over several weeks, rather than done all at once, to allow students to process the material a little better. The course can be organized such that all the open water work is done at the end (as with a traditional OW course), or with OW work interspersed at various points between classroom and confined water sessions. In the latter case, there are certain dependencies that must be satisfied before students can be taken on their first OW dives, which will be restricted to shallower depths in light of the training they have received in the course to that point.

I can't see GUE mass-marketing anything. ... Does anyone have any information on what the course will cost?

It is commonly known that GUE are not concerned about market share, only making better divers, so the issue of whether people will flock to this course is immaterial to GUE. Some people will recognize and be willing to pay for a higher quality course, and those are the folks who will sign up for this training.

GUE are expecting their instructors to charge about 1000 USD per student (plus expenses) to teach Rec 1 - roughly twice as much as for Fundies, but for twice as many contact hours. This covers the instructor's fees for all parts of the course - classroom, confined water, and open water training. GUE will have their own training materials for the course.

Wow. This is kind of exciting. I sure hope I can score one of their workbooks to look at.

The report from the conference from someone who saw a draft of the Rec 1 manual was that it was quite good - about 400 pages worth, and in full color.

Most of this is already taught in YMCA ow class.

One of our local DIR guys is (was) a YMCA instructor who bases his teaching style on DIR principles, and he says that the YMCA curriculum, while it may appear similar to this, does not by default hold students to the same high standards of performance as this course does (although individual YMCA instructors certainly might do that on their own accord). In particular, the Fundies standard of horizontal position during all skills (within 1.5 meters depth swing and 30 degrees of horizontal) will be the minimum standard for successful completion of Rec 1.

10 days to learn to dive to 21m.... Other agencies in that time frame you can do 30m.

That is one of the problems that GUE are trying to address with this curriculum.