IDC recommendations

[SailNaked]

My opinion. I wouldn't do an IDC up north in Feb.

I sometimes travel to Calgary, would that be north enough or do you think I should go further?

Edit:wow totally misread this, maybe I should get new contacts, but still funny.

 

[djb_1965]

You might look into Divers Depot in Nacogdoches. EK has an IDC starting Feb 13. IE open water is at New Braunfels, water is 68-70 there. Wife and I did ours there, EK does a good job.

 

[OceanEd]

DJB:

EK is a great instructor trainer. He and I had lunch together at DEMA and compared notes. He has been around a long time and has a lot of experience.

 

[SailNaked]

EK has certified most of the local instructors and if we wanted to do it local I would certainly go to him, He was willing to customize a course for us, but my wife decided that she wanted to take a week vacation to do it so Florida or the Caribbean seems like a good idea.

It seems you do not do very many open water dives, so it may make no difference to do it in the ocean. we would save some $ with EK so worth a discussion with the wife.

 

[Matt83]

I would recommend Pro Dive in Ft. Lauderdale. They do monthly IDCs. The next one is Jan 18th - Jan 31st. Then another starts March 1st through March 14th. They have good instructors and I felt fully prepared for the exams (which I aced). If you have any questions about the program please let me know.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[azchipka]

Check out Rainbow Reef in Key Largo FL (Talk to PAM) or Ocean Divers in Key Largo (Talk to Joe). Both have a great track record and a extremely high pass rate at the IE. Georgia one of the course directors for Ocean Divers was just awarded a Platnium CD rating from PADI.

If your also considering technical talk to Silent World in Key Largo who does TDI & IANTD Instructor Training.

 

[divezonescuba]

I believe that your LDS owner still needs two AI certifications for his master instructor's certification.

See if he'll make a deal with you. He'll also do it on the weekends or nights. You can do the OWSI component separately with EK afterwards so you don't have to spend as many days off. We did ours over three weekends with EK. On the fourth weekend, we took the IE. More driving, but you can then save your vacation days for a real vacation.

A good IDC would not be my idea of a vacation. You probably don't want to have any distractions that might be present in Florida or the Caribbean either.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

If you do an IDC at one of the above mentioned Key Largo locations you will not have to worry about distractions, as you will be busy the whole day trying to get all the work done and you will hardly have time to go out for a bite to eat. Eat, drink and sleep the IDC, or else you will not get it!

 

[SailNaked]

I believe that your LDS owner still needs two AI certifications for his master instructor's certification.

See if he'll make a deal with you. He'll also do it on the weekends or nights. You can do the OWSI component separately with EK afterwards so you don't have to spend as many days off. We did ours over three weekends with EK. On the fourth weekend, we took the IE. More driving, but you can then save your vacation days for a real vacation.

A good IDC would not be my idea of a vacation. You probably don't want to have any distractions that might be present in Florida or the Caribbean either.

I will certainly give him a call. we have pretty much decided on EK, so if JG needs 2 AI's we would certainly do that first even if we did it again with EK.

 

[SubMariner]

Why do you say this? I know how to dive in green water with 3ft vis? I also can speak the local language fluently, what is there locally that I might not learn in Florida where it is warm in February and the water is clear and salty? now if you mean not Roatan then please expand as to why you think this. is the instruction very different from IDC to IDC?

I do not expect any IDC to teach me all I need to know to produce the type of divers I intend to produce I expect to have much OJT till I refine my craft but it is a start and I do not expect my first students to suffer any even if I do find the one bad IDC on the planet.

No one here doubts that you can dive where you live. However, learning how to TEACH and handle students in those conditions is a whole other animal.

You may not think so, but there is a HUGE leap in responsibility & focus when you go from DM/AI to Instructor. I've seen it countless times with people who go through our IDCs. It's very different on "the other side" of the dive slate!

So I'm another one who votes for taking your IDC locally.

Pax,