Ideas on a good tec dive shop Florida?

[tursiops]

Extended range is probably an SSI term only

Actually, it is the name of a TDI course, air to 180 ft.

 

[boulderjohn]

Actually, it is the name of a TDI course, air to 180 ft.

Just as an FYI, the TDI EXtended Range class is not a part of the required sequence through Advanced Trimix.

 

[xmass-Eve]

Actually, it is the name of a TDI course, air to 180 ft.

That's not really a necessary course, no? Or is it at some point?

 

[xmass-Eve]

Just as an FYI, I regularly take trips from Boulder to New Mexico to a place called Rock Lake, which has a maximum depth of 280 feet. I do both tech instruction there and just plain deeper diving. My tech instruction is through PADI, and I gather you are not interested in that, but that won't make any difference if you are just diving. Most of my fellow divers there dive sidemount, and although I am a sidemount instructor, I consider some of them to be more knowledgeable than I because I have mostly stopped diving that way in the last couple years.

The new ownership of the lake has limited trips to the first weekends of each month only, which is sad. I will be leading a trip there next week.

I also go to South Florida for two months every winter, and I have a pretty good idea of the tech diving options there. I usually dive out of Pompano Dive Center, and I know their staff pretty well. (Although there has been a fair amount of turnover recently.)

I will be glad to help you in any way I can. I am always looking for more people to dive with in New Mexico. I tell people that the primary reason I became a tech instructor was so that I could have someone to dive with. Almost everyone who dives with me there is a former student.

John

That's true, John. PADI is totally not our way to go... It's or TDI or SSI, but rather a real tec agency. I just moved to Boulder for real after years of going in and out, so we are slowly starting to get our diving arranged in the US. But it will take a while, I guess, for different reasons... I remember the offer/invite

 

[boulderjohn]

That's not really a necessary course, no? Or is it at some point?

It is not a required course. When I got my Advanced Trimix certification through TDI, the required sequence after Decompression Procedures was simply Trimix and Advanced Trimix. The material for the Extended Range course was included in the Trimix book, but the class was not required and I did not take it.

 

[boulderjohn]

That's true, John. PADI is totally not our way to go... It's or TDI or SSI, but rather a real tec agency.

What is a "real tech agency"? When I decided to stop being a TDI instructor because I much preferred the PADI program, did I move from a real tech agency to a fake one? Was I required to use poorer teaching skills?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

That's not really a necessary course, no? Or is it at some point?

No, it's not. In fact, I actively try to discourage divers from doing it after AN/DP and just sign up for a Helitrox or other entry-level trimix. I have my helitrox card but don't teach it because in my area the ROI is not worth it. Helium is expensive and not as readily available as in other areas. We can pump helium at the shop but that's usually just for the owner and I to use. Along with maybe a select few others. Once people hear a fill for a dive in say Lake Erie to 160 ft is going to run them 75-100 bucks for one dive, they usually start to think twice about He. And at my age, I'm honestly saving the mix dives for myself to enjoy and not teach during them.
The ONLY time Extended Range may seem to make sense is if there are dives you just feel you have to do and there is simply no He available. Too many divers today tend to rush into tech as opposed to how it was approached even as little as 10 years ago.
Even AN/DP is not necessarily about doing every deco dive to 150 ft which is the recommended limit. There should be a very good reason to put a virtual ceiling over your head. There often is and those can be a dive that doesn't go deeper than 100ft. BUT you want the time to accomplish something.
Extended Range is theoretically about learning to manage narcosis on non-trimix dives. For me, it doesn't make a lot of sense because the narc you experience and "manage" one day may take a different form on another. Helium has a better track record for dealing with narcosis.

 

[Caveeagle]

Unfortunately I've learned over the years that Edd and John like to skew their opinion to what they're selling.

Isn’t that the case with nearly every dive professional? New Divers really need to do their homework, and just not drink the first $1,000+ pitcher of coolaide pushed at you.

Either go to Edd at Cave Adventurers or Marissa and James at Hidden Worlds. Both places are going to be full service, meaning you can walk in with your exposure suit, fins, and mask, and they'll hook you up with everything from rig to tanks to regs.

Full service? Does HW do gas fills already? Wow, things change pretty fast around here.

 

[xmass-Eve]

What is a "real tech agency"? When I decided to stop being a TDI instructor because I much preferred the PADI program, did I move from a real tech agency to a fake one? Was I required to use poorer teaching skills?

SSI only has the tec program since a year or so... So I don't call that a real tec agency... Their courses are new and imo it has to been seen if they are good. That's why I want to learn from an agency with years of experience.

 

[tursiops]

That's why I want to learn from an agency with years of experience.

All things considered, I'd prefer an instructor with years of experience....both in tech diving and in teaching tech diving....regardless of agency.