Instructor Recomendation

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skink

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Messages
86
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Location
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
# of dives
25 - 49
Fellow Tampa Area divers. I'm looking for a recommendation of a good instructor. As a few of you know, my wife was certified last summer and has only been on a couple of dives. She was certified PADI and I never really fully trusted her instructor, (not getting into an agency debate, this was strictly about the instructor). He seemed to be one of those who was only interested in getting her certified.
We dove this weekend at EPCOT DiveQuest and spoke about it afterward. We determined she needs more instruction. While she could gain that by just doing more dives I'd feel much better if she had an instructor do at least a couple of dives with her.
I think more than just a refresher course, she needs someone who will work individually with her, but not necessarily a formal class. She needs help with buoyancy control, ear clearing and just generally feeling comfortable under water.
Does anyone know if this is something instructors will do and if so, do you have a recommendation for someone you trust who can be patient and do a good job.
Thanks everyone.
 
Let's go diving. I do Weeki Wachee quite often as well as the Springs around Orlando. :D You can also find me at "Invade the Keys".
 
There are a lot of great instructors in the area depending on where you live.

Leon Watts at Adventure Outfitters in South Tampa is a great teacher. He only does private and semi-private instruction and would be happy to work with you and your wife on skills that you think she is lacking. I would reccommend that you have her take his nitrox class and tell him you want to add some remedial basic stuff in there as well. I have no doubt he'll work with you. He's a hell of a nice guy too. (I took his Nitrox course and my wife got certified with him.)

Ed White is also a great instructor. He does private instruction and I can get you his number if you want to PM me.

Bert Wilcher is another great instructor. He is near USF and owns Tampa Adventure Sports. In addition to being certified to teach basic and nitrox, Bert is certifed to teach tech diving.

The beautiful thing about these three guys is that they love diving. Many focus on selling gear, they focus on teaching people to dive right, dive safe and to have fun. They don't want someone who will just dive a couple of times and then buy a bunch of stuff one time, they build relationships.
 
If you decide to make a trip to the east coast... Blue Heron Bridge is opened up again. It's a great place to make a single take dive at high tide and work on skills. I'm always looking for an excuse to go.

Al
 
Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to talk wit her and figure out when she wants to try and schedule something (I didn't realize how busy we are for the next several weekends).
She loves diving, but just doesn't feel comfortable and I think some work with an instructor will enhance her enjoyment even more.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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