Instructors in central Ny

[Skb]

Who do you think is the best instructor in Cental NY? I am looking to go from rescue diver to divemaster. I don't care what agency I am just looking for top instruction.

 

[rhwestfall]

I'd suggest also looking a little north of you up into the Thousand Islands.....

one might be: jay robbins at st. lawrence aquatics

 

[tbone1004]

the best instructor in the area is Bob Sherwood, but he won't do you any good getting to Divemaster since he teaches for GUE.

why do you want to be a divemaster? The question is relevant because it will help you decide which instructor to choose, and who we recommend

 

[Skb]

Divemaster is just a consideration. I enjoy learning as much as I can, and helping others learn.

 

[tbone1004]

Divemaster is just a consideration. I enjoy learning as much as I can, and helping others learn.

so what does divemaster do for you? Divemaster=babysitting just like airline pilot=glorified bus driver if you're curious. Unless you live in an area where you are doing this for a living, it's a pretty useless certification unless it is required for you to get instructor if that is where you want to go. It's not going to give you any new dive skills, the knowledge of diving is pretty useless as well, and unless you are working as a divemaster, it's frankly a useless cert

If you want to learn as much as you can, and help others learn, find a good mentor, and become a mentor to others. You will make much more of an impact there. If you want/need a cert for it, then go to an Asst. Instructor course where you get to work with classes and help teach people. If you go that route, find a dive shop that you're associated with and they'll likely help you go through if you give back to the dive shop.

For these two certs in particular, the instructor really doesn't matter. All you are doing here is checking off boxes for whatever agency you are going with and there really isn't much room for a particular instructor to make a difference. I had one of the best course directors in the world teaching my NAUI instructor course, but I still had to teach all of the bs lectures the "NAUI way" and check off all of those idiotic boxes that no one ever uses, and do all of the skills exactly as they prescribe even though they are absolutely ridiculous. The real learning is when you are outside of that course and learn how to actually utilize those certifications. The actual certification process is straightforward and a monkey could teach it

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Bob Sherwood is a great instructor. If you wish to do DM, then Trace Malinowski may be more suitable. He is PSAI training director and trained with Bob.

 

[Skb]

Thanks. I may track down Bob. Just becoming a better diver is more important to me then dive master. I'm not familiar with GUE but I know there is lot of talk on this site about it. I will look into it.

 

[Beiji]

Hi, Skb. I'm hardly ever on SB anymore, which is why I just came across your post. I'm in Syracuse too, have trained with Bob Sherwood, and am active in the GUE community.

You may be interested in the skills workshop we're having the first weekend of June. There will be four in-water sessions where you can work on buoyancy, trim, finning techniques, and more. You can meet five GUE instructors from the US and Canada, and get an idea of what GUE is all about.

Sign up is here.

FB event page is here.

Feel free to PM me, and we can exchange contact info.

 

[chubadoodman]

Thanks. I may track down Bob. Just becoming a better diver is more important to me then dive master. I'm not familiar with GUE but I know there is lot of talk on this site about it. I will look into it.

If you're still interested in going the GUE route with Bob Sherwood, I posted here looking for a teammate.

Hi, Skb. I'm hardly ever on SB anymore, which is why I just came across your post. I'm in Syracuse too, have trained with Bob Sherwood, and am active in the GUE community.

You may be interested in the skills workshop we're having the first weekend of June. There will be four in-water sessions where you can work on buoyancy, trim, finning techniques, and more. You can meet five GUE instructors from the US and Canada, and get an idea of what GUE is all about.

Sign up is here.

FB event page is here.

Feel free to PM me, and we can exchange contact info.

Heard about this from Bob, see you there!

 

[Beiji]

Heard about this from Bob, see you there!

Do we know each other, chubadoodman? Incidentally, I was in Brooklyn last week.