Just finished a great class...

[Adobo]

I just completed a really cool course that I feel any new diver should consider as a supplement to their open water education/certification. It's called the Essentials of
Recreational Diving. It's a two and half day course designed to teach bouyancy, trim, dive planning and propulsion techniques.

A little background about me...
I recently finished my open water certification through a local dive shop (SSI). I would characterize my open water instruction as very good. The instructor made every effort to teach each of the students how to be a good scuba diver. Unfortunately, I feel that 6 (3 hour) classroom/pool sessions are barely enough to cover the basics of scuba diving. It is enough to teach you how to you the concepts of recreational diving, how to use scuba equipment and basic self preservation stuff. There is verylittle time left to learn stuff that allows you to be more proficient underwater.

Going into this class, I have 5 logged dives. I am pretty much a "sink to the bottom at the beginning of the dive and swim/float to the surface at the end of the dive type of diver." The safety stop at 15 ft is all but impossible for me unless there is some type of rope to hold on to. I exhibit absolutely no grace when executing a dive. I would guess that the overwhelming majority of open water "graduates" could be characterized exactly in the same way.

After completing open water classes, two things became very clear to me. First, I am developing a true love for the sport and second, until I become proficient in some of the basic skills of diving, I am at increased risk and decreased enjoyment.

About the instructor/company providing instruction...
Essentials of Recreation Diving is a unique class. When I asked two of the three LDS in my area to see if any offered anything comparable, the answer was a resounding no. In fact, it was not clear to me that any of the LDS folks that I talked to understood what I was referring to when I asked about a class that teaches proper trim.

Through a round about and convoluted way, I found out about a company called 5thd-x (thanks a bunch Ben_CA). As an aside, 5thd-x is probably the worst friggin name for a company anybody has ever come up with. It doesn't roll off the tip of your tongue and quite frankly, confuses the crap out of any person who hears the name for the first time. That aside, 5thd-x offers all kinds of instruction for divers looking to progress into advanced and technical diving. Personally, I have no such ambitions. However, 5thd-x's Essentials class seemed to be the right fit.

My instructor was a gentleman named Joe Talavera. Joe comes across as friendly, light hearted fellow. He tells many jokes, some of which are funny. Others, well.... As a comedian, Joe is okay. As a diver/instructor, Joe is absolutely outstanding. I have not had the pleasure of diving with a lot of people but I am reasonably sure that the display of absolute mastery and control that Joe exhibited under water is not something I will see on a regular basis.

What I learned...
I suck as a diver. And no class on earth is going to change that over the course of a weekend. With only a total of 5 logged dives prior to taking the class, it should not be all that surprising. However, I am pretty certain that even after 10, 20 or even 50 more dives, I would not be all that much more proficient as a diver. Below are some of the things that I found out I didn't know:
- it is better to be horizontal than vertical. It's too bad that most instructors start new divers out by putting them in a vertical/on your knees position.
- precision bouyancy control is crucial to not only enjoying diving, it is incredibly useful in helping avoid the problems that tend to affect divers.
- there is a better way to plan dives (particularly gas management) than "be back on the boat with 500psi".
- frog kick, backwards kick, helicopter kick and modified flutter kick.
- team diving is better than buddy diving.

Having taken this class, I at least know about these concepts now and hopefully, with a lot of practice, will become better in each area.

In the end...
If you are like me and feel that you need more work before you are turned loose on the ocean, you should consider the Essentials of Recreational Diving. It is far more appropriate for new divers than AOW. You wind up learning the basics that, after some practice, will make you a much better diver. Okay, well maybe it will take a lot of practice but I think you get my point.

 

[TSandM]

Adobo, congratulations on finding and taking what sounds like a great course.

I exhibit absolutely no grace when executing a dive.

I SO hear you. And I hear the safety stop issue (which still plagues me). And I hear the frustration with not having been taught so many things you start to learn are important.

There has been a lot of curiosity about the Essentials class, and what it would be, and how it would be received. Sounds like you had exactly the class experience I would dream about. And diving is so much more fun when you have the precision and control that those guys were teaching you.

BTW, Joe is one of my mentor's favorite teachers. You were doubly lucky!

Lynne

 

[kidspot]

I had Joe as an instructor in Kona for a similar class - I agree he is a very good educator, and has excellent skills in the water.

Glad you found such a great class - I'm guessing you were in one of the very first Essentials classes 5thd-X offered.

Aloha, Tim

 

[miketsp]

..snip..

- team diving is better than buddy diving.

..snip..

I understand most of what you're saying but not this.
I would like to hear your reasons.
This I could swallow from those divers that get more out of the technical side of diving because in general they're diving in an uninteresting environment with nothing to look at.
I dive to enjoy the environment, if I thought I could do so safely without a buddy, I would do so. But I don't.
So normally my buddy gets 50% of my attention and the environment 50%.
When we dive as more than a pair, that sucks. Rarely does the group proceed at the speed you'd like. There are days when I'm quite happy to spend an entire dive looking at 1 square meter of interesting macro photography and others when the interest is big pelagics.

 

[Adobo]

Mike,

I understand most of what you're saying but not this.
I would like to hear your reasons.
This I could swallow from those divers that get more out of the technical side of diving because in general they're diving in an uninteresting environment with nothing to look at.
I dive to enjoy the environment, if I thought I could do so safely without a buddy, I would do so. But I don't.
So normally my buddy gets 50% of my attention and the environment 50%.
When we dive as more than a pair, that sucks. Rarely does the group proceed at the speed you'd like. There are days when I'm quite happy to spend an entire dive looking at 1 square meter of interesting macro photography and others when the interest is big pelagics.

I'll try to be precise in how I reply...

For a new diver like me, the concept of "team diving" as taught in the essentials class is more to my liking that the concept of "buddy diving" as taught in my SSI OW class. At a very high level, this is what I got from the concept of buddy diving:
- Your buddy helps you get into your gear
- Your buddy helps you with your pre-dive check
- Your buddy is there in case of a problem

Team diving as I understand it is as follows:
- Your team (up to three in a team) is there to help you with your gear
- Your team is follows the same procedure thus making each member somewhat predictable under similar circumstances
- Your team uses similar gear configuration and placement thus making gear problem diagnosis and problem resolution easier.
- Each person's gear becomes the teams gear when you are diving. This means that we all share resources as needed to keep small problems from escalating.

Not everyone will agree with how I characterize each style of diving and even those who do agree may not prefer "team diving". All I am saying is that team diving is what I prefer.




Tim

I had Joe as an instructor in Kona for a similar class - I agree he is a very good educator, and has excellent skills in the water.

Glad you found such a great class - I'm guessing you were in one of the very first Essentials classes 5thd-X offered.

Aloha, Tim

The very first class if I am not mistaken.


Lynne,

Absolutely I am lucky. Unfortunately, it is still going to take lots of work.

 

[vkalia]

Your Fundamentals of Recreational Diving sounds very much as though like the DIR Fundamentals course.

My 2 cents:
1/ team diving/same gear config is overkill for recreational diving (IMO).

2/ yes, there are a lot better ways to manage your gas. But as long as you follow the the basic caveats (ie, dive with a buddy, stay out of overhead conditions - be they physical or physiological), then surfacing with 50 bar or 500psi is good enough.

I teach a Tech Fundamentals course for people planning to get into tech diving where we do all of the above, and more (shooting bags, running a line, complex problem solving and more), so I don't disagree with the concepts above.

I just feel that sometimes there is too much emphasis on learning more techniques, different ways of doing things, adding to the OW course content, etc. when the preferred solution may be just going out there and diving and gaining experience.

Vandit

PS: Starting people by having them kneel in a vertical position is probably the most sensible way to teach OW.

 

[Adobo]

V,

Thanks for your reply. Some clarifications...

The class is called Essentials not Fundamentals (i'm sure it was just a typo). I would guess that those in the know.. know the relationship with DIR. However, the focus of the class is not about equipment and it absolutely does not touch into any subject that is tech or overhead diving in nature. We spent all of our time talking about and working on the following:

- horizontal positioning (ascents, descents and hovering)
- bouyancy control
- propulsion techniques

We touched on other topics such as:
- alternative OOA management
- dive planning
- team awareness
- situational awareness

I guess my personal bone with the "get back on the boat with 500lbs of air" bit is that it doesn't tell me when it is time to ascend. So if I am at 60 ft, does that mean I leave with 750 lbs (assuming that use up 150lbs during the ascent) ? What if I am at 30 ft? What if I am at 80 ft? What happens if I am getting to that threshold and then my buddy has an OOA situation? I have been told by some very respectable and seasoned divers that they have never run into OOA situations and therefore spending so much time and effort planning against such an unlikely event is a waste of time. But I am one who happens to buy my cars with air bags front and side and also ABS. You never know what is waiting for you.

I respect that teaching new divers at the bottom with their knees on the sand is the most practical. However, in my case, I was never taught that this was just for intro to diving purposes. I was never taught that one should graduate from this posture to a more preferred posture which is the horizontal or prone position. And obviously, I was never taught how to achieve the prone position in my open water class. Perhaps this is all too much to digest for an open water student which is why I think a class like Essentials is a great supplement for a new diver.

Again, thanks for your reply.

 

[vkalia]

Hi Adobo -

Yes, typo on my part. I was talking more of the content that the title anyway.

Re. your "get back on the boat with 500lb of air" - yep, you're right it doesnt tell you when to ascend, although that is something divers tend to pick up fairly quickly. We teach start your ascent at 50bar, which pretty much gets you up with reasonably ample air to spare.

I am surprised your instructor didnt stress that diving is best done horizontal - I know the PADI video does talk about it, but usually that is something that should be stressed and worked on, especially during the tour portion of the OW dive and while swimming around in CW. That is a big reason why I dont like places that do 2 OW dives on a single tank, incidentally - some skills just come with time spent in the water.

Anyways, glad to know that you found the Rec Essentials useful - it does sound like a useful class and I think I may cobble together a "remedial course" for OW divers as well. Cyber-beers to you, on my tab.

Cheers,
Vandit

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Joe's an awesome instructor, and I think these guys are onto something really great for recreational diving.

To comment on an earlier post ... there is absolutely nothing about team diving that inhibits one's enjoyment of the environment. In fact, if you are comfortable with a few simple techniques, it enhances your enjoyment of the dive because it reduces the amount of effort you have to put into keeping track of your dive buddy (because you dive in a formation that makes it easy to do so), and reduces your stress level about what to do if an emergency arises (because you planned for how to deal with it in advance).

This class focuses on exactly the skills a recreational diver needs ... buoyancy control, proper trim, awareness of what's going on around you, behavioral "predictability", and propulsion techniques.

I hope it catches on ... although I personally favor the DIR style of diving, I have known a lot of people who have stayed away from it because of the equipment considerations. The Essentials class will be met with derision from many of the DIR purists, but on the other hand, if it improves the skills of those who choose to follow a recreational path, it can only be a benefit to the overall diving community.

Thanks for the report ... I've been waiting to hear from someone who took the class.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Adobo]

Joe's an awesome instructor, and I think these guys are onto something really great for recreational diving.

To comment on an earlier post ... there is absolutely nothing about team diving that inhibits one's enjoyment of the environment. In fact, if you are comfortable with a few simple techniques, it enhances your enjoyment of the dive because it reduces the amount of effort you have to put into keeping track of your dive buddy (because you dive in a formation that makes it easy to do so), and reduces your stress level about what to do if an emergency arises (because you planned for how to deal with it in advance).

This class focuses on exactly the skills a recreational diver needs ... buoyancy control, proper trim, awareness of what's going on around you, behavioral "predictability", and propulsion techniques.

I hope it catches on ... although I personally favor the DIR style of diving, I have known a lot of people who have stayed away from it because of the equipment considerations. The Essentials class will be met with derision from many of the DIR purists, but on the other hand, if it improves the skills of those who choose to follow a recreational path, it can only be a benefit to the overall diving community.

Thanks for the report ... I've been waiting to hear from someone who took the class.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The good news is that the instructor never even talks about DIR. He never pretends that this is some kind of substitue for some other class. It is what it is. A class on the things that you didn't learn in OW but should have. I walked out of the class knowing what I need to work on to be what I would consider a competent diver.

My buddy was StSomewhere. John is a really bright guy and is really nice. Hopefully we'll be hearing about his impressions of the class soon.