Looking for Tech Dive Shop in Florida

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

That is not the right way to approach technical diving, if I may say that before you spend your money. My Intro to Tech, ANDP was something like this:

6 Days of Pool Work
8 Days of Quarry Dives
2 Days of Ocean Diving

My course was spread over many months and even then, if you were to put me in doubles and drysuit then Id be all over the place. Yes I could do tech dives but not with the proficiency that technical diving demands. It was my UTD training that put me in shape and for that I needed a lot more time than what I mention above.

I personally have serious reservations in the way technical diving is structured and taught. The learning curve from recreational to technical is quite steep and with the exception of a few agencies, students do not get the opportunity to develop technical diving skills before they become technical divers.

When I go to local quarries, I see a lot of fully certified technical divers who do not have the confidence to do technical diving so they are learning to tech-dive after completion of their certifications. These are the honest ones, who have evaluated their skills and made a very realistic assessment of where they stand. Then we see technical divers doing technical dives who are living in total self-denial about their own abilities and they are an accident waiting to happen.

If I was living in Boston, I would contact Bob Sherwood from GUE and schedule a Fundies class. If GUE is not your thing then you may have to do research on finding an instructor who can install solid skills in you but from what I have seen, there are recreational instructors teaching technical diving skills while they themselves lack proper skills. Anyway, after doing Fundies or Intro to Tech locally, I would spend a lot of time doing practice diving in my own neighborhood and then travel to Florida for Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures training.

 

[NothingClever]

The folks at www.divegearexpress.com recommended http://www.pompanodive.com/ for tec training.

Both shops are in Pompano Beach, 39 miles from Miami.

Flying a twinset takes some time. Being under a tight deadline will frustrate you and tamper with your outlook about the brief vacation.

 

[OceanEyes]

The folks at www.divegearexpress.com recommended http://www.pompanodive.com/ for tec training.

There will be substantial changes for Pompano Dive Center in the very near future. I was aboard their boat today, (sporty seas, but blue water, virtually no current, and 100’ of visibility on our morning visit to the Hydro Atlantic wreck), and learned that the retail shop will be closing. The initial plan is to keep the boat and fill station operating, but the status of the classroom is unclear. Local & visiting instructors and their students will, as always, be welcome on the boat, but the operation itself may no longer offer instruction or retail gear sales, (I did not ask about tank and gear rentals), and many of the staff may be unemployed within the next few days.

 

[NAM001]

Figuratively speaking yes. There seems to be this added fear that a drysuit requires excess skill and is difficult to use. The reality is no where near what others make it to be.

If you have the appropriate amount of thermal protection on under the drysuit. Vs. The appropriate amount of thermal protection in neoprene. What is the difference? A small air bubble? Cost?

Get rid of the mystery of diving. You do not need a padi drysuit cert to drysuit dive. You also do not need itt to take an/dp. The way of the industry in the last 20 years has really tried to nickle and dime every last bit out of each individual.

Just a question .... would not that depend on what kind of dry suit you are using.. crushed neo vs a shell for instance. With a shell there is no compression at all and it is prone to bubble running as opposed to a tight body formed neo.

 

[Manatee Diver]

There will be substantial changes for Pompano Dive Center in the very near future. I was aboard their boat today, (sporty seas, but blue water, virtually no current, and 100’ of visibility on our morning visit to the Hydro Atlantic wreck), and learned that the retail shop will be closing. The initial plan is to keep the boat and fill station operating, but the status of the classroom is unclear. Local & visiting instructors and their students will, as always, be welcome on the boat, but the operation itself may no longer offer instruction or retail gear sales, (I did not ask about tank and gear rentals), and many of the staff may be unemployed within the next few days.

Well that is sad to hear, I love diving with PDC, lots of good people working there.

 

[KevinNM]

It's easier to maintain a schedule if you train in the springs. For example, Blue Grotto is a pretty good site for fundamentals or intro to tech, and there are a lot of other ones as well. If you want to do open ocean diving you have to eventually train there, but you don't have to start there or do all your classes there.

I found it really took dozens of dives before I felt I really had a high degree of confidence in my drysuit skills.

 

[sunshower]

It's a several hour drive from Miami but the guys at Extreme Exposure in High Springs can get you connected with a fundies class if you're interested in that; not exactly ITT/AN/DP but will give you a rock solid platform for whatever you choose next.

 

[Diver below 83]

BTW, January in S Florida can range for completely awesome to crap. Flat calm in the morning to 6'+ seas by lunch depending on "cold" fronts. You will end up spending 4 days in Tiger Tail lake.

I hate tigertail so much. Lol.

 

[NothingClever]

Ollie,

At home and on my computer now rather than my phone so I’m able to think a little better.

Sunshower brings up a great point.

Indulge me in a personal logic trail....

I’m from Florida but currently outside the US for work and dive the Red Sea with a mixture of divers from all over the world. The majority readily recognize Florida as the dive capitol of the globe. That doesn’t mean the best diving but simply the most intense concentration of dive manufacturers, licensing agencies and variety of dive experiences.

As my wife and I have been planning on how to increase her frequency of dives so that we’re a little more evenly matched when I come home, what comes up over and over is the reliability and accessibility of fresh water diving in north Florida.

If you do some research, you’ll see that a lot of diving techniques, equipment development and the evolution of several dive certification agencies have centered around what’s called “cave country” in north Florida.

So, it might seem antithetical, but perhaps flying into north Florida and focusing on fresh water dives will be a more fruitful investment of time and energy.

Regarding instructors, that’s a wide open panorama but you may consider kensuf who responded in this thread.

I don’t know Ken but I’ve been researching my own advanced training for when I get home to Florida. I’ve looked over his qualifications, his blog entries and his even-keeled posts here and he seems to be a strong candidate as somebody I’d like to learn from and who I feel would give me high quality instruction.

Best of luck. Don’t rush things. Enjoy the adventure.

 

[NothingClever]

There will be substantial changes for Pompano Dive Center in the very near future.

Interesting news....appreciate the insight, OceanEyes.

I wish them all the best of luck in the upcoming inflection point.