New Diver seeking GUE in Bonaire

[Badger7]

Someone who has never gone diving shouldn't start with GUE Fundamentals, right?

Correct, Fundamentals is an awesome class, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in improving their skills, but definitely requires an open-water cert from a recognized agency as a prerequisite.

The best teammate for your husband would be someone with 50-100 dives under their belt and is truly interested in getting their skills to the next level, not just someone looking to fill the spot as a favor.

 

[JoeTPhilly]

What is the minimum number of divers needed for Area 9 to teach Fundamentals? They have not been able to respond with a concrete date so I'm wondering if approaching them with 2 divers would facilitate the process? I booked a 2 bd Airbnb across the road from Area9 but my husband's friends don't dive and his former Ironman training crew aren't interested in starting (which I think is odd, but whatever).

1. Someone who has never gone diving shouldn't start with GUE Fundamentals, right? If someone receives a rec pass in Fundamentals this isn't the equivalent to a PADI OW certification?

2. Alternately, anyone want to join my husband for Fundamentals between Feb 17-March 1? The 2 bd unit is v inexpensive (new listing but the superhost is a known variable): Rental unit in Kralendijk · ★New · 2 bedrooms · 4 beds · 1 bath He's staying 12 nights because he has time off (plans to do AOW with Hens at Xpro before or after Area 9) but if someone wanted to come for just Fundamentals or stay the entire 12 nights and split a truck and dive, he would welcome either. AA award redemption for these dates are 20k RT from some U.S. cities.

If Fundamentals can't be scheduled, he'll just do Performance Diver which I guess is easy to schedule if it's 1:1 instruction?

They might do Fundamentals with just one diver and have any GUE diver fill in as a teammate. Two divers would be good too; especially if the two are going to be diving together after the class. The max is 3 divers per class.

1. No. Fundamentals is for certified divers. GUE has an Open Water course which is where a new diver would start under GUE. Check the link below for a flow chart of the courses.

Explore GUE Courses | GUE

www.gue.com

2. There is a teammates Facebook page where one can post for buddies. I can't get the link to work.

Being there 12 days is going to be great. Shame it isn't in April as I will probably be down in April. I would suggest he do the Performance Diver course and then move into either GUE Advanced Open Water or Fundamentals Basic. Speak to Mr. G for his suggestions.

He should be able to get the courses scheduled. Besides Mr. G there is a new instructor named Douwe who could do the course.

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

My vote is for GUE Performance Diver and then GUE AOW (I think that one requires a teammate though?) - no sense in doing AOW with another agency if you want to dive with GUE procedures.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Speak to Mr. G for his suggestions.

This. I don't think many of us have a good handle on the newly revamped GUE course progression. Performance Diver first or Basic Fundamentals first?

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

This. I don't think many of us have a good handle on the newly revamped GUE course progression. Performance Diver first or Basic Fundamentals first?

If it were me, I would want to take GUE’s AOW course if I didn’t already have AOW though another agency. It gives you 6 days of recreational training in the GUE ethos and 100’ max depth plus the c-card you “need” to do more advanced dives with a lot of operators. The potential to fail basic fundies due to not having a back kick or helicopter turn or SMB deployment etc… is the reason why I would chose Performance Diver over Basic Fundies.

Passing either class allows you to take GUE AOW, but I don’t see the upside to taking basic fundies if not looking for a tec upgrade in the near future.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The potential to fail basic fundies due to not having a back kick or helicopter turn or SMB deployment etc… is the reason why I would chose Performance Diver over Basic Fundies.

If you don't get a passing grade in Basic Fundies, so what? You still learned the skills--just maybe not well enough to reach the passing threshold. And so you continue practicing them. Maybe you go back and try to get the pass and maybe you never go back. Does it matter, since neither Performance Diver nor Basic Fundies earns you a card of the kind that operators care about? I'd be interested in a GUE instructor's take on this. I have no opinion either way, as I don't understand the differences well enough.

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

If you don't get a passing grade in Basic Fundies, so what? You still learned the skills--just maybe not well enough to reach the passing threshold. And so you continue practicing them. Maybe you go back and try to get the pass and maybe you never go back. Does it matter, since neither Performance Diver nor Basic Fundies earns you a card of the kind that operators care about? I'd be interested in a GUE instructor's take on this. I have no opinion either way, as I don't understand the differences well enough.

Did you intentionally miss the part of my post (that you deleted where you quoted me) where I said if I were in his shoes, taking GUE’s AOW (formerly Rec 2) should be the goal? That DOES give you a card operators care about.

 

[JoeTPhilly]

From what I heard and read Performance Diver was basically created for divers like the original poster. Also, to take GUE AOW and meet the prerequisites Performance Diver would fulfill the requirement. Lastly, here is a quote for Fundamentals Basic; "At the instructor’s discretion, GUE Performance Divers may have a portion of their training counted toward GUE Basic Fundamentals qualification."

To me it is an obvious choice the OP should start with Performance Diver and follow whatever Mr. G recommends.

 

[wateraddiction]

So Performance Diver (2 days) followed by GUE AOW (6 days!) sound pretty ideal for a 12 day trip. Do you think there's more interest out there in GUE AOW or GUE Fundamentals (I've posted in a couple of forums looking for a 2nd..... thanks, Joe). I'm guessing there are many more Fundamentals-curious peeps than AOW since most probably already have an AOW cert (as Barefoot mentions).

 

[JoeTPhilly]

So Performance Diver (2 days) followed by GUE AOW (6 days!) sound pretty ideal for a 12 day trip. Do you think there's more interest out there in GUE AOW or GUE Fundamentals (I've posted in a couple of forums looking for a 2nd..... thanks, Joe). I'm guessing there are many more Fundamentals-curious peeps than AOW since most probably already have an AOW cert (as Barefoot mentions).

You need to speak with Mr. G. as to progression after Performance Diver course. Maybe going from PD into Fundamentals Basic might be recommended. The GUE AOW is what used to be Recreational 2 and isn't a 5 dive sampler like PADI. Eight days of GUE might be too much. Heck, your husband might take Performance Diver and decide GUE isn't even for him.