Purging of instructors?

[ppo2_diver]

Tech 1/cave 1 seems to be where the return on investment starts to swing in the instructors favor.

A 3 person 5 day tech class gets the instructor ~$4500.

Maybe, but considering the costs (travel for internships, ITCs, time away from day job/family, etc.) of becoming a T1/C1 instructor, it would be a while before you could start seeing a return on the investment. Not to mention that all GUE instructors must teach a course for the training directors every three years to stay a current GUE instructor. In the US, that means a trip to FL. It is a huge commitment to be a GUE instructor (an even bigger commitment to be a C1/T1 instructor) and I'm not surprised that their ranks are going down. Hopefully, there will be a correction and we'll see more instructors.

 

[Gombessa]

Joe is not currently teaching, and may not be diving at all. (This is really tragic, as he is a superb diver and a truly gifted teacher.)

That's indeed a shame. Joe was the DIR instructor for a few of my dive buddies, one of whom knew him throughout his old NAUI training days in Berkeley.