Recommendation for tech diving course for a newbie!

[ajaysomani]

Hello Everyone on ScubaBoard,

This is my first post in this forum! This might be a strange question for a first post in this forum but bear with me. I'm travelling through Central America and interested in getting started with technical diving while I'm here. More specifically, I'm looking for a location + instructor recommendation to start learning tech diving along with suggestion for the training agency I should go to (e.g. PADI vs TDI etc). I have only taken courses from PADI so far.

I have OW, AOW, Nitrox and Deep diving certifications from PADI and around 35 dives (hoping to have around 60-70 dives with some tech diving knowledge at the end of my travels).

Any advice is highly appreciated! (I'd like to know about places other than Yucatan peninsula in Mexico because of my route I couldn't go there, I will mostly be closer to Pacific coast except for panama where I will visit Bocas Del Toro). Starting in Baja California and ending in Panama.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

Can't recommend any instructors in that neck of the woods, but 35 dives isn't a lot. Probably a good intro would be an Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures. Those are TDI courses. They are a good introduction to decompression diving, but I think they require 50 dives.

Or you could pursue penetration diving. That would be wreck or cave. These are advanced diving courses, and you really need to be solid on your trim, propulsion, buoyancy, and emergency procedures. If you have questions or concerns about any of these topics, I'd recommend more research and practice before you endeavor to take a technical course. You will get more out if it in my opinion if you're relatively proficient before you go into the class.

You could do a GUE Fundamentals course if there is an instructor available and then the Rec 1-3 courses. That would give you a lot of good skills. UTD is another respected agency.

I'm hesitant to go with the PADI technical stuff unless I dove with the instructor first to assess their skill. However, at 35 dives, that might be difficult for you to do. Sometimes instructors just pass into the "technical" realm without really having the experience needed.

Again, some more diving experience and working on your trim, propulsion, and buoyancy would probably be best. I'd start reading on decompression theory as well. As a PADI diver, and speaking from experience, I'd expect these areas need work unless you had an extraordinary instructor. My courses really didn't cover this stuff. For example, kneeling on the bottom was acceptable for PADI (and SSI), but is totally unacceptable in technical diving.

The technical manuals are good reading, as well as a number of other books. Deco for Divers by Mark Powell is very good as well. And there are others that related to diving physiology. Several threads have addressed book recommendations. Doppler has the Six Skills book.

Anyway, not sure if all these ramblings help. As a guy who's been in your situation, I personally would recommend more diving and getting into doubles our sidemount quickly so you can get familiar with the gear.

 

[00wabbit]

Tdi does an intro to tech. It won't make you a tech diver but it will start to introduce you to the more advanced concepts of gas management, team diving and tech level bouyancy and propulsion underwater. I took the class and after taking the class I was very aware of what I needed to work on before moving further down the rabbit hole.

I'm at 85 dives now. Maybe next year I might look into a deco class mostly just to round out my diving skills. Every dive for me is a training dive. I have fun but I am always focused on improving none aspect or another of my dive. The intro to tech class can help you assess if you are ready yet. I was gung-ho when I started too.

 

[tphelps]

Pick an instructor that actively tech dives and that has a lot of experience. I did my Tec Deep with PADI and it was an extremely challenging course because I had a great instructor. That being said, I like TDI's and UTD's DIR approach to tech diving. I'm a big fan of their specific procedures as I feel it creates unity in the team (if everyone carries gas the same, labels their bottles the same, and has same hand signals).

I'm with the other guys too, I recommend starting tech with about 100 dives. That was the minimum number dives that my first tech instructor required for her personal standard. Great buoyancy and fin kicks should come natural. I also recommend trying an intro to tech course so you can get an idea of the discipline needed for tech. And another hard truth, look at what kind of tech diving you want to do for the future. My passion is going deep. I took my Tec Deep in Open Circuit to learn the fundamentals of technical diving. Afterwards I invested in a rebreather and did my trimix class on closed circuit. The difference was spending $300-$400 per OC tec dive vs. $30 for closed circuit consumables.

Regardless, enjoy your journey to the "dark side" and don't rush it!

 

[ajaysomani]

Thank you for your recommendations guys! Based on the common opinion and what I've read elsewhere, I think it would help me best if I work on my buoyancy, propulsion and emergency skills this season and I will probably take the advanced nitrox and decompression procedures from TDI and will look to gain more experience before getting further into tech diving.

 

[ucfdiver]

You could do a GUE Fundamentals course if there is an instructor available and then the Rec 1-3 courses. That would give you a lot of good skills. UTD is another respected agency.

I think Rec 1-3 would come before fundies, actually.

 

[tomfcrist]

I think that once you have bouyancy and trim under control, you will be fine to start toying with tech. An Intro to Tech course will teach you the basics of tech configurations and familiarize ou with the extra gear requirements. After that the Adv. Nitrox/Deco procedures route is probably the logical step. Dont rush into it though....hone your skills on recreational dive until its second nature, and then when you are ready go tech if you desire.

 

[Nasser]

Agree with the posts here. Get some more dives in and perhaps consider taking a PADI Rescue course first to get even more comfortable and confident in the water. Good buoyancy, trim, etc.. are things that should be second nature. When you start to get into tech, you will be heavily task loaded and having the basics firmly in your grasp is important and something you don't want to be thinking about when trying to execute a tech dive with utmost precision... where there is very little margin for error.

Don't rush your diving education... getting into tech can be very exciting but it's best to ease into it gradually - you well get much more out of tech courses that way and can focus on the more "technical and mental aspects" of tech diving rather than worrying about the general fundamentals of diving (buoyancy, trim, propulsion, etc.)

At any rate, GUE Fundies, TDI Intro to Tech, and Advanced Nitrox are good courses to look into when you're ready - can't speak about PADI Tec courses. Most importantly, seek out a great instructor to guide you through your education and mentor you - this is particularly relevant and important in Tech diving and it becomes a much more rewarding process this way.

Best of luck.

cheers,
nasser

 

[rivers]

rec 3 is after fundies. rec 1 is gue's open water course