Thank you!!!! i am reading all this and it is making my head hurt!!! how the hell am i supposed to know a good instructor from a bad... i dont even know the questions to ask!!!
Fair point. You find them from a variety of ways.
Thank you!!!! i am reading all this and it is making my head hurt!!! how the hell am i supposed to know a good instructor from a bad... i dont even know the questions to ask!!!
Good question. I understand it can be a difficult process, both in terms of not understanding WHAT to look for and also having the ability to cut through the "marketing" that is inherent with parts of scuba.
There are certain questions to ask about how they run courses, their diving philosophy, and how they grade their students. These questions might weed out a few instructors, but most of the experienced ones will have have good stump speeches and be able to pass those questions with ease--especially if you have done some prior research to get a short list.
The best way to find a good instructor is look at the one thing an instructor can't ******** because they have no control over it; their students post certification. Go diving, find divers that you want to emulate--don't look blindly at divers and be, oh, I want to do the dives they are doing, but find divers you want to look like, talk like, think like when in the water. This day and age every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a credit card has a Advanced Nitrox cert.
It can be hard for inexperienced eyes to see the gold through the pyrite, so for you, I would recommend focusing on divers who aren't just good, but ****^ng Gods in the water. Talk with those divers and ask them who their instructors were. They have probably had a couple who improved their diving, but there is always that one who was better, who made them into the divers they are today. See if there are any similarities that start to pop up. If the same names keeps popping up, add it to the short list and investigate. Also, remember to ask them what they liked and disliked about the class, it might provide you with more information and give you more incite into something you hadn't thought about.
For beginner tech classes, I l generally like to recommend staying local especially if you are starting from a non-tech background. Beginner tech classes from the type of instructors I am talking about are rarely passed on the first go around. There is learning the skill and then a crap ton of practice that is required before it can be preformed at a quality level during class. Often I see classes that people travel for develop into "he/she did the skill "good" enough to not die, therefore they pass.
I am a huge fan of GUE fundies and recommend it all divers who are just starting out. It's great class to learn the techniques needed for better diving. Fact of the matter is, if you can't get at least a REC pass in this class, you aren't ready for to start diving tech.
Another option that I like to employ is taking "interview" courses with instructors. Take a 1 or 2 day class like solo diving, intro to tech, or even just 2 days of coaching. See first hand how they teach and how you improve. It's better to commit the $200-$300, maybe learn something new, but realize they aren't what you are looking for before you commit the $800-$1000+ for a tech course and realize they aren't what you were expecting.
Feel free to send me a PM if you have any specific questions.
