OP
Starting Technical diving GUE Vs TDI VS PADI?
- Thread starter YahiaAhmed
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PfcAJ
Contributor
Agency does matter for tech diving.
with GUE, the standards and procedures are well known, and you’re going to get it with whatever instructor you choose. With the others, well, you just don’t know for sure.
with GUE, the standards and procedures are well known, and you’re going to get it with whatever instructor you choose. With the others, well, you just don’t know for sure.
I got most of mine through IANTD and was happy with the instructor (who can teach through several agencies). GUE is well known but my understanding is less flexible than other leading tec agencies (example: no sidemount diving until very far along). I recently crossed my recreational instructor card over to RAID and believe they have high standards that would make most any tec diver happy.
UTD is almost gone except in SE asia, maybe Jeff will revive it as an agency but I have my doubts. There are two UTD instructors in Dubai but the OP is in Egypt.
ISE has zero instructors in the middle east at all.
Why do people recommend programs they have never taken, with completely unknown instructors, plus they are thousands of kilometers away from the student!?!
GUE has 2 instructors actually living in Egypt (not just visiting and teaching there) Faisal and Sameh
GUE Instructors
helodriver87
Contributor
I don't have any experience with Faisal or Sameh, but I know exactly what they'll teach you and how you'll develop as a diver if you go with them. If you don't have a good feel for what you're looking for in an instructor or training philosophy yet, go GUE. If you decide it's not right for you, you'll still end up a better diver with the knowledge to evaluate your next choice. If you do like it, they'll get you where you want to be with enough time and effort.
broncobowsher
Contributor
GUE for the basics. I'm thinking of taking a fundies class to fill in what I miss in all my other tech classes. I skipped around and missed any into classes. Now that I have progressed I can tell I missed some stuff.
TDI is a good choice I have been happy with my TDI instructors. That covered deco, rebreather, etc.
Everyone says how good the GUE fundies is. But I rarely hear much beyond the fundies class.
And the instructor is everything. Many will offer cards from whatever agency you want.
My recommendation, GUE fundies and TDI for specialties.
TDI is a good choice I have been happy with my TDI instructors. That covered deco, rebreather, etc.
Everyone says how good the GUE fundies is. But I rarely hear much beyond the fundies class.
And the instructor is everything. Many will offer cards from whatever agency you want.
My recommendation, GUE fundies and TDI for specialties.
helodriver87
Contributor
It's far and away the most frequently taken class. That's probably why. Lots of the people taking it aren't necessarily looking to do the GUE technical path either. There are plenty of us around here that can speak to the technical courses though.
Yes you are right but it is also down to human relationship and the GUE sticker is not a guarantee of having a delivery of the course which fits everybody. Some GUE imstructors are far from being good instructor as they don't know the differences between instructing and teaching...
For the OP, do the fundies with Sameh and after that take instructions or tips from whoever you can (Sameh included); diving is wide and the more you know, the better is.
PfcAJ
Contributor
I’ve taken a few GUE classes past fundies, and I also have tech cards from NSSCDS, NAUI, and IANTD.
The GUE classes were all better.
It’s simple. Start with fundies and go from there. First and foremost it will make you a much better diver than if you didn’t take fundies. It will benefit you in every future course. There are excellent instructors in other agencies, but it’s a crapshoot. Even with personal references from friendS I respect, I have still taken classes that were less than stellar. All of the non-gue courses I’ve taken that I considered exceptional were all with people who are instructors with gue experience (ranging from them having taken fundies to them being gue instructors who also teach for other agencies). I’ve been lucky to have great non-gue instructors. But if you want consistency in quality and instructors that are likely to be excellent then gue is your route. I’ve observed several fundies and various gue cave courses from different instructors. Each one did an exceptional job instructing and the course material flowed from one class to another without confusion or something changing. I have taken several non-gue classes where what I was taught by one instructor was wrong or crap in the eyes of the next instructor. You won’t get that from gue course to gue course.
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