Tec Courses in Cape Town South Africa

[Hendrew]

Good Day peoples

I did not manage to find any info on any of the threads that's there, if there is and I missed it, my apologies for the re-post.

I am currently only trained as a OW tec diver (tec 40, baby steps ), that I got done whilst I was working as an OWSI in Philippines.

Now I am back in SA (Cape Town) and wish to continue my tec training. I have done some searches on the Interwebs, but can only find a few sites&companies which seems to have some info and which is situated in Cape Town, all the other ones operated by the Senior tec Divers is located in Guateng, Mpumulanga area.

A few other places I found was people offering tec training, but they themselves probably has only done about 20 tec dives.

What I would like to know is, if there is some one that can advise me of a training facility/person, which I can get into contact with in order to continue my tec training.

Also any side-mount training advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[4sak3n]

I'm not sure what his schedule is like currently but the best starting point for anyone wanting a damn good edumacation in tec diving would be Monty Guest. You can get hold of him through the False Bay Underwater Club.

Failing that Alaistair Downing of Underwater Explorers might be able to point you in the right direction but if you have any luck at all Monty will be able to get you sorted.

I'm sure that there are many more names that people can and, hopefully, will mention.

 

[Hendrew]

Thanks for the reply 4sak3n.

I have send emails to both the the facilities/clubs/ people. you have mentioned, just waiting for a reply.

Thanks for the info.

 

[ajduplessis]

Contact Monty Guest (Scuba Culture). I have his contact details. PM if you want the info.

The other option is Peter Timm (Triton-Sodwana), highly recommended. Not Cape Town thou, but great conditions and warm waters. Makes a nice holiday if you want to take the family with.

 

[Hendrew]

Thanks ajduplessis

I have sent you a PM

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

I am not aware of anyone who does Padi or Dsat here in Cape Town.

I found that going to Komati for training made sense. (to be honest, with the price of helium the flight to JHB and car rental is the cheap bit). Don Shirley is a great and experienced instructor for IANTD. I did my helium courses at Komati with Alan Drake (TDI). I have also heard great things about Peter Trimm but have not dived with him. PJ in Pretoria also comes with a good reputation. Happy to chat more in person, but I would think about a trip to Sodwana or Komati rather than doing the training in CT.

As an aside, one of the dive ops here in CT allows me to board their regular Saturday boat with O2 and put on some deco as long as I don't make the boat wait too long. PM if you ever want to hook up for a dive. You will find that the tech crowd in CT can be very closed. (also why I fly to Komati for bigger dives and solo some minor deco here in CT).

 

[ajduplessis]

I had a chat to Monty and its sounds like Hendrew is looking for a side mount instructor. I know of an SM instructor in CT, will PM him details once I find the contact details, its here somewhere

 

[Hendrew]

Hi Dive bug

I will definitely get in contact with you as soon as I have got a bit more experience with tec diving.

But my first step would probably be a drysuit course as I can think that making deco stops in CT will be getting a bit cold. Currently i only dive with a 7mm and after normal dive of 40-50min it starts getting a bit chilly.

---------- Post Merged at 03:35 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:28 PM ----------

Hi ajduplessis

Yes, I am also looking for a side-mount instructor or people that dive sidemount that can "show me the ropes". I dont own a side mount harness yet, simply because there is alot of options available and would like to make a informed decision on what to buy. I have seen and fitted the razor 2, not dived with it yet though. Pretty nice kit.

Any info again is appreciated, thanks

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

Hendrew,

It is your prerogative to dive the configuration you prefer.

I cannot think of a single dive site in South Africa where you need side mount, or that has side mount only swim throughs / passages. What that means is you will battle to find an instructor who swims side mount regularly and also when you find one you will not be able to train for anything other than open water side mount which is not really where you will see the benefit.

Maybe an alternate strategy that would pay bigger dividends in the long run is to complete a full cave course (in back mount) here in SA and then at a later stage make a trip to Florida where you can learn side mount in an environment where you will be able to really use it.