Tech dives experience

[iho]

Just wondering, how are you getting you tech dives log growth? Short story long.. I am working at Philippines, so pretty close to a lot of dive shops. I got my TDI ANDP here hoping that after that my life as a diver became brighter, longer and deeper... But... Reality is that it is very hard to obtain required for next TDI level 20-30 logged dives... It appeared that you can not just pop up in front of any dive shop and get tech dive... True is that from other 210+ dive shops in Ph might less than 10 provide support for tech dives and mostly in form of courses... And if you want to just get ordinary training dive shallower 45m and less than 30 minutes of deco you can spend weeks aligning with DC your options.... So it sounds like that even in "diving capital of the world" it can takes years to get 20-30 tech dives to feel confidence on Trimix course... Unless you settled in couple of well known tech supportive DCs and volunteer as I don not know who So question is - how you get you experience in tech? outside of two-years-ahead planned 100m expedition somethere ?

 

[rjack321]

Didn't you take ANDP with some existing buddies? Setup dives with them.

 

[lermontov]

it sounds like your not in the right spot - theres lots of wreck diving in Philippines so it might be you need to change your circle of contacts.

if you can only achieve 20- 30 tech dives in two years than a trimix course seems a bit of a luxury -there might be caves near you what about a cave course - theres often a crossover to regular tech divers doing caves but at the end of the day you need to go where the tech dives are or find a group of tech divers that you can tag along -NB you need lots of money

 

[iho]

it sounds like your not in the right spot - theres lots of wreck diving in Philippines so it might be you need to change your circle of contacts.

if you can only achieve 20- 30 tech dives in two years than a trimix course seems a bit of a luxury -there might be caves near you what about a cave course - theres often a crossover to regular tech divers doing caves but at the end of the day you need to go where the tech dives are or find a group of tech divers that you can tag along -NB you need lots of money

I would say I dove 80% of Ph wrecks... Subic, Coron... rest of it 50-60m depth - here is Trimix as goal... And most of wrecks <45m so no need for DC for mass support of tech stuff... And huge tourists flow obviously - they just make money for living

 

[lermontov]

I would say I dove 80% of Ph wrecks... Subic, Coron... rest of it 50-60m depth - here is Trimix as goal... And most of wrecks <45m so no need for DC for mass support of tech stuff... And huge tourists flow obviously - they just make money for living

ahh I see the core diving group is too transient - and you haven't made regular contacts with local tech divers ?

 

[iho]

ahh I see the core diving group is too transient - and you haven't made regular contacts with local tech divers ?

yep. and I would say here we have interesting divers cohorts
Expat tech divers - either course instructors either dc owners to big experience gap
Local tech divers - either course instructors either commercial divers
Tourists tech - near to impossible to align schedules
And I have not heard that some one except me from club I usually dive with (over 100 people totally I would say) want to go tech....
So yes, this is buddy problem + takes too long to organize simple non course related tech dive weekend.

 

[VikingDives]

1. Pay for guided dives.

2. Go to all the tech shops/instructors and tell them what your availability is. Tell them you'll help carry tanks, load trucks, be a buddy for a student doing S-drills or whatever they need.

3. Put a friend in a headlock and drag them to a tech course.

 

[lermontov]

yep. and I would say here we have interesting divers cohorts
Expat tech divers - either course instructors either dc owners to big experience gap
Local tech divers - either course instructors either commercial divers
Tourists tech - near to impossible to align schedules
And I have not heard that some one except me from club I usually dive with (over 100 people totally I would say) want to go tech....
So yes, this is buddy problem + takes too long to organize simple non course related tech dive weekend.

ok here's an option - start up a facebook group for philipine tech divers wanting to find dive buddies to go on trips together or 'post your pics of philipines tech dives ' then you can see who's active and try and arrange a trip

 

[bipolarbear]

I do most of my diving in Ph in Coron, Subic and Puerto Galera.

Best location for regular access to tech dives is Puerto Galera.

You've got a deep wall within a 5 minute boat ride from shore. Shops with helium available for those qualified to use it (I recommend Tech Asia), along with DPV hire etc. If you're working up to a 100m+ OC tech dive, I'd recommend you (i) start saving $$ now; and (ii) start spending some time in PG.

 

[Searcaigh]

I dived with Andy Davis on a couple of deep wrecks in Subic Bay back in 2016/17 with one of my buddies and would recommend contacting him.

Andy Davis Technical Diving Instructor Sidemount Wreck Specialist

Andy Davis Technical Diving in Subic Bay, Philippines. RAID Sidemount, Technical Trimix, and Advanced Wreck certification courses.

scubatechphilippines.com