The BEST Tec Training Agencies?

[El Gato]

Hi Guys,

I'm a recreational diver considering my future training for Tec Diving. Thus far all training has been with PADI (with instructors who are DSAT/TDI technical diving instructors also)and now MSD/DM.

PADI are about to launch their TecRec programme and my instructors rec I do not use TDI for future training.

I need some unbiased opinion from the experts please.

Pros: PADI system should know exactly what my experience is to date based on their traing programmes and therefore their programme should plug the knowledge gaps?
Cons: PADI is Rec not Tec ~ so can I be sure of the best learning experience?

Advise would be welcomed.
Gato

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

PADI/DSAT TecRec has been there for a while. Now they divided it into several courses. Is there anything new other than that?

Plugging the knowledge gaps is mainly about the instructor not the agency.

 

[AndrewA]

I am sure that you will get lots of conflicting advice as to which agency to train with. In technical diving it is the quality of the instruction rather than the "brand name" that is important. I see you are in the UK so there are many good tech instructors like Mark Powell or Jack Ingle. I did my entry level tech training with Gary Fox at Dive Action in Cornwall during my summer holidays a few years ago and can recommend him.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

In technical diving it is the quality of the instruction rather than the "brand name" that is important.

Ditto.

And it's not only in technical diving. Even in recreational diving it's the instructor not the agency.

 

[TSandM]

My advice would be to do some research, and figure out what it is you want to learn.

I would also talk to any prospective instructor and ask him about his background -- How long has he been diving? What kinds of dives does he do? How much technical diving has he done? Does he dive outside of teaching? And best of all, unless you are considering an instructor far from you, see if you can go for a dive either with him or with some of his technically trained students, and look at their skills and see if that's what you want.

Even in my little corner of the world, tech instruction ranges from teaching students to control their buoyancy for deco stops by hanging on the anchor line, to requiring folks to stay within a one foot buoyancy window while hovering and managing emergencies. I'm not saying one is bad and the other is good (the truth may be somewhere in the middle) but you need to decide which end of the spectrum looks better to you, and find an instructor who matches your needs.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

PADI are about to launch their TecRec programme and my instructors rec I do not use TDI for future training.

Did they give you any reasons for making such a recommendation?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[netmage]

The Agency has little to do w/ the quality of instruction you receive; only the quality of instruction materials used to deliver the class, the standards to which you are evaluated, and the timeliness of issuing c-cards after the class.

PADI is to diving (publishing), what Dell is to computers (manufacturing). Certainly not innovators, or the best quality. Just the best at squeezing the almighty dollar out of the pipeline and your pocket.

Figure out where you want to take your diving, and find a good instructor actively doing the kind of stuff you want to do... Everything else will figure itself out.

-Tim

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I need some unbiased opinion from the experts please.

So those guys were busy?

 

[ScubaInChicago]

"How to find the best instructor for you"

 

[dbulmer]

El Gato,
Why don't you have a chat with Andy Hayhurst?

Dales Divers Technical Courses

Andy has a very good reputation and he's not that far away from you.