What training to take next

[KeithG]

Not referring to AOW, but more beginner type technical instruction. I currently have AOW, and will have rescue, nitrox and deep recreational training by the time I am thinking of starting down the this route, but I am not sure really where to start. I have a vacation coming up in October where I will have a few days I can slip away from the family to go diving while in Orlando Florida, and since I would be diving with an instabuddy, I am thinking I may as well take a class and learn something. My long term goal is to get more time on deeper wrecks, but I also like the idea of possibly doing some cavern dives to see if I like that direction. My buoyancy is decent, but not to the point where I am perfectly happy with it. I have thought about taking while I am there either a cavern course, or intro to tech. I am limited to probably 3 or at most 4 days and would like to stay withing 2 hours of Orlando. I am open to other suggestions though. I currently have 30 dives and will probably have over 50 by the time October rolls around. I am open to suggestions?

Do you NEED it? How about none? For a while.

I suggest that you do not get in a hurry to become the dive equivalent of a F1 driver in a few weeks after you get your beginner driving license.

Have you considered just gaining additional experience so that you have NAILED all of your current cert skills and developed a few more? I have seen too many zero to hero divers that I would refuse to buddy with. Additional training is good. But mastering your current required skills is better.

Take it slow and enjoy. Diving is a journey, not a destination.

I am approaching 900 dives and am starting to think about if I should do AOW...

 

[tbone1004]

I disagree wholeheartedly, if you want to go into tech diving and you aren't satisfied with your skills, take a course to get your skills squared away before you develop too many bad habits. You don't know what you don't know, and that's ok, but courses like the Primer, or even better finding good divers to mentor you will at least get you on track where you want to be.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I am also considering the primer - It is probably the leading candidate right now in my decision process, but I don't know that I would ever go on to the full fundies course if I just did the primer due to future time constraints. I did just purchase a bp/w but haven't had a chance to dive it yet. I do not have a long hose on my reg at this time either. That is one of the reasons that I don't think the July course in Raleigh would work. I want to get completely comfortable in the bp/w before taking it. Also I don't think I could get the extra time off work. I am currently leaning toward doing the GUE primer and then just diving for 2 days.

I would bet you can borrow or rent the requisite regulator set for Primer. Either ask your instructor when you find one, or perhaps some kind GUE-minded person here who lives in your area will chime in with an offer. (GUE people can be like that--eager to help.) In fact, my wife and I both did Primer entirely in borrowed and rented gear, since we didn't even own BP/Ws at the time. Primer is a really soft intro, and there is no need to "get completely comfortable in the BP/W before taking it," but by all means spend time in your new gear if you can. Primer is a great little course, and you can't help but learn something.

Edit: Re-reading your post, I see I mis-read it. You meant "get completely comfortable in the BP/W" before taking the July Fundies course in Raleigh. Yeah, that would be wise. My wife and I were not completely comfortable in our gear even after Primer, and going into Fundies we still didn't have our sh*t together. It took us a second attempt at Fundies before we got our Rec Passes.

 

[Oldbear]

+1 GUE Fundies course, either the Rec or Tec version. Then dive, dive, dive...

 

[mlevsky]

Personal experience: I did fundies (in single tank with no light) about 6 mths after AOW with about the same number of dives you quote and no bp/w or long hose experience. I reckon I was pretty underprepared and went in not expecting a pass, just to be a bit more competent than when I went in and in 4 days went from "OMG I've gone heads down and can't get back up HEEEELP" to pretty solid buoyancy, reasonable trim and no more hands going all over the joint. Plus the different mindset.. Actually thinking about proper dive planning, gas management, team focus etc.

I'd recommend it fully if you have the time for it. It is intense but. It was pretty much 8am to 8pm every day.

Worth every cent


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[RandomGuy1]

Do you NEED it? How about none? For a while.

I suggest that you do not get in a hurry to become the dive equivalent of a F1 driver in a few weeks after you get your beginner driving license.

Have you considered just gaining additional experience so that you have NAILED all of your current cert skills and developed a few more? I have seen too many zero to hero divers that I would refuse to buddy with. Additional training is good. But mastering your current required skills is better.

Take it slow and enjoy. Diving is a journey, not a destination.

I am approaching 900 dives and am starting to think about if I should do AOW...

I am not going for the zero to hero. Actually quite the opposite. I really want to train and have a good foundation to build my skills and experience around. I am a long way from doing actual tech dives or any overhead training, but I want to get the fundamentals down so as I gain experience I won't be learning bad habits that I would have to unlearn later. Also, I am doing this on vacation, and I enjoy learning and doing something different. Part of what I like about diving isn't just the going diving part, but the learning of new skills and diving knowledge. With my personality, I would probably enjoy a good class as much as I would just going and doing fun dives somewhere.

 

[tbone1004]

take primer or fundies with Mer, get the basics done before your vacation. On your vacation, sign up for a cavern/intro glass in the Ginnie area with one of the instructors down there. Long list of good ones that sparks a rather passionate discussion so we'll hold off on that for a while. Take cavern/intro for fun, take primer/fundies to get your foundation build properly, do it early. If you do primer/fundies and decide you just want to do fun diving, you might have to swing out to tampa or down to the keys, but the springs are spectacular....

 

[MikkelBC]

Another big vote for GUE fundamentals from me. I started my fundies course with about 50 logged dives.
But you should not try to do it during your vacation. Find a local GUE instructor who will also be flexible with the course schedule if you need more time to practice in order to pass. I doubt that you will be able to pass without extra practice besides the course dives, but you will learn a lot regardless.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

If you have yet to get really comfortable with buoyancy, I would suggest an intro to tech class, GUE fundies, or a hardcore buoyancy mentoring session with someone who has a clue.

My opinion is that you should be comfortable with buoyancy and trim prior to starting any decompression related training.

I agree. If you're not squared away on your trim, buoyancy, and propulsion, you should take an intro to tech course or work with a seasoned diver to get these right. After that I would do AN/DP.

 

[RandomGuy1]

Well, I went ahead and signed up for the GUE-F class with Mer in July for the split weekend, and I will be just diving for fun for a few days on vacation. I will report back how the fundies class goes.