When to take DIR-F

[TSandM]

It is worth every penny, and the pennies you'll invest for the classes thereafter. It will change your diving, forever and for the better. If I could afford to underwrite the cost of Fundies for everybody who is seriously interested, I would do it.

 

[Ben_ca]

Wait till you fill your doubles with Helium $$$$

 

[The Mushroom King]

somewhere around $500US plus instructor expenses. In the UK at the moment they are £400 inc Instructor expenses.

That I could live with. The price I saw advertised made 400 quid look like a basement bargain sale !!! :sigh_2:
But now that I have a better idea, I can shop around, keep my open for other opportunities. Thanks everyone for your two cents -- I'll definitly take the class when I can.

I might also inquire about the detail of the course I saw, for that price maybe it included accomodation or other stuff.....

Cheers all

 

[LAJim]

Its worth it. GUE could get away with a full refund if not satisfied policy. No one I know would take them up on it.

 

[ovarygirl]

I agree with TSandM's view on training mentioned a couple of pages back. I took my GUE-F (I'm still calling it DIR-F out of habit) last month in Mexico with Fred Devos and found it to be the PERFECT time for me to do it (60 logged dives in doubles; 2600 min bottom time). Although I knew I wasn't at the level of a tech pass, I went into the course hoping to learn as much as possible. Before the course, I had worked on a few things like hovering, frog kick, back-kick, OOA drills and valve drills with my GUE-trained buddies (including my boyfriend who acted as my mentor). I completely agree with a couple of folks who mentioned that you shouldn't learn the wrong way of doing things before the course; untraining firmly embedded muscle memory is very difficult! However, I was able to go into the course with some grasp of the required skills (albeit imperfect), and was still at the level where I could change them pretty easily under instruction. Maybe I got lucky?!

Doing your course earlier is definitely better than later, but you want to have reasonably good buoyancy before going into it. Being able to stick with your buddies is a pretty important aspect of the diving, so if you're able to maintain your buoyancy the majority of the time, then you're probably in a good place to take the course.

 

[AK47Diver]

Great thread. I just signed up for a GUE Fundamentals class to be held here in Michigan in June. I've got 23 dives so far and have learned so much just diving with DIR divers that I can't wait to get the formal instruction.

I'll be going for a rec level as I'll be going in a single tank and 7mm wetsuit as I'm still absorbing the cost of converting to the BP/W, wrist computer and long hose configuration and Jetfins.

Hopefully once I go dry and doubles the upgrade to a tech level pass will be doable.

 

[mwhities]

It is worth every penny, and the pennies you'll invest for the classes thereafter. It will change your diving, forever and for the better. If I could afford to underwrite the cost of Fundies for everybody who is seriously interested, I would do it.

I'll be your huckleberry.

I hope next year, I'm too fat right now, to take my Fundies class. If I get my butt in gear, I might take it later this year. Being money and time happen to come together at the sametime.

Michael

 

[The Mushroom King]

Well, I signed up for GUE-F this August. Pricey as we have to fly in an instrcutor, but from what everyone says, it'll be well worth it!!!

Thanks for everyones input!

 

[Fionab]

That I could live with. The price I saw advertised made 400 quid look like a basement bargain sale !!! :sigh_2:

Cheers all

Don't think about the cost, if you do you won't do it. I did mine last weekend and frankly in the end it will cost twice the course cost when you add in transport, accommodation, dive site entry and food.

Like some have said do the course when you are "happy" with the basics and bad habits haven't developed. If I could have done it at 50 dives instead of 650 I think I might have had an easier time.

 

[munitor]

....Let's think, go to Bonaire for a week and dive all day long, or, pay the same amount to have someone make me do demanding and sometimes scary tasks underwater while tormenting me (for lack of better words!).

You left out "go to Bonaire for a week AND pay to have someone make me do demanding and sometimes scary tasks underwater". No tormenting, though. Benji is a very good teacher and Bonaire at least keeps environmental challenges from adding to the task (over)load.