Wreck Diving Course Questions

[lindenbruce]

I'm SSI as well and took the SSI wreck course years ago. The instructor was great and very knowledgeable. The class did our wreck dives in San Diego on the Yukon from the Lois Ann (an excellent operator by the way). NOW. Did this course make me an expert in wreck diving? Hell no. Did it help open my eyes to the dangers of overhead environments and prepare me for more extensive training? Hell yes. Plus it allowed me to realize I want to learn more about wreck diving and allowed me to understand that wreck diving can be and is a passion I am pursuing further. I very rarely feel that increasing one's education and seeking out training is a bad thing. If you can obtain the same goals as the PADI class, but ACTUALLY LEARN MORE, through an different course then why not do it. Bruce

 

[sleepr]

Thank you all for your very appreciated comments. DevonDiver thanks for the link, I'm sure I had read your link before but could not remember where I had seen it. Perhaps I will just have to come to the Philippines.

I believe everyone is right, the quality of the instructor is paramount. At this point I'm leaning towards holding off on the course in Grand Cayman, somewhat so I can just focus on having fun dives, and also because I think there is some value in what many have mentioned. At this point I might try to get my hands on the TDI manual for some reference reading, focus on my drysuit skill development, and evaluate my options for the future.

Thanks again for all your responses.

 

[NCadiver]

I'm SSI as well and took the SSI wreck course years ago. The instructor was great and very knowledgeable. The class did our wreck dives in San Diego on the Yukon from the Lois Ann (an excellent operator by the way). NOW. Did this course make me an expert in wreck diving? Hell no. Did it help open my eyes to the dangers of overhead environments and prepare me for more extensive training? Hell yes. Plus it allowed me to realize I want to learn more about wreck diving and allowed me to understand that wreck diving can be and is a passion I am pursuing further. I very rarely feel that increasing one's education and seeking out training is a bad thing. If you can obtain the same goals as the PADI class, but ACTUALLY LEARN MORE, through an different course then why not do it. Bruce

Did you take your instruction from Jeff and use a shop in the Dublin/Hayward area?

Both the SSI and the PADi course are intro courses and I beleive SDI/TDI wreck course is the same as Padi's. They have to teach the basic at sometime before you jump into the advance wreck diving class.

 

[lindenbruce]

Negative ghost rider. It was Gary Jines with Scuba Plus in Stockton. He went out of business a few years later. Then Dolphin Scuba in Sacramento took over the store for a few years until they closed it the first of this year. B

 

[RJP]

I suggest taking a wreck diving course from someone who dives wrecks. Lots of wrecks. The Kittiwake is not a wreck, but rather a boat that was placed on the bottom as a tourist attraction. Chances are the instructor that teaches that course is not a "wreck diver" but rather a diver that dives on tourist attractions placed on the bottom.

My first wreck diving course was the PADI wreck specialty, taught by a guy that has done thousands of wreck dives all over the world (Wayne Fisch, from The Scuba Connection/www.DiveSeekers.com) and it was incredibly valuable as an intro to wreck diving. It was taught as "baseline skills" with the understanding that if you wanted to REALLY dive wrecks... you'd need to do more work, more dives, more training.

Since that course - and a few others with Wayne - I've gone on to dive wrecks all over the world.