Wreck diving - how to proceed

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knuhol

Registered
Messages
28
Reaction score
15
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello divers,

I think a lot about my future diving and how to proceed into the level I want to and would like to brainstorm a bit my ideas with you to have another insight, opinions and maybe recommendations :)

First, bit about my diving history, skills and interest:
I did my OWD + basic nitrox class with IANTD in 2018 in the Czech republic, soon after that I have moved to Sweden, did a dry suit class here and started local diving. Those times I knew only PADI local clubs in Stockholm and for me it was not a way to go, since I dive BP/W and long hose from the very beginning, so I have decided to travel again to the Czech republic for my IANTD AOWD class the last year.
AOWD cert has opened for me a lot of possibilities for local wreck diving around Stockholm and I was hooked - so I have started buying my own equipment. By the beginning of this year I had everything except tanks, but I really wanted to buy them as well to have an opportunity to just grab them and go diving when buddies call me. Since most of my dives are wrecks in 25-30m and I was diving nitrox already, my bottom time was limited mainly by gas supply - so I have decided to buy D12. I was lucky to get introduction to diving doubles by an experienced GUE diver - I have finally found somebody who dive the same configuration as me and I liked the diving philosophy he promoted.
Diving doubles has totally changed my diving, bottom times were longer and I could enjoy the wrecks much more. On the other hand, I felt stuck - I knew I need a practise and better foundation skills before jumping into more serious diving, but no courses which PADI or IANTD offer seemed like that one I was looking for. To make it shorter, no wonder I ended up in GUE-F class very soon after discovering GUE, since it was exactly the course I was looking for. I took the class when having just around 60 dives under my belt, around 50 were in dry suit and around 20 were with doubles. My gear was compliant with GUE standards already.
I didn't intend to challenge any pass (I even didn't know there are some passes at all when signed up for the class) - I just wanted to learn and become a better diver. I ended up with a rec pass, however the instructor said it is a strong rec pass and he believes I can come back for my tech endorsement before the winter/beginning of spring (he doesn't recommend to do that during winter).
GUE-F class was by the end of August and I did around 25 dives since that. I continue diving wrecks every week and my diving is totally different since the class has ended - I feel very confident under the water, practise my new skills but most of all I totally enjoy my dives.

I thought it will be enough for me for some time, cause I have lot of fun during the dives I am doing. But more often I dive on the same wrecks, more routine the dives are. Plus, some of the wrecks start within the limits of my AOWD cert and continue deeper down. I have a discipline to never exceed 30m, however after the dive I more often think about an idea of extending my licence to be able diving them whole. Plus, I more often think about a possibility of going inside the wrecks.
I have very contradictory feelings about me jumping into tech diving - on one hand, I am still a greenhorn with just 75 dives under my belt. I need the tech endorsement and at least 25 more dives to even be able to sing up for GUE Tech 1 class. On the other hand, I believe I will be able to get the tech endorsement in couple of months and I will also have 100+ dives.

My long term (and for now also the only one) interest are wrecks. I don't want to do deep dives on sake of going deeper, but I really want to dive more wrecks in my area which are deeper. And I also want to start going inside.

So, what next? I don't feel a need to rush into tech endorsement, I am maybe 95 % sure I perform on this level already, until I am not 100 % sure I will not make a call. That means, I will probably wait a bit and do it during the spring.
I know the tech endorsement is GUE gate keeper for tech courses. I know that when having it, I will feel confident enough with my skills to start tech diving. I also know GUE has 100 dives requirement for tech curses for some reason. But, after reading all the horror stories about GUE-F and people practising between rec and tech passes several years (even though having much more dives than me), I can't believe I am almost prepared for tech diving.

So the first question is, should I set my mindset for doing GUE Tech 1 the next year or is it better to wait one more year? If you recommend to wait, do you recommend to wait just with Tech 1 or also with the tech endorsement (and why)?
The second question is about wreck penetrations - GUE doesn't offer any wreck course. What is your recommendation to proceed in this education? Find a local GUE instructor who is diving wrecks and could provide some non-class training? Or go with some other agency? Or take GUE Cave 1 class, even though I am not interested in caves at all? I believe diving wrecks has lot of specific over caves - even though some procedures can be similar, I think it is better to be trained specifically for wrecks if these are the dives I want to do.
Last but not least: I am equally interested in both diving deeper wrecks and going inside wrecks (also the shallow wrecks which I can dive even now). What is better to focus on first and why, picking up deco procedures or learn basics about overhead wreck diving? I would say deco procedures, since that will allow me longer bottom times even in shallow depths so the wrecks penetration will be safer.

Sorry for the long writing, any opinions are more than welcome :)

Happy diving!
 
Hi fellow GUE diver!

I have this personal opinion that the number of dives is not very good indicator of when you should take a course. I believe GUE has this to indicate a minimum amount of experience one should have. Not all dives are equal and i strongly believe a dive where one works consciously practicing skills in cold water in a drysuit doubles is much more constructive than a recreational dive in crystal clear warm water in Indonesia. There is no doubt in my mind if you are able to obtain a tech pass, you would be ready to take a tech 1 course from GUE. I would recommend talking about your goals of diving with your prospective instructor regardless of course and agency, i personally would recommend Mario Arena for tech 1, he is a true explorer and dove countless different wrecks in many different conditions and would be able to point you in the correct direction.

Happy and safe diving
Arthur
 
Tech1 won’t teach you anything about wreck diving, but it will give you some tools to enjoy the wrecks better (more bottom time, or deeper depths).

Ideal world best bet, would be to find a GUE instructor who teaches TDI Advanced Wreck (or other agency equivalent).

That would give you the best of all the worlds... a GUE Instructor, the skills required for wreck penetration, with deco....


_R
 
Not all dives are equal and i strongly believe a dive where one works consciously practicing skills in cold water in a drysuit doubles is much more constructive than a recreational dive in crystal clear warm water in Indonesia.

Hello Arthur! Hmm, I wasn't thinking about it from this point of view before, however it makes totally sense. Thanks for your input and also for the instructor recommendation!

With wreck diving there’s always another wreck and it’s always deeper.

Haha, truth :) But with extending my license to 51m, I would say I could dive locally about 50 % more wrecks which is a lot. Of course there are even deeper wrecks around, but they will wait for me :p

Tech1 won’t teach you anything about wreck diving

I know it is not much, however some GUE divers who took Tech 1 in Sweden said that instructor included some wreck penetration techniques into the course - like working with the reel, black out mask training and so on. I understand this limited experience will not, of course, prepare me fully for doing so (and it is highly dependant on the instructor as well, since it is not in official guidelines for Tech 1). I see main benefits of Tech 1 in being able to dive deeper wrecks and have longer bottom times on shallow wrecks as well (as you are saying).
Thanks for a tip regarding TDI Advanced Wreck, I will do some research!
 
Hi!
I'm also in Sweden and was in a very similar position to yours a year ago, I went a different path than GUE in the end for my technical training but I'm still contemplating doing their T1 course sometime in the future.
If you want to do your T1 in Sweden Annika and Mattias are both great instructors with stellar reputations, can't go wrong with either (especially if the course takes place in Åland, some amazing wrecks there).
Did you do your fundies for Per by any chance?
 
Hey! Yeah, I did Fundies with Per :) Already have recommendatios for both Annika and Mattias, I haven't decided yet but would like to do Tech 1 with one of them and ideally in Åland!

Which path did you take and why you decided for it if I may ask?
 
Hey! Yeah, I did Fundies with Per :) Already have recommendatios for both Annika and Mattias, I haven't decided yet but would like to do Tech 1 with one of them and ideally in Åland!

Which path did you take and why you decided for it if I may ask?

I ended up going with IANTD.
Mostly because of the instructor, and also because I want to progress to CCR but not interested in getting a JJ since pretty much no one in my area has one, so that made it easier to not continue down the GUE path.
GUE has a stronger presence in Stockholm than it does around my neck of the woods :D
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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