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In a message dated 5/2/00 11:13:07 PM, benganjonsson@ho*.co* writes: << Hi! I am Bengan J=F6nsson from Stenungsund, Sweden. I am not yet a diver but am trying to find out how to. I have been reading=20 this list, the rec.scuba newsgroup and a swedish news group to find out=20 which is the best way to become a diver. The general consensus on this list seems to be that PADI and NAU are=20 substandard agencies and I should stay clear of them. The onnly on averybody= =20 seems to think is any good is GUE. I have been looing at their site but=20 can't find any info about beginner courses. All courses seems to resuire me=20 to have several logged dive before starting. I don't really see how I can=20 acomplish this on my own. The other recomendation I think everybody agrees on is that the agency is=20 unimportant and I should get the best instructor. (There seems to be a=20 slight contradiction here...) How do I know if the instructor is any good=20 since I don't know very much about diving, only what I have picked up from=20 the lists. Please help me make a good choise here. Regards Bengan >> Hi Bengan, I can understand your quandary in trying to decide on open water training=20 from reading this list. Perhaps I can help a bit. To preface my remarks let me say that as well as full cave and trimix diving= =20 for TDI, I also teach basic open water diving and various specialties for=20 PADI, NAUI, SSI, TDI(SDI), and IANTD. And although you may hear differently= ,=20 the courses I teach for each of the agencies are extremely similar. Not=20 exactly the same, but extremely similar with usually only minor differences. I support your statement that " ... the agency is unimportant and I should=20 get the best instructor." Although I would reword it to say " ... the agenc= y=20 is less important and I should get the best instructor." And I understand=20 your quandary in selecting a good instructor. There are several ways for=20 obtaining information about instructors. To me, some of the most important information about an instructor can be=20 learned from his or her past students. Go to the local dive shops and dive=20 clubs and ask the divers (as opposed to anyone associated with the shops)=20 about their OW instructors. Were they knowledgeable, safety conscious,=20 patient, supportive, willing to spend the time necessary for the poorer=20 students? Have they heard good (or not so good) things about other=20 instructors? Are there any particular instructors they would recommend? Then I would go to the instructors and shop personnel in the area and ask=20 them about the other dive instructors in the area. Here take anything you=20 hear with a grain of salt. But if you hear the same (positive or negative)=20 thing from several different sources, then consider that item seriously. =20 Also here, I personally would not even consider training with anyone who had= =20 mostly negative things to say about most other instructors. To me that=20 person is simply insecure and not to my liking. You may also choose to consider what you don't hear as being possibly=20 significant. Listen to people and read between the lines. For example (and= =20 I don't mean to offend anyone here), I teach cave diving in Akumal in the=20 Yucatan peninsula of southern Mexico. And here everyone associated with cav= e=20 diving has heard all of the negative things about everyone else. Yet=20 uniquely there is one long time cave instructor, Dan Lins, about whom I have= =20 never heard anything negative. I have had one of his past students assist m= e=20 with teaching several courses, and have been diving with several others. =20 Their training, and equally as important their attitude, has been just fine.= =20 I have never met Dan and yet I have no hesitation about sending students to=20 him for training. Another factor to be considered is the schedule for the course. For example= ,=20 I teach courses that are relaxed and drawn out and therefore take longer tha= n=20 other instructors' schedules for the same course. My course may not be any=20 more complete, I just like to teach at a slower rate. You need to decide if= =20 you'd like to finish the Open Water course quickly or whether you'd like to=20 digest the material at a slower rate. Neither way is either right or wrong,= =20 it is simply your decision. I really have to take exception to your statement "... seems to be that PADI= =20 and NAU are substandard agencies and I should stay clear of them. The onnly=20 on averybody seems to think is any good is GUE." I believe that the vast=20 majority of instructors associated with each of the agencies for which I=20 teach, PADI, NAUI, SSI, TDI(SDI), and IANTD, are true professionals and are=20 competent and capable of teaching basic Open Water diving. There may be a fe= w=20 bad apples in the barrel but these are really the exceptions, not the rule. This list (techdivers@aquanaut.com) on the other hand, is mostly concerned=20 with technical diving as opposed to Open Water diving. This may be why you=20 inferred the negative impressions of several agencies, which are primarily=20 Open Water training agencies. GUE is a relatively new agency concerned=20 primarily with technical diving and has introduced some novel approaches in=20 this area. Also being a relatively small agency, it appears that their=20 control over GUE training and instructors has been excellent. So to summarize, go out and do your homework. Talk to lots of divers, liste= n=20 to what they say, form your own opinions, and then go get yourself certified= ..=20 Diving is really fantastic, that's why we all do it. I hope this info. helps and remember that all of this advice is worth exactl= y=20 what you paid for it. Take care and dive safe, Scott -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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