As Jim Lapenta said, a good recreational (for example: PADI, NAUI, SSI) wreck course taught by a great instructor can be fantastic. Back in the summer of '97 or '98, I did a PADI recreational wreck course taught by a tec diving instructor who was really enthusiastic about wrecks and caves, and he taught a superb course. It was actually almost a tec wreck penetration course in its thoroughness. I am now a PADI instructor who is qualified to teach the PADI wreck specialty course, and I'm a pretty good instructor, but I don't think I could possibly teach it as well as that guy taught me. He was the kind of guy who liked to spend his free time mapping unexplored underwater cave systems, and he made laying line while frog-kicking around seem natural and easy.
That was in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, USA, which is a wreck diver's paradise. Beaufort, NC or Morehead City, NC were the towns I usually used to go to for NC diving; only slightly further north and you get much colder water and much worse viz.
My line-laying skills were rusty and out-of-date but the rest of my wreck diving skills were reasonably good many years later when I took a full technical wreck penetration course. I did that in Subic Bay, Philippines -- not from Andy, but from a very well-known IANTD instructor who lives in Puerto Galera. Again, a great course. (I'm sure Andy does a very good course, too).
Another fantastic place to do a wreck course would be Coron, Philippines. Lots of awesome wrecks, all within recreational depths but also offering technical dives if you're at that level.
For cold water diving, the Great Lakes between Canada and the US have lots of amazing wrecks. I've never been there, but definitely on my to-do list. In Europe, Scotland's Scapa Flow is also a famous wreck-diving mecca. I've never been there either, but I think it is probably more suitable for advanced (i.e., technical) divers than for a relatively novice diver. The Baltic Sea is also supposed to be great for wreckers -- again, though, maybe not for a less-experienced diver. Of course, Truk (Chuuk) is usually at the top of a list of the world's best wreck diving locations, but because of its expense I think you would want to get your training first, and then go to Truk. I wouldn't go there for a course.
There are countless other places where you can get good or great training on/in a single wreck or a few of them, but for lots and lots of wrecks in warm water, it's hard to beat Subic Bay (Philippines), Coron (Philippines), and North Carolina (USA).
I've never been to Malta, but if Doppler recommends it, it must be pretty good.
As for how many dives? Depends on how challenging the dives you've already done have been. Generally speaking, I would say that anyone should postpone any sort of penetration training until after 50 or 60 open water dives, at least. A diver needs to build up a certain level of experience with just being underwater breathing through a regulator, as well as with buoyancy control, controlling breathing gas consumption rate, dealing with underwater problems (mask leaks, reg freeflows, hangovers or allergies or whatever), etc. before being really ready to penetrate a shipwreck for more than just a "swim-through."
That was in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, USA, which is a wreck diver's paradise. Beaufort, NC or Morehead City, NC were the towns I usually used to go to for NC diving; only slightly further north and you get much colder water and much worse viz.
My line-laying skills were rusty and out-of-date but the rest of my wreck diving skills were reasonably good many years later when I took a full technical wreck penetration course. I did that in Subic Bay, Philippines -- not from Andy, but from a very well-known IANTD instructor who lives in Puerto Galera. Again, a great course. (I'm sure Andy does a very good course, too).
Another fantastic place to do a wreck course would be Coron, Philippines. Lots of awesome wrecks, all within recreational depths but also offering technical dives if you're at that level.
For cold water diving, the Great Lakes between Canada and the US have lots of amazing wrecks. I've never been there, but definitely on my to-do list. In Europe, Scotland's Scapa Flow is also a famous wreck-diving mecca. I've never been there either, but I think it is probably more suitable for advanced (i.e., technical) divers than for a relatively novice diver. The Baltic Sea is also supposed to be great for wreckers -- again, though, maybe not for a less-experienced diver. Of course, Truk (Chuuk) is usually at the top of a list of the world's best wreck diving locations, but because of its expense I think you would want to get your training first, and then go to Truk. I wouldn't go there for a course.
There are countless other places where you can get good or great training on/in a single wreck or a few of them, but for lots and lots of wrecks in warm water, it's hard to beat Subic Bay (Philippines), Coron (Philippines), and North Carolina (USA).
I've never been to Malta, but if Doppler recommends it, it must be pretty good.
As for how many dives? Depends on how challenging the dives you've already done have been. Generally speaking, I would say that anyone should postpone any sort of penetration training until after 50 or 60 open water dives, at least. A diver needs to build up a certain level of experience with just being underwater breathing through a regulator, as well as with buoyancy control, controlling breathing gas consumption rate, dealing with underwater problems (mask leaks, reg freeflows, hangovers or allergies or whatever), etc. before being really ready to penetrate a shipwreck for more than just a "swim-through."
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