Wreck Diving Course..any advise?

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Hocky

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Location
Sydney, Australia
Hi Guys

Just a question to the "wreck" instructors out there. I'm about to teach my first wreck course (I'm so looking forward to it).
Ive read the books, watched the video's and Ive actually dived over 100 wrecks my self.However..as this is my first course teaching, I wanted to know if there was anything
that I should add to the course, that the books and video's don't teach you,something that will just make it that little bit more special for my students?
We are going to a great wreck site, the students are paying good money to go there and I want to make it worth their while.
Any advise will be appreciated.
regards
Hocky
 
I'm afraid I can't help you with any good advice - our local "wrecks" are limited to small boats and planes, etc. that have been sunk by the dive ops as attractions.

I just wanted to wish ya luck! I appreciate your enthusiasm for making it a memorable experience for your students. I'm sure you'll be a great instructor with that kind of attitude!

Let us all know how it went.
 
You could try and get background information of each of the wrecks you will dive and give the students some printouts or copies. Whilst this may or may not add anything to the dives themselves, I have found that students are very interested in the history of a ship, why it sunk etc etc.

Many websites provide this information for the more popular wrecks.

Best of luck with the course.


 
Is this the recreational course?
If so, the two most important things are to instill a respect for the limits of the qual (safety) and as DiverDave says, to instill an interest level that gets 'em to do a little pre-dive research (you do this part on the training dives, but also show 'em where you got the info). Don't be surprised if they don't all immediately "seize the day" with the level of passion you and I know wreck diving deserves...
Depending on where you're teaching, (and this goes for all dives, not just wreck dives) you can go a long way toward keeping the students fired up about what they're diving by training them to adjust what they do to the ambient conditions - for example, if the visibility is miserable, be prepared to talk about how to have a great dive in the lousy vis by focusing on the interesting little critters, on building a mental picture of the wreck a few feet at the time, and then show 'em a couple of interesting critters doing interesting things on the dive... have a drawing of the wreck site on your slate already and point out where on the wreck the student is looking - you can turn misery into marvel with a little information given at the right time. And always, always after a dive let the first words out of your mouth be "Wow! What a great dive!" followed by at least two unique and interesting things you saw - after that you can discuss the visibility or the current or the bone-chilling cold or whatever else might have been less than perfect...
Rick (no bad dives allowed)
 
I'm not an instructor, so I'm looking at this from a students prospective. My idea of an ideal wreck course would be one that includes history on the wreck being dove and perhaps some pointers on finding out the history of wrecks. It would also have to include some level of penetration, reel usuage, line management, and stage use. Now I'm not talking about a full blown wreck tech course or teaching deco diving, just minor penetration in easily navigated wrecks and the use of stages as a contingency more than anything. Recreational wreck courses may in fact include all of the above, I don't know, but most probably don't. Anyway, a wreck course where you simply dive on a wreck wouldn't be much a course too me.
 
As a student that took the PADI Wreck Course (And passed) I really appreciated the fact that my Instructor made us look up the history of the wrecks we were diving. At the time I thought it was kind of a pain in the ass, but by looking it up myself I learned about how to do the research and now I know how to go about finding info on other wrecks I might want to dive in the future. He also had us make our own reels. Sounds strange I know, but he was not a fan of the small, thin lines so common on the reels you get at the shop. It became obvious why on our first dive. The vis was horrible and if you didn't have a hand on wreck the surge would send you flying 6-8 feet off. He scrapped the harder stuff and wanted to have us deploy some line straight from bow headed stern, he brought down a standard small reel & line and it got all fouled up in the surge, while the thicker lines we had made ourselves didn't foul or tangle. Mine was made from some soft nylon rope and an extension cord reel and the other 2 students used an extra large extension cord reel and soft nylon rope. The instructor had throughly checked out our stuff before we got in the water to use it.

I guess both of these things are part of a bigger issue really and that is making the students extra pro-active. As a still-learning student and "Someday" Instructor I think it is one thing that cannot be stressed enough regardless of the course.

Hope that is helpful or at least interesting. Good luck!!




 
Hi Guys

Thanks for the advise. Its been helpful listening to what the instructors had to say and just as helpful listening to the students who have done a course, or if they were to do a course what they would like to see in it.

Anyone can teach a course but not everyone can teach a good course and if people are paying good money to spend a weekend with you then you have to make it worth their while.

Thanks again for the advise and if anyone has anything to add please put it down, Im more than happy to listen, and more than happy to learn.

regards

Hocky
 
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