Intro to Tek; Which agency?

I have been looking into taking an Intro to Tek/Fundamentals/Essentials class to nail down the basic skills that are required to advance into more technical diving. From doing some reading here I know that if I wanted to take further classes from GUE I would have to have taken the Fundamentals class, although I'm not sure that I will need to take any further classes from GUE. I live in Southern California, so no caves here. From what I understand we've got lots of good wreckdiving around here.

So, is there difference in what procedures/equipment configuration is taught from the TDI/IANDT/ANDI or NAUI TECH curriculums? Is the GUE Fundies class a good idea to take even if I dont plan on taking another GUE class in the future? For GUE in San Diego there's Marc Hall. In Los Angeles there's Karim Hamza or Steve Milington.

I've also heard some good things about Robin Jacoway in San Diego (TDI/IANDT/ANDI?) but I havent talked to anyone who has specifically taken an Intro to Tek class with him. Thanks in advance for your insights.

I'd HIGHLY recommend GUE Fundamentals. It's a wonderful class, with tips and procedures that will stick with you no matter where your future diving takes you. We have some very good GUE instructors locally. If you'd like a specific recommendation, feel free to PM me.

I really don't think you could go wrong with Fundies.

Also there's more to GUE training that "just caves". I am planning on following their "Tech" curriculum, since caves, (at least right now), hold little interest for me, but (deep) wrecks, now you're talking!

Fundamentals is a good class, and Steve Millington is getting rave reviews from the folks who have taken classes from him. I haven't talked to anyone who has taken a class from Marc, but I have dived with him, and he is a nice man. The advantage of Fundamentals is that you can review the standards and criteria for evaluation ahead of time, and you know exactly what you are supposed to learn and be able to do, and how it will be evaluated. In addition, if you DO like the instruction you get, you can continue into the GUE technical curriculum. If you decide to go with another agency, I can guarantee you you won't be sad you took Fundamentals beforehand -- my friend Rick inman ended up doing all his technical training with IANTD, and his instructor told him he thought Fundies was the best thing Rick could have done in preparation.

GUE has a more prescriptive gear configuration than the other agencies, but it is quite similar to NAUI's and to MOST setups taught by instructors for other agencies, so any adjustments would be likely to be minor.

I'm not sure if I can answer your question, but I can highly recommend Steve Millington after taking his GUE Primer course last weekend. He's a fantastic instructor and very patient and he stresses the FUN of diving. I would imagine Fundamentals would be an excellent prep for any Tech course, but I'm sure they all have slightly different prerequisites.

Some good feedback/inputs form the posters before. The important thing is to get the "right" instructor, agency does not matter. I have only heard good things about GUE. I can from personal experience also recommend an agency, but don't know instructors in your part of the world.

A good instructor is far more important in technical diving.
As for GUE which is NOT everyone cup of tea, certainly not mine.
I went for IANTD. Still have an IANTD book with a GUE guru picture on it. He was IANTD instructor then.