Recommend a technical diving instructor in the Houston TX area?
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Eric Keibler is an advisory board member of IANTD, and has been teaching tech in Houston longer than all but one guy. You can find him at Oceanic Ventures on Bissonet. Go in and meet him and see if his style matches yours. Chuck Noe has been a cave diver for a hundred years, and teaching about that long. He runs Airtex in Houston. He may not be taking students any longer. He is very cave oriented, and may not teach wreck, or anything salty. Tom Anderson owns and teaches at Island Divers in Galveston. He's been diving and teaching as long as I was in Houston (about 15 years) for The Ocean Corp. He teaches mixed gas to commercial divers. He has access to some of the big wrecks in the world that it is otherwise hard to get access to.
Your best bet is to go meet the guys at CHUM, the City of Houston Underwater Mariners at their meetings third Thursday of the month at the Stag's Head. Many of them are tech divers, and they all have definite opinions about Houston shops. I did not pursue my tech training in Houston, I went someplace where they tech dive. That would be South Florida or Florida (or Mexico) Cave country, depending on your desires and wishes. Doing your AN/DP/Normoxic training in Lake Travis is silly, a waste of time, and doesn't prepare you for any real world diving, unless you plan on diving a pecan grove for the rest of your life.
Not to forget - Carl Griffing. Carl teaches out of Maximum Scuba, which is somewhere, Webster, maybe? They opened after I left. Anyway, I don't know if I'd call Carl "Elite", but I don't really know what you mean by elite, anyway. Carl is a good solid instructor and is very prolific. That means, you won't be waiting forever for a colass, one should be starting just about when you are ready to take it. Carl teaches mainly in Florida cave country, so if it's wrecks and salty water you are interested in, he can easily get with you on the Oriskany.
Your best bet is to go meet the guys at CHUM, the City of Houston Underwater Mariners at their meetings third Thursday of the month at the Stag's Head. Many of them are tech divers, and they all have definite opinions about Houston shops. I did not pursue my tech training in Houston, I went someplace where they tech dive. That would be South Florida or Florida (or Mexico) Cave country, depending on your desires and wishes. Doing your AN/DP/Normoxic training in Lake Travis is silly, a waste of time, and doesn't prepare you for any real world diving, unless you plan on diving a pecan grove for the rest of your life.
Not to forget - Carl Griffing. Carl teaches out of Maximum Scuba, which is somewhere, Webster, maybe? They opened after I left. Anyway, I don't know if I'd call Carl "Elite", but I don't really know what you mean by elite, anyway. Carl is a good solid instructor and is very prolific. That means, you won't be waiting forever for a colass, one should be starting just about when you are ready to take it. Carl teaches mainly in Florida cave country, so if it's wrecks and salty water you are interested in, he can easily get with you on the Oriskany.
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+1 fpr Carl Griffing ... he assisted with some of my cave classes, and I've had the pleasure of diving with him since. Very solid diver, instructor, and person who I'd happily recommend ... he's also a member here (Phreatic Fanatic) ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
+Another one for Carl! I took AOW and Nitorx with him and found him to be a very good instructor. Maximum Scuba has been easy to deal with and very honest. They now have two location one on Richmond Ave. and another in Sea Brook.
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+1 for Tom Anderson! I have talked with a few of his students (tech and rec) They have all said his classes were one of the best they have taken. I will be doing my tech training with him in the near future. Island divers is also my regular LDS Tom and his wife run it. I would highly recommended them.
This is their phone number 409-621-2010 if you are interested
This is their phone number 409-621-2010 if you are interested
divejay
Contributor
Eric Keibler at Oceanic Ventures has is own full service dive shop and is a top notch instructor. He has busy Houston dive shop because he is the best.
It has always bothered me when an instructor works out of his house or another dive shop.
It has always bothered me when an instructor works out of his house or another dive shop.
- Messages
- 93,281
- Reaction score
- 91,315
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
kotik
Contributor
Add another vote for Carl Griffing, I strongly recommend that you contact him if you're considering technical training. I've taken several classes from him and am currently working on getting the next ones scheduled.
He teaches cave, wreck and technical classes so any bases you're interested in should be covered. He has an 'alphabet soup' of agencies he's able to teach from, so he would be able to work with you quite a bit if you have any preferences. He's extremely knowledgeable and an excellent diver, and he's an excellent teacher.
The conventional wisdom is that you should take a little time to talk to potential instructors beforehand for technical training and try to find the best fit for your learning style and personality. I'd say this is sound advice-- definitely make sure Carl's in the list of those you talk to.
I would warn you... if someone starts telling you how "elite" they are, I'm hoping your BS meter is in good working order. Those that are really worth the name aren't likely to say it, they'll have the experience and ability to show it.
And hopefully we'll see each other sometime soon in sunny Florida, or Coz, or ??...
Eric
He teaches cave, wreck and technical classes so any bases you're interested in should be covered. He has an 'alphabet soup' of agencies he's able to teach from, so he would be able to work with you quite a bit if you have any preferences. He's extremely knowledgeable and an excellent diver, and he's an excellent teacher.
The conventional wisdom is that you should take a little time to talk to potential instructors beforehand for technical training and try to find the best fit for your learning style and personality. I'd say this is sound advice-- definitely make sure Carl's in the list of those you talk to.
I would warn you... if someone starts telling you how "elite" they are, I'm hoping your BS meter is in good working order. Those that are really worth the name aren't likely to say it, they'll have the experience and ability to show it.
And hopefully we'll see each other sometime soon in sunny Florida, or Coz, or ??...
Eric
Many independent instructors are very capable and enthusiastic diverswho have a passion for diving as well as teaching andsharing their love of the sport.
Some shop based instructors are doing it just to earn a living and need to teach to a minimum standard just to be competetive in an industry where you can now charge $180 fora 30 minute nitrox course. Some of the best instructors out there don't do this asvtheir main employment, myself included.
Moonglow
Contributor
Being affiliated with a shop goes a long way though, allowing access to shop equipment, rentals, service, daily customers, dive club, travel, industry networking, etc.
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