Advanced Wreck Course

[TexasMike]

I agree with Walter.

I too desire to get trained on Wreck Penetration, and consider a local tech diving guru to be a good "barometer" on when I am ready to start training. Marc knows of my desires, but based on our discussions, we've kinda determined that actual wreck penetration should be another 2 years (been certified less than one) and many, many, MANY dives down the road. It's okay to do views from the outside, but anything beyond looking inside of a hole with my dive light is out of bounds.

And I agree. Even though I have many dives under my weight belt already, I am still learning key lessons that are going to save my butt one day (see my latest Possum Kingdom dive report in the Texas section).

Egg007, I can understand your enthusiasm, but I encourage you to slow down. We want you to be around for a while.

 

[egg007]

yep you guys are right I am taking your advice i will not take wreck penetration until i bounce it again in this forum with many more dives under my belt.

 

[Frog]

Hi again Egg007

Let me say first that Walter is spot on when he says that the AOW cert doesnt make you an advanced diver, far from it, without experience. I am aiming to be a cave diver in time, although i only have 30 or so dives logged ( my certs are PADI AOW and wreck specialty). Whether it be caves, wrecks or ANY other overhead environments you need to be a faultless openwater diver for a start. I read from 2 different sources that less than 1% of the diving community have the skills and dedication to be become a cave diver. Alot of people see wreck penetration as more dangerous than cave diving because of the "state" of some of the wrecks out there, most of them are just so unstable and unpredictable.

I go oceandiving now every weekend just about, and i am sick of staring at a wreck but not being able to get inside and have a look around. But ill just have to wait. I am counting on around at least 150-200 dives before i start training for overhead environments and i recommend the same for you, believe me when i say i am a capable diver. In addition, even if you have 500 dives but you dont dive regularly then you may never be ready to tackle overhead environments. Egg ill be going over to GUE in Florida to take my tech and cave training although i live in England, you should check them out, and the DIR philosophy at http://www.gue.com

 

[dsquid]

Why don't you spend a year accumulating external wreck survey dives (of varying depths and locations) before worrying about penetrating them? What's the hurry?
There's nothing in there that won't be in there a year or two from now, and then you'll be experienced enough
to warrant the advanced training.

 

[scubakat]

Egg, see this thread about the AD. and take a look at the GUE FAQ. Do you meet their minimum standards?

-kate

 

[keralucu]

Egg - I am nowhere near as experienced as any of these guys, and I would love to do wreck and cave diving, but after (only) 25 dives and in the middle of my AOW course, I still do not feel confident enough in myself to do these courses just yet. I have completed PADI's peak performance buoyancy which I thought was a very effective course, however I'd still give myself several more dives to get my hovering just right, not to mention the impossibly difficult swimming backwards (!! who would have thought it could be so hard?) before even thinking about going into a wreck. But then that's just me and my $0.02.

Consider it carefully...
and dive safe

 

[socaldiver]

Egg I would like to echo the sentiments of my fellow board members. It would probably be in your best interest to slow down and enjoy the beauty of our waterworld.

I would also like to mention one other thing that would be IMHO paramount before trying to do wreck penetrations and that would be to gain a lot of experience wearing a 7 mil wetsuit and a drysuit. Big dif in warm water dives than cold dark waters.

 

[Lost Yooper]

It was my impression that PADI's wreck course did not include penetration, but I could be wrong. If it does, I'd be scared. It is my opinion that most recreational divers are not properly equiped for significant pentration diving. I agree with Frog that GUE will be your best bet for quality penetration training.

 

[TexasMike]

LY...

When I do my NC Wreck diving trip in October (check out http://www.ncwreckdiving.com) I plan on working to get my c-card in this. And from what Kamela the trip organizer/charter owner tells me about the course, the PADI wreck cert does not allow penetration at all, but mostly how to handle diving on a wreck and moving about it safely.

Penetrating a wreck should come after one has been thoroughly check out for overhead environments (cavern/intro cave at minimum).

 

[Lost Yooper]

You'll get more from using common sense than you'll get from many of those basic PADI type classes. If it makes you feel comfortable to pay someone $200 to have someone say stay away from nets and cables then go ahead and be comfortable. I'd recommend spending the moola on 3 or 4 wreck charters and go diving. You'll probably learn as much or more in the water than in those type of classes.

Mike