Brand new OW diver - PADI or GUE to progress?

[salmon_ella]

Hi! I'm a brand new baby PADI OW diver (just got certified on the 19th) and already looking at options to progress in my diving career. My eventual goal is wreck/light tech diving. Others in my group (my husband who certified with me, a friend who is certified and Nitrox certified, and his wife who is working on her cert) have similar wreck/deep aspirations. We're already started with PADI but I like some of the things I've heard about GUE's emphasis on skills & teamwork (I was a little disappointed in how fast we seemed to blow through the skills...) Any recommendations based on those goals?

 

[KatieMac]

Do you have a GUE shop near you?

 

[salmon_ella]

Do you have a GUE shop near you?

Closest instructor appears to be in Seattle, we're in Portland. I'm willing to travel a bit for quality education.

 

[Nomad-Diver]

Closest instructor appears to be in Seattle, we're in Portland. I'm willing to travel a bit for quality education.

Note that the education is not just in the shop, for 'a course'. The key is diving with a GUE team after the course. The availability of local, compatibly-minded buddies is what will be more critical

 

[salmon_ella]

Note that the education is not just in the shop, for 'a course'. The key is diving with a GUE team after the course. The availability of local, compatibly-minded buddies is what will be more critical

I'm likely to be diving with the aforementioned group of four in two buddy teams. We are all planning to train together in whatever form that ends up taking.

 

[Efka76]

Congratulations with your certification. Also, it is nice to hear that you want to proceed with your education. By reading your story it reminds my story as well. I am a bit more advanced in diving education. So, I wanted to tell you my way of thinking regarding diving education.

I got certified last December. I was lucky that I had a very thorough instructor who spend with me and my wife almost 5 days before we got PADI OW certifications. However, this is only a beginning of journey and definitely you need to train more. From my experience I can tell you that PADI AOW certification is a bit of joke..... you just do 5 different dives with bunch of other people and you get this certification. I saw a bit more value in specialty certifications.

1) Nitrox - this is a must specialty because without it you will not get Nitrox fills. Also, theory for basic nitrox is rather easy to understand.
2) PADI Deep - it opens you depth up to 40 meters. Also, some liveaboards require this certification as some dives are going to be deeper than 30 m. So, my advice to you. Get Deep and Nitrox certifications.
3) Wreck - you mentioned that you like wrecks. For me it was a bit different.... I prefer coral fishes instead of wrecks However, wreck specialty was quite interesting as I got opportunity to try new and learn new skills (especially related to wreck penetration.
4) Night diving - no need for this specialty, however, definitely it is worth diving at night as you can see completely different view, fishes and creatures that are hiding during day time. I have got this certification as I like collecting cards
5) Underwater naturalist - no need for this specialty, however, I really liked theory and to find out about classification of fauna and flora.

After one month I will be taking Rescue diver course and I would like to get some skills how to rescue myself or assist my buddy in case of emergency. Also, will be taking Drift and Sear & Recovery courses as I curriculum is quite interesting to me. If I have time I will take Oxygen provider course as this would be like a supplement to my Rescue diver class.

After these classes I will get PADI Master Scuba Diver certification (however, the name is of such cert. is a bit misleading..... person with 50 dives and few training courses is definitely not a MASTER Diver )

After that I intend enrollment into TDI courses like: Sidemount, Intro to Tech (this is a bit similar to Gue Fundies... but not the same course), Advanced Nitrox + Deco, Cavern). After these courses I will have some light introduction to technical diving. I guess I skip further technical diving training (maybe will de trimix and extended range courses in the future) as full cave or advanced trimix courses seems way above my internal risk perception limits.

Regarding GUE Fundies there are 2 general opinions: 1) You should start them as soon as possible as you will learn broper propulsion, buoyancy and trim from the beginning... it is easier for instructor to teach you from beginning as you do not have any bad diving habits yet 2) You should have maybe few hundred dives under your belt and then to take Fundies... than you will be able to easily master appropriate skills. I do not know which route is better as I have not taken Fundies course yet.

I hope that my story will be useful to you and you will get some ideas how to proceed with your own diving education.

 

[Efka76]

Also, wanted to tell you that GUE courses above GUE Fundies are very tough and there are a lot of requisites that you have to comply.... such as non-smoker, not overweight, good swimmer and etc. I can not even enroll into GUE tech courses as I have overweight When I was talking to some tech instructors they told that they can not enroll into GUE as they are smokers

At least for me there is a perception that GUE is a top of the top diving certification agency which has very high standards and does not want to be associated with average Joe / Jane

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Hi! I'm a brand new baby PADI OW diver (just got certified on the 19th) and already looking at options to progress in my diving career. My eventual goal is wreck/light tech diving. Others in my group (my husband who certified with me, a friend who is certified and Nitrox certified, and his wife who is working on her cert) have similar wreck/deep aspirations. We're already started with PADI but I like some of the things I've heard about GUE's emphasis on skills & teamwork (I was a little disappointed in how fast we seemed to blow through the skills...) Any recommendations based on those goals?

If you are in Oregon, you could seek GUE training from 8 (8diving.com). The Seattle GUE community is a strong one. Often you have two GUE instructors co-teaching fundies. Sometimes Guy Shockey and Liz Tribe come down from Vancouver BC to team up with Alex Adolfi and Kees Leverenz.

I would HIGHLY encourage you to go this route. My biggest mistake was not taking fundies earlier. Don't worry about certification, just focus on learning. It will give you a really solid foundation to build upon.

 

[Ouvea]

If you don't mind travelling to California, there is also a strong GUE presence in the Monterey area, although I do believe Seattle is far closer to you. GUE courses are not at all like PADI courses. You will spend an egregious amount of time practicing in confined waters and have follow up classroom lectures. If I recall during my Fundamentals course, we arrived at the pool around 08:00 and did not leave until 17:00-18:00 (end of lectures and review of the day's progress/skills). I have yet to see a Fundamentals class that exceeded a 3 to 1 student to instructor ratio. Yes, the courses are more expensive but you have more training time and more training time with the instructor.

What exactly are you going to learn in the Fundamentals course? You will learn about horizontal trim, command of your position in the water column in horizontal trim, new propulsion techniques (frog, flutter, helicopter, reverse kicks), how to deal with some emergency scenarios and most important, how to "plan a dive" a dive in terms of nitrogen loading and gas consumption. Realize that after taking the course, you haven't mastered anything. You will have a good understanding of team diving, efficient movement in the water and have the tools improve your skills. The new diver has a far easier time assimilating this information, as they do not have to "unlearn long formed habits and in truth and letting go of a great deal of "ego/machismo."

However, GUE's required equipment configuration conforms to DIR standards. That means using a backplate/wing for a BCD. Your primary second stage must have a 7ft hose with the alternate second stage on a shorter (22/24 inch hose). If you have already purchased a traditional jacket or back/inflate BCD, it requires quite a bit of investment in new gear. I loved my Apollo Bio Fins, but I did have to surrender them and migrate to Scubapro Jet style fin. Also, USE YOUR DIVE COMPUTER!!! It's a wonderful tool to verify and monitor your dive plan. Hope this helps.

 

[johnkendall]

If you've got to the point of asking this question, then get training from GUE. The fundamentals class is an incredible way of increasing your capability and confidence.
Get in touch with the guys in Seattle, they will gladly help you, and you can't go wrong with any of them. Just be upfront and explain your situation, and discuss with them the best way forward. There is a great deal of sumour out there about GUE, most of it exaggerated. For example, the post higher up about Tech classes and fitness. We do require a certain level of fitness for all our classes, but the swim tests for most of the classes are not that arduous. We do have a ban on smoking however (and personally I wouldn't trust a diving instructor, who *did* smoke)
I would happily answer any direct questions you have, but would advise getting in touch with Alex, Kees, or any of the others who are regularly in the Seattle area.

Thanks
John