GUE Fundies - where should I do it?

[Dogbowl]

I see your location as Toronto. There is a stong GUE community in Ontario, I believe relatively close to you in the Kingston area. Steve Blanchard and Jen Bush teach there and both are excellent instructors. The wreck diving in the St Lawrence is phenomenal with water temps around 68F/20C.

Thanks for the info, but its too cold here to do the course in my wetsuit, even in the St. Lawrence.

 

[KevinNM]

How long it takes depends to a large part on what the student wants. Though I was told that highly experienced instructors tend to be more comfortable with shorter classes (meaning 4 days for the course). I’ve seen 6 day courses. No idea what the ‘standard’ is.

 

[wKkaY]

Just throwing out another option for you - I did fundies in Bali with Living Seas (Leon Boey) a few years ago together with my wife. Your goals sound similar to mine at the time. After the course, stay awhile and do some diving around Bali. They will be incredibly relaxing and simple dives compared to the 5 days of fundies before

 

[PfcAJ]

I'm thinking GUE fundies might be in my future, just don't know when, where or with whom. I would like to do it in a single tank and wetsuit, as I'm a warm water vacation diver. The reason I want to do it is to improve trim, buoyancy, situational awareness and team skills with my buddy/hubby. We suck as a buddy team (but don't tell him that!)

So I'm thinking of the following 3 places to do the course:

1. Florida/Extreme Exposure
2. Mexico/Zero Gravity
3. Bonaire/Buddy Dive

I suspect that there are pros and cons of each of these places, but they're only guesses really. For example, in Florida, will I freeze my a$$ off in a wetsuit when in the springs for prolonged periods of time? I want to concentrate on doing my skills not shivering. So just trying to pick a location that will be conducive to my learning (comfortably).

I suspect people might suggest the instructor is the most important factor in deciding where to go. If that's the case, I'm looking for a firm, knowledgeable, experienced but PATIENT instructor. I am not God's gift to diving and I don't take eye rolls and egos too well.

Any thoughts?

Really any of those are good choices. It’s gunna be spendy no matter what coming from Canada.

In Florida, Doug Mudry, Kathy Dicker, Kyle Harmon, and Mark Messersmith all run good courses and are good peeps. I’ve personally seen them teach either full classes or part(s) of a class and I wouldn’t hesistste to send anyone to any of those instructors. While I have not seen Merideth teach, I know her pretty well from diving with the WKPP and I think she would do a good job, too.

 

[_Ralph]

Jenns actually down in the Niagara area now

_R

 

[foob]

Meredith was my instructor. I teach something else (not scuba), and I was very very impressed with her instruction.

 

[Dogbowl]

Very grateful to all for the recommendations and suggestions!

Practically speaking, it would be nice to do it locally, considering possibilities for ongoing mentoring, diving, etc. But at this point, I'm not interested in going all out with learning drysuit and doing the Fundies in it, so I'll probably need to do the course somewhere warm.

I didn't think of going as far as Bali to do it, but why not, eh?

If I do it somewhere "cooler", like Florida springs, mainland US, or even Mexican cenotes, I suspect I will want to wear a minimum 7mm with hood and thick boots, or a semi-dry.

 

[rivers]

If you want to stay in the North/Central America area I will recommend Osama Gobara. He teaches with the guys at Zero Gravity, but I did fundies with him when he was UK/Europe based. Excellent instructor, really calming personality.

 

[Flotsam]

This past weekend, I wore my 7mm with a 5/3 hood in the springs (68-72F) and was pretty happy. I get cold very easily, so it would depend on your cold tolerance. Also, how active you are during class. I'm usually just floating around looking at wet rocks (well, practicing buoyancy/finning)

 

[KevinNM]

Meredith was my instructor. I teach something else (not scuba), and I was very very impressed with her instruction.

I am very happy with Meridith. She’s encouraging and helpful even when she’s pointing out your flaws. Like every other GUE instructor I have worked with she has pretty high standards she wants you to meet, but will help you to get there.