Instructor training - so many choices!

[Dharker]

old8oy I would guess that I count as intermediate, in all but understanding what people are saying to me, great with the reading and ok with speaking but listening not so. I'm really excited about spending some real time learning.

Me and my other half got trapped on Palawan in the Philippines, no boats or planes flying out for 10 days and it freaked me a bit. Since then, I visit islands, but as far as spending months there I'd just rather do it on the main land - always fun to be irrational whenever you can

Utila is meant to be a lot of fun, which I think is the other thing, I'm a bit of a mardy git at times and not really a 'party' type person, so I think Utila might be wasted on me.

I went to Costa Rica and Panama for 3 weeks in the summer, some really cool places.

 

[old8oy]

ha ha ha...I'm the same. Hablo mas lo que entiendo, porsupuesto. Listening is difficult, the worst place being the Colombian coast...even south americans we hung out with hardly understood los costeños.

I've spent a lot of time in the Philippines, especially Coron near Palawan; a great country.

I'm not looking to be partying all the time, either...a bit'd be nice, but not every night. Finding a hot latina and spending nights indoors sounds like a better idea to me.

I've been to the Panamanian border with Colombia (Capurgana and Sapzurro...stunning) last year, but looking forward to seeing the country proper. Mail me any nice places to go when you have time, please?

 

[Peter Guy]

Dharker -- if you found Dive Aventuras interesting, why not just email them, tell them what you'd like to do and ask what they can do for you? As I wrote, it is not an instructor factory, but, to the contrary, simply a resort dive shop with a PADI CD as the owner and who wants to develop an IDC program. My guess is that things could be flexible -- just ask.

 

[openmindOW]

I did my OW in the UK in Feb years ago and my face went blue, fun, but given the choice I'd rather do all water based stuff somewhere sunny.

Understood. For TDI and PADI, Nitrox is a class-room only course.

Of course, you don't ahve to get wet for Oxygen Administration , CPR or First Aid. So, I recommend knocking those out while you're home. Besides, they're great classses even for peopel who are not thinking of becoming Instructors.

BSAC may have classes. Your local dive shop or hospital or volunteer ambulance squad may also offer courses.

. . . I really want to go somewhere where the first language is Spanish so that I can get my Spanish up to a fluent level.

You might be surprised by how much Spanish is spoken in southern Florida.

So if it were you, would you do your training all in one place, or two or three others?

I'd do as much at home as I could: CPR: Nitrox, etc.

I'd also do some of the academic reading at home. I'd get the books for Rescue and start the academic work.

Just my opinion.

 

[boulderjohn]

This may be somewhat helpful--or maybe not. You judge.

I was certified years ago in Puerto Vallarta, through a shop that I was assured was the biggest and best in the area. That was 12 years ago, and I am not sure how much has changed. I just checked and the shop is still in operation. I can't remember well enough to identify how many standards violations took place in my training. I think I can name about 10, but I'm not sure. I can tell you that my total pool experience was a couple hours long in a pool with a maximum depth of 5 feet, which means I did not do a hover. I am sure I did no swim tests, no underwater compass navigation, and no CESA. I can name others.

I did a week of diving a number of years ago with Dive Aventuras in Puerto Aventura. It remains one of the most professional dive operators with whom I have ever worked.

 

[openmindOW]

Dive Aventuras is nice. I've dove with them in the past. I stayed at the Omni, which is the resort on site. You can rent condominiums there, which would be a more affordable option then saying in the Omni.

About 4 years ago, two American retirees were owners. A husband and wife team. I don't know if they still own it.

 

[Dharker]

@peterguy - I will email today. I've emailed so many people over these last 3 months that I think I was just feeling a little lazy.

@openmindedow I am going to book myself onto a first aid course before I go, and I'm looking into some other bits that you've said cheers. And I have a fish id book and I've started swatting up on that.

@old8oy went diving with scuba diving Coiba Panama bucear Coiba Panamá tauchen Coiba Panama it was expensive, but it was a couple of great dives. Loved seeing the fresh water croc, thankfully, that was on the island during a break rather than in the water. Other than that we did general tourist things, I liked going to see the canal. I would have loved to go to the Derian but didn't have time this time. Cheers

 

[openmindOW]

Dharker, good luck.

Above all else, I urge you to raise above the standards. Our industry has uneven results in terms of the quality of the Instructors we produce.

See the minimum standards as a floor. Go beyond. Learn Nitrox, very good CPR and First Aid skills, Oxygen Administration, and some specialized skills. Become excellent.

Make yourself an expert in dive theory.

Below are a few good texts. (Sorry for the US-centered texts, but it's waht I know.):

- NOAA Dive Manual (NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)

- US Navy Dive Manual. The Royal Navy probably has a very good one as well.

- PADI Encyclopedia of Diving. (I criticize PADi, but I like this text)

- 100 SCUBA quizzes by Dennis Graver.

- PADI Diving Knowledge Workbook.

You can get a lot of the academic work done at home.

Buena suerte.

 

[Dillo]

to old80y - did you go to Utila for your IDC yet? And what did you think of AP and the IDC?