was a wonderful experience. First, if you get a chance to go to SeaVentures and stay, it's spartan, but the food is good, the staff are A+, and the house reef is literally the best I've dove in my travels (which include Anilao, Puerto Galera, Kenting, and Saipan among them).
But more to my real point is that I decided I wanted to spend this trip training, specifically to get started into Tec training with Tec40. I'm still short of 200 dives, but I've followed a pretty reasonable progression of training (yeah, I'm lucky, I can afford to pay for it), and people can knock on PADI, but the step-by-step progression I've followed has slowly over 145 dives prepare for the classes I took which were Tec40, Self-Reliant, and Cavern.
But, lest you think that they were taught in typical 'resort' fashion, I'll be clear, I studied and swam my butt off. I was held to high standards for my diving, my planning, and my underwater awareness of gas, time, and depth. Toughest week of my life, and made OW and AOW feel like a cake walk.
But my instructor was a great guy, very patient, challenged me, pushed me, and was very frank in his assessments and debriefs.
I guess I throw this out there because I've always been the kind who believes you need to always be learning, always improving, and that diving is really a 'serious' hobby/sport/pastime.
I'm a former military aviator, and I guess that part of me thinks that at every opportunity I can learn new technical skills, I can make my recreational diving experiences that much better.
The other thing I learned though is that although I 'thought' I was a well trained diver, there were some critical 'holes' in my diving skills that needed filling, and where I'll continue to practice and train as I go forward. And for newbies starting out, I'd recommend you go thru your OW manual and really push your instructor to give you your money's worth and expand your knowledge as much as possible.
Sure, you can get certified, and be safe enough to flop off a boat in Cozumel or Honolulu, but there are wonders along a wall like I dove at Siapdan at 30-40 meters that you won't be prepared for (or the potential risks) if you don't grow with your hobby.
Just my 2 cents.
But more to my real point is that I decided I wanted to spend this trip training, specifically to get started into Tec training with Tec40. I'm still short of 200 dives, but I've followed a pretty reasonable progression of training (yeah, I'm lucky, I can afford to pay for it), and people can knock on PADI, but the step-by-step progression I've followed has slowly over 145 dives prepare for the classes I took which were Tec40, Self-Reliant, and Cavern.
But, lest you think that they were taught in typical 'resort' fashion, I'll be clear, I studied and swam my butt off. I was held to high standards for my diving, my planning, and my underwater awareness of gas, time, and depth. Toughest week of my life, and made OW and AOW feel like a cake walk.
But my instructor was a great guy, very patient, challenged me, pushed me, and was very frank in his assessments and debriefs.
I guess I throw this out there because I've always been the kind who believes you need to always be learning, always improving, and that diving is really a 'serious' hobby/sport/pastime.
I'm a former military aviator, and I guess that part of me thinks that at every opportunity I can learn new technical skills, I can make my recreational diving experiences that much better.
The other thing I learned though is that although I 'thought' I was a well trained diver, there were some critical 'holes' in my diving skills that needed filling, and where I'll continue to practice and train as I go forward. And for newbies starting out, I'd recommend you go thru your OW manual and really push your instructor to give you your money's worth and expand your knowledge as much as possible.
Sure, you can get certified, and be safe enough to flop off a boat in Cozumel or Honolulu, but there are wonders along a wall like I dove at Siapdan at 30-40 meters that you won't be prepared for (or the potential risks) if you don't grow with your hobby.
Just my 2 cents.