What is the future of GUE?
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PfcAJ
Contributor
I just think it's a bit inaccurate to say there's no one to dive with, that's all.
seeker242
Contributor
We are lucky up here as we have several GUE projects on the go, some exploration dives, as well as Wednesday evening dives (usually rec profiles, scooters). Weekends are tech 1/2 profiles. Great mix of rec and tech guys.
There are some FB group with GUE members and I am fustrated to see that there are not many active GUE french diver around. I checked GUE Schedule Class page I do see a lot of upcoming classes for Recreational / Technical, mostly Cave1/Cave2 diving (Gramat-Lot) and I am surprised I do not see anymore Stephane Paziente teaching in France ... Of course this might be set by request but I checked again all Stephane Paziente' courses are done in Belgium or Italy. And I remember for sure that more Rec/Fundies courses were available in France last time I checked.
A (french) GUE diver from Norway comes to live in France soon and he will not have any active GUE diver around to dive often with. I am not talking about to have dozens divers into each big city where scuba activity can be done but having few weekend per year can be great. I don't see that a lot on FB event or other social network to promote GUE in France.
Of course you can dive with any other divers but (I'm not yet GUE diver) is it the same feeling ?
- You have to explain what is GUE
- You have to make an evaluation try dive to check if the level is good enough for them
- You have not the "same" gear so how will it work for rescue or other things
- etc...
Can you practice some specific skills with divers who have not been enrolled into a GUE class ?
What's the point to enroll into a 'more' expensive courses and gear if you cannot dive a lot - for a team-based philosophy this is kinda hard when you do not have GUE divers around who got the same training or you have to make hundreds kilometers or move to another country to dive.
Also what is the future of Recreational courses ?
Cause I do see more Fundies Full-Part1-Part2 than Rec1-Rec2-Rec3 courses.
A (french) GUE diver from Norway comes to live in France soon and he will not have any active GUE diver around to dive often with. I am not talking about to have dozens divers into each big city where scuba activity can be done but having few weekend per year can be great. I don't see that a lot on FB event or other social network to promote GUE in France.
Of course you can dive with any other divers but (I'm not yet GUE diver) is it the same feeling ?
- You have to explain what is GUE
- You have to make an evaluation try dive to check if the level is good enough for them
- You have not the "same" gear so how will it work for rescue or other things
- etc...
Can you practice some specific skills with divers who have not been enrolled into a GUE class ?
What's the point to enroll into a 'more' expensive courses and gear if you cannot dive a lot - for a team-based philosophy this is kinda hard when you do not have GUE divers around who got the same training or you have to make hundreds kilometers or move to another country to dive.
Also what is the future of Recreational courses ?
Cause I do see more Fundies Full-Part1-Part2 than Rec1-Rec2-Rec3 courses.
Last edited:
KevinNM
Contributor
I was told by a US Rec (and tech) instructor that, in the US, Rec 1 is almost exclusively run for the kids or non-diving friends of GUE tech divers. I'm not sure that is true outside the US.
The recent addition of more Rec type classes and reducing the requirements to be a rec 1 instructor seem to show an organizational focus on rec diving. Whether that is good or bad remains to be seen.
The recent addition of more Rec type classes and reducing the requirements to be a rec 1 instructor seem to show an organizational focus on rec diving. Whether that is good or bad remains to be seen.
AJ
Contributor
In the Netherlands I know of some instructors who try to position Rec 1/w as an alternative to PADI and SSI OW/AOW. Problem is the course duration and cost. To new divers it seems quite an investment in time and price. PADI and SSI done a good job marketing wise by breaking up their courses in small packages. In the end the GUE Rec path may even be cheaper, but it does not seem that way to new divers.
Same goes for Tech and Cave. IANTD and PADI/SSI is'nt cheaper at all, but looks that way beacuse course are broken up.
Same goes for Tech and Cave. IANTD and PADI/SSI is'nt cheaper at all, but looks that way beacuse course are broken up.
Must be nice! I wish south florida had a community like that.
I'm Facebookally-challenged because I already spend too much time here on SB and rely on my wife to keep us connected online, but as someone mentioned, there are GUE FB groups--though I'm not sure about the US southeast specifically. Are you on the GUE mailing list?--I think it comes with GUE membership. There are always emails from people looking for teammates and classmates. It's very cool to see what people are doing. It would be refreshing to see a call for teammates to do GUE-ish rec dives in S FL. This weekend I'm doing just that in Morehead City, NC with some people I randomly ran into at Blue Grotto a few months ago.
More generally, as others pointed out, I like the camaraderie and networking. There are relatively few of us, but there's a network to help keep us connected.
There is a global FB page which hosts a lot of good people. For regional I know of Seattle and BC. There's one for LA. There just has to be more.
Dave Bevan
Contributor
There isn't a single other GUE diver in the country I live in. So I feel that making training more accessible to recreational divers is a great idea.
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