How do I get there from here… Step one on the road to Technical Diving

Here’s a very simple piece of advice if you’re being pressured — by your mates, your instructor, or a little voice inside your head — to sign up for a dive class. BEFORE wasting time and money on another course and its accompanying piece of plastic (or eCard): “GET A PLAN.”

Base that plan on what you want out of diving, and how much of your free time — and disposable income you want to dedicate to your plan.

Also, it will help motivate you if you work towards your goal with a buddy who has similar aspirations. Kinda like having a running mate who you can trust to ignore the rain and the wind, and to meet you at o-dark hundred on winter mornings to jog 10 k.

And finally, be realistic with your schedule. You will be doing yourself a disservice piling training sessions one on top of the other. PACE yourself. There’s no prize for the one who “finishes” first.

(Well, two things about that: there is no finish, at least none I can see. After more than 20 years teaching technical diving, I’m still learning; Secondly, you will grow more and become a better diver by punctuating your dive trips (read “experience gathering expeditions”) with targeted training sessions rather than the other way round. There is certainly no set ratio; everyone is different, but think about starting out by saying for every thousand dollars/pounds/Euros/shiny beads I spend on travel, I’ll put 200 in my training fund piggy bank.)

Okay, so here are ten tips to help you get your plan created:

1. Have a long-term goal in mind. “I wanna dive the Empress of Ireland, the Bianca C, and the MS Mikhail Lermontov; I want to swim the Grand Traverse; I see my future-self on a rebreather at 100 metres taking samples for scientific research; My daughter and I have a trip to Truk Lagoon planned and I wanna be ready, etc.” All perfectly valid goals. Write yours down on a piece of paper and stick it on the fridge door.
2. Create a budget for time and money. Quality training cost money. For many classes with a professional instructor, you should be planning to spend $250 – $350 per person, per day on average. Most classes, complex classes like cave or decompression or basic CCR, can last five or six days. By all means research your choices; get booked with someone you’re happy with, but don’t skimp on money or time.
3. BEWARE of any operation/individual guaranteeing you’ll get certified. Technical certifications are earned not bought, who knows how you’ll do? There are no guarantees you’ll pass; but a good instructor will make sure your experience will be money well-spent.
4. Create a timeline… with waypoint so your progress can be followed. You’ll need help with this. Ask advice. Then get a second or third opinion. The answers will tell you a lot about the instructors/operations/dive shops you ask!
5. Think laterally when searching for help with training (your pathway might take you away from your local dive shop and towards an independent professional, it may take you to the next town or out of the country. So, THINK GLOBAL… it’s make you grow.
6. Ask: Am I ready to have most of what I know about diving, challenged and modified?
7. Am I willing to travel?
8. Do I do well with constructive criticism? Technical instructors are trained and conditioned to pick bad habits apart. The process can be unsettling for a student with “issues.”
9. Are you aware that going deeper, staying longer, breathing different gases, swimming in overhead environments all carry more personal risk of injury, death or worse?
10. And finally, you need to understand and appreciate that some forms of diving are addictive. They will take over your life. Are you ready for that?

 

Good luck and “Dive Safe!”