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Very true words, there is no organization in this world without bad apples in it, and so instructor quality can truly make or break the experience! No matter how good a course can be, a bad instructor can leave you taking away nothing.

I'm not too sure if the commercial route to be honest. Maybe a commercial diver can better answer this, I am curious, though!

Haha, and I did buy a halcyon back plate and wing. But I can attest while GUE does has standards for their gear and how it should be used, they don't upsell Halcyon explicitly. At least my instructor was very clear that GUE does not directly tell yo7 what brand to buy. Halcyon just is GUE standard by default. Another fellow in our course was not using Halcyon gear and ours were rentals so at least I can say GUE is not pushing Halcyon. At least from my experience. But it is anecdotal, I can say I had a fantastic instructor.

You hit the nail on the head, that's why I recommended the specific courses in the order I gave in the video. I do feel GUE does what they do extremely well, and I think most divers will find GUE Fundamentals invaluable. To that end PADI and SSI tend to be a bit more recognized and easier to approach (some might say that's for the worst). I think the agencies have different target audiences and I think GUE Fundamentals is worth doing for everyone but from there, folks will tend to know which way they want to lean after that. Definitely agree regardless of the agency that its worth getting to know the instructor beforehand as that does indeed make or break the experience regardless of agency! Thank you for your comment!

I appreciate the shout out! GUE is a great path to take if you're leaning into the fundamentals and more technical aspects of diving. One drawback would be is finding certain parts of the world may not recognize GUE certifications (they are not as widely established) so you might still be pushed to nitrox at least from a different more recognized organization. Regardless, GUE Fundamentals is invaluable training.

That's impressive! I'd still consider the others for insurance purposes and recognition still, but there is no denying the high value of GUE fundamentals.

Not convinced at all on GUE. Went to take the fundamental cours and my instructor was struggling more with her buoyancy than I was. On top of that she was diving with a broken compass and she didn’t believe me when I told het that before the dive. When people like that can crawl to the system and make it all the way to instructor……the organisation loses my confidence.

@@amazingtazz1579 that's pretty weird. gue has rigourous standards. do you mind giving the name of the instructor?

Definitely hear the experience coming from you and appreciate your thoughts here! A submarine escape course sounds pretty exhilarating, guessing for military purposes? Totally agree with you that proper weighting is crucial for getting back to the surface in event of a BCD failure! I know as a tech diver; you'd also be able to utilize the dry suit too to control buoyancy in event of system failure, but we know how squirrely that thing could be. I tend to dive without ditchable weight as well, I go with as little as possible! I have found too because my wife and I do exercise and hit the gym regularly, we are fairly dense and heavy people, so we tend to need less weight even in cold water.

Thank you as always and glad you enjoyed!

Very true, yet I know so many folk who steer clear of scuba diving. It is a bit pricey to start with the need for gear, but most tell me they feel its too dangerous. I hoped this video might help with that perception, at least to some degree!

@itravelwisely it is pricey in a way. You can make it as expensive as you want. On the other hand when you know with proper maintenance it you can enjoy your material at least 10 years, then it isn't so bad. And not to forget hobbies cost money. 😇🙏

@Richard1976 totally agree!

Yes, you're right, especially factoring in surge. I should have been more explicit on shallow dives with no surge or current. Buoyancy can be tougher for sure, especially in fresh water, but practicing there makes your control all the better in salt water too.

Definitely, of course, the goal and content of the course and its benefits to you matters too, but the instructor will make our break the experience.

Your not wrong but my point was more along the lines that BCD is used for major depth change adjustments only, and once a diver starts to use their breathing for precision buoyancy control it often helps significantly with air consumption, give the focus is on buoyancy and that will slow the breathing naturally.

Totally agree with you on the quality of GUE courses, but I have been to places that did not accept my GUE certificate. It's not as well known of an organization worldwide, so I still need my PADI certificates. Otherwise, I'd totally agree. Drats, you are right, I did search for the correct pronunciation on scuba board and folk didn't know ot there but I just searched again and found the official GUE brand awareness guide that does explicitly say it's an acronym that should not be shortened and every letter should be pronounced. Haha, well, that sets the records straight! You might be bummed to hear I have one more video I already produced that I will butcher it once more. But from there on!! I'll nail it, haha.

@@itravelwisely agree, both in terms of quality of the GUE courses (or, maybe more precisely, the consistently high quality of GUE instruction... and especially the GUE Fundamentals) but also in terms of compatibility and acceptance in holiday locations in particular. I strongly believe that the REC1 course is far more rigorous than any SSI, PADI or CMAS open water diver course, but then again, I have not been able to find any confirmation that it actually fulfills the ISO 24801-2 Autonomous Diver standards, hence not accepting a GUE certification may simply be a liability thing. And thanks for the video, great overview (other than the underwater photography, I couldn't agree more)

Really appreciate your comment and thoughts here!

Really glad you enjoyed! Taveuni is a truly wonderful place, and its reef is quite healthy!

I only went to get the recreational pass since I did the course in a single tank setup, and the tech pass requires doubles. But I am thinking strongly to just dive around my home with doubles and then try for the tech pass. There is no time limit for the trying for tech pass here, as far as I am aware, as long as it's reasonable. I am still not 100% sure I will do tech diving, to be honest, although doing the training at least is appealing for the skills, knowledge, and comfort. Albeit an expensive one, haha.

My prime reason was to improve had to wait 3 months for enough people not much interest in winter, my thighs were wrecked after 3 days.

@arthur1670 that's one of my take aways, regardless of background and if you pass or not the course really does push you to your limits and helps you grow. I have a video I'm working on that goes into my experience from the course a bit more, too. It was intense going through it but a great experience nonetheless!

Ah thats cool, so AOWD is rewarded vs a certificate in SSI. I started with SSI but most certifications thereafter were PADI mainly due to convenience and location. One benefit of AOWD that I mentioned in the video, but it does cost more certainly so may not be optimal for the wallet, is by doing AOWD right after open water it really flashes out the diving experience holistically. For me, I was apprehensive about scuba diving after open water but after doing AOWD, I started to get hooked. To each their own though, I did find benefit in AOWD not for the title or certification but the diverse and thorough instruction early on. I wouldn't have taken a specialty course yet at the time as I wasn't even sure I'd stick with scuba diving.

Except that SSI's AOWD isn't technically equivalent to the PADI AOWD as you don't necessarily do the navigation dive nor the deep dive. So if a shop wants to be a pain and stick to the rules they don't have to recognize the SSI AOWD instead requiring you to show the officially recognized equivalent of the SSI Advanced Adventurer.. Most shops recognize it because the most important C card in diving is the credit card and most recreational training is hardly worth the paper it is printed on.

@@Teampegleg According to SSI AOWD is higher than AA and they are moving away from AA itself as very optional. Of course you are right with the key is the selection of specializations and I don't know of a rather good dive center, instructor that will not recommend you Deep & Navigation as basic. In addition, you have higher privileges than after AA. Of course I will agree local Dive Shop can do everything but I have not seen in Europe / Egypt a problem with this issue.

@@MaciejJeszkeP Of course SSI would rate AOWD higher than AA, they make $400 on the AOWD than the $100 they would make on an AA. It is marketing just like they called their mini-Master Diver course AOWD, so when uneducated customers walk in they can sell them on a longer course. That is why they gamify regular customers with the Master Diver charts that they provide to the shops. It is also why they prohibited independent instructors until very recently. But the other agencies don't recognize it, PADI was the first to go beyond the basic OWD for non-pros and as such set, so everyone setup their equivalencies off it. The equivalency charts are for OWD, AOWD, Rescue, and then the various specialists.

@@Teampegleg Still if you go to AA and then do Nitrox and any more specialization you have to pay more... As i said it all depends do you want stay at AA or go futher.

Exactly, as long as you're not holding others back, you're usually in a good spot. Our air consumption has been quite good , and we can almost hit 2 hours on a 12L tank, but realistically, it's rare to dive that long. Drysuit weighting is definitely a beast, and the more gear you add from there doesn't make it any easier haha.

@ i have a 15L but I’m a big bloke. We pretty much dive around an hour or 75 minutes. Probably when we are on holiday next year on Bonaire it might me longer😂

Exactly, although perhaps worth clarifying, Nitrox might still be worth getting from PADI, too, additionally, only because it's easily recognized by all operators and it's relatively cheap. Not everyone has to go tech, but I do think wreck diving pushes you there a bit. I do dive recreationally, but I will likely do tech for the sake of getting a bit deeper for some of the wrecks.

Whew, diving in the Netherlands must be cold! I imagine at least above 10 meters it's a touch warmer, haha. I think, for the most part, the thought of running out of air should be more of not that it hasn't happened but that it can and will happen if you dive long enough. Maybe not your fault. It could be a gear failure and could be someone else in the group, but that's how I like to think. That way, there are no surprises or drama around when it does happen. It's just a part of the diving experience.

@ depends when you go diving. In summer it's around 20 degrees celcius. Now it's around 12 degrees celcius. In summer you really need a 7mm wetsuit or semidry or full dry. I used this summer a 5mm semidry but for me it's was too cold. Also have drysuit but in summer it's sweating my butt off inside. For me I dive with my partner and we are used to each other. So we ask air plenty of times and being 1 pixel 😂. But yea you have to be careful. Mostly we end dive around 80 bar knowing we have plenty of air in case something could happen

Thank you! Haha, my lazy ways of taking the shortest syllables possible for the acronym. I'm not sure if I heard it from other GUE folk, or I just made it up.

If you are in SSi i sugest order: Open Water driver And 4 full specializations as: Nitrox Deep diving Nawigation/Wreck Drysuite 4 specializations gives you Advence Open Water Driver for free and you have access to nitrox, 40m, skill for drysuite . During ech specialty you will do 2 dives minimum so you will get much more exoerience and time in the water and additional clerence . So in the similar price as in course AOWD you can have much more cofidence and experience. Next Rescuce and stress and 50 loged dives give you master driver for free.

Glad you enjoyed!

Glad you enjoyed this one and see the content going in a good direction!

Definitely, of course there is a casual end to the sport, something everyone can enjoy and honestly has a lot of life to see. To that end obesity does hurt the air consumption and comes with higher risks of decompression sickness so knowing the limits is important if obese (otherwise it becomes dangerous).

Holy smokes, truly a small world! I remember hearing about your adventures, surviving that category 5 hurricane and being inspired to add more places to our list to visit such Papa New Guinea, French Polynesia, etc. Super awesome that you have a channel on UA-cam! Would love to connect, we are always planning trips a couple years out and have hard plans for Malpelo, Komodo, Dominica, and Galapagos.

Maximum depth for a discover dive is 40 ft but once you get your open water certification, you'll be able to go down to 60 ft based on the rules of certification. These are primarily there to help keep you safer and build confidence as a diver and seek more training before going deeper. Deeper doesn't always mean it's better but it does mean the risks are greater so working up to deeper depths progressively is safer.

@ I was in Central America when this occurred. I don’t think they really cared about rules and I didn’t know any better 🤷🏻‍♂️ I enjoyed the he’ll out of it though

Ah! That explains it. I've heard some questionable stories from Central America and South Asia where operators are a bit more risk-taking. Of course, you are likely going to be fine, but the rules are there as a safety net. In diving, there is no scuba police for these kind of things and you can eventually get a muscle for what risk is or is not acceptable for yourself but ideally you should always be informed and have knowledge of the risks. Scuba diving is a lot of fun, and I hope to see you out there diving!

Thank you for these kind words! Hoping to keep improving the content as I go too!

Nitrox generally refers to oxygen and nitrogen exclusively, with O2 being 22% or more. Trimix is becoming less feasible for recreational diving due to the costs of helium, so I didn't cover much into it on this video.

You'll love Taveuni and am super excited to hear about your scuba diving experience! It's hard to go back to snorkeling once you're comfortable with scuba. I don't know enough about Paradise Taveuni as we didn't stay there, but it does have good reviews, and the island is small enough. You will be in the same vicinity to everything. All the resorts are just a short ride away from Rainbow Reef, where all the action is. As for mosquitoes, check with the resort and see if they offer mosquito repellent. If not, bring some. There are mosquitoes, but it's not bad in the dry season. I've been scarred by mosquitoes in the past, so maybe my tolerance is higher. When we were out hiking, we didn't use mosquito repellent, and it was pleasant. If you're there during the we season, I'd expect more mosquitoes, though. I still remember how legendary the biting flies and mosquitoes are in Belize, which is a different level, so in comparison, Fiji is quite pleasant. There are some mosquitoes out at sun rise and sun set, though.

Glad you enjoyed this one too!

Thank you! Tried to nail a quick description in this one, I have another video that goes a bit more in-depth on weighting you'd likely enjoy. Weighting is o e of those things you're always tinkering with, haha.

Glad you enjoyed!

Really happy to hear you are liking the videos so far! The Apeks are great, they are single pane, the lenses don't scratch easily, the case is nice, and I like the buckle on them, if they do feel too tight, they are easy to adjust under water. The only con of them is that they are not super low volume, so it makes purging them take a bit more, but they are not too bad as I won't consider them high volume either. Funny too, I bought these on a trip because it was the Apeks or a Scuba Pro model that were available at a remote island in Maldives when my primary mask broke. I didn't have much of a choice in options, but I've been pleased with the mask, except maybe the color, I'd probably go black if I had a choice. Stuck with them since and it's been 3 years and still going strong! I do usually shave when I dive, mainly right under my nose, I keep most of my beard, but I do shave just a touch under my nose and that helps it seal. If water is annoyingly leaking into my nose area usually it's an indicator to me, I need the shave again. I never shave my beard entirely off though, just enough from the top that it's not noticeable but helps the seal. Hope that helps!

It's funny, scuba diving has a lot of hardships, and one can struggle with many things, but at the end of the day during the dive the zen one can achieve is out of this world and sights you can witness stick with you. There are some truly beautiful things to see!

Glad you liked this one! Was experimenting with some storytelling and wanted this video to focus more for folks not super familiar with scuba diving.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and let me know if you go to Komodo and enjoy your time! I'm also hoping to be heading back that way in a couple of years!

@@itravelwisely 100% Ive bookmarked your video and will certainly reference it for a future trip to Komodo. And good for you for experiencing it multiple times! Very cool :)

Ah, you are right, I'll add this correction as a pinned comment. Functionality I've never heard of anyone using more than 50% and that's only for faster decompression after a technical dive on the ascent which is why I had that number in mind.

@@itravelwisely it all just depends and also depends on inert gas percentage. 50/50 o2/he would be heliox due to no nitrogen.

Thank you, and glad you enjoyed!

Thank you for the great and thoughtful response and super valuable for others! I love the tip for calculating your consumption rate! I did mention this tip in the recent 25 tip video, but yes, that would have been a good one for this video, too! I do agree it's a great habit to be able to have a good idea and project how much will be used to train the intuition. The main goal is, as you said, to be able to understand consumption deeply, catch things when they aren't matching the projections, and also less likely to be caught off guard. I agree with you that 40 m is safer with doubles, and you have a great minimum gas calculation for the dive plan. I will say the ascent profile in your projection is a bit conservative as I know PADI mentions you can ascend at 18 m per minute which is super fast, but I know most divers use 10 m per minute up to safety stop. GUE teaches cut the maximum depth in half and ascend at 9 m per minute up to half, then hover for 30 seconds and then raise by 3 meter over 30 seconds, so 3 meter per minute up to the surface so that's 8 minutes to the top. Regardless, it's a great point, and I do agree with you that most risks under 30 meters to 40ish meters are significantly reduced with doubles. I'm still not doing doubles yet myself but I do plan to buy the gear setup early next year as I do agree it's generally safer, and I like the idea of improved balance. At least when we are diving near our home. We do a lot of travel diving, too, so single tank diving can't be avoided always.

I agree, I do have an external microphone, but I ended up recording this whole video with it, not quite plugged in all the way. Bummer, I didn't have quite time to rerecord, but the good news is future videos are better!

Thank you, and I'm glad you liked the video! For the listing, if your using a single tank, sometimes you might have to manually reposition it and screw in the wing nuts on it if it's a backplate as if they get loose it'll flop around more. Also, a camera or heavy light on one side might cause imbalance, too. Having spread out some of your gear to different pockets might help, but I'm not a fan of adding weight to compensate as it's better to have as little weight as possible. For floaty feet, are you using a dry suit? I'd usually advise more negatively buoyant fins, but Apeks RK3s are negatively buoyant but not the heaviest. Jet fins are a bit heavier, which might help. But first, before trying new fins, I am not a fan of ankle weights as it does add weight. Try shifting more weight down towards your lower back. If you have weight like integrated weights or weights in higher trim pockets, try to move weights to the lower cam ban of your tank straps. You want more weight on your back and on your back in the middle of the back. This will balance the seesaw a bit and help you feel the upper body is being pulled down less. If your using dry suit, this can happen when air collects in your boots, they become like functional balloons, for this, straighten the legs, get into a positive trim and let the air come up to the dry suit dump valve so you can get it out. I advise not to use the dry suit for buoyancy in normal cases, so add a tiny aor to it to remove the squeeze and create some warmth. Let me know if this helps!

I do need to note that I am not a doctor, and what I am giving here is the best of my knowledge as a diver and from my training. The general advice but super important if you see signs is to stop diving, get put on 100% oxygen, note the symptoms and times, and call DAN and ask for their advice with the symptoms. The symptoms are responses from your body failing to recompress successfully. If you start feeling better after being put on 100% oxygen it's like decompress sickness and the damage is already done but the body will start trying to heal and the symptoms could worsen over a 24 hour period. The danger of DCI is that your spine and brain are softer tissues and could be affected so you don't want to risk conditions worsening. A bubble can form anywhere leading to worsening conditions and even permanent damage to death. You just don't know how bad it is at the start, so it's good to take every precaution available as the consequences are dire. Also important, you may be doing everything 100% right and still get DCI so that's why it's extra important to notice the symptoms and follow protocol so you can continue diving another day.

Dang, yes, that is sher negligence on the dive shop's part. Insurance can be voided if diving below your training, but the dive shop was properly notified, so it'd be negligence. I'm glad your daughter did so well regardless and the story of her recovering from a gear failure is inspiring! I like to have the mindset that gear can fail at anytime so when it does happen it's not so surprising. Practicing the out of air drill together from time to time will help keep it comfortable. It's one of the reasons I really like the long hose configuration too for the main regulator as it supports very easy air sharing. Thank you for sharing this story!