DIR Fundamentals - changes afoot!

[Andy Kerslake]

seeing as I seem to have a few minutes spare I though that I would explain our current thinking behind the new Fundamentals class and the upcoming Openwater class - not a short posting :-)

As has been pointed out the Fundamentals course was originally a workshop intended for those who might be interested in DIR/GUE. There was no qualification involved.

We found that many students who turned up for Tech 1/Cave 1, simply did not have the basic skills to enable them to pass the course, so Fundamentals was changed from a workshop to a full qualification course, and a pass being a pre-requisite to take the advanced classes.

There are typically two types of student who take a Fundamentals class, those with doubles and all the gear, or those in single tanks. Under the current system if you pass the course, you could easily enrol the following week to take either a Cave or Tech class. This would not be ideal especially if you only trained in a wetsuit with a single cylinder :-).

For a long time now those of us who have been teaching DIR-F have pretty much had two bars one for the single tank shallow diver, and the other for those who wish to progress through to more "technical" training.

This method presents a mixed message, so we decided that we would split the qualification into two, so we have a "recreational" pass and a tech pass. The main difference is that the Tech pass student in our opinion has the required skills/mindset/gear etc to be able to take a cave/tech class.

On the other hand for those divers who dive singles below 20m on holiday, perhaps they do not need the best backward kick in the world etc, so we will have a recreational pass. For those that wish to progress from a recreational pass to a tech pass they will have to complete an evaluation dive with alll the gear and demonstrate all the required skills.

In addition with the Openwater course being introduced (soon) we start with Nitrox, rescue skills, drysuits (as needed) and a few other bits and pieces. This presents us with a problem as currently the only qualification nedeed to take fundamentals is air.

So from the Openwater course we would have a student who is now qualified at a basic level for Nitrox, Drysuit, Rescue, but at Fundamentals you do not get Nitrox etc

So we needed some parity, so Nitrox and rescue will become a part of Fundamentals as well as additional time in water. We have also reduced the instructor to student ratio from a maximum of six students in-water down to four.

The new course will be longer, more detailed, have more in-water time, and yes will cost more but this should not be seen as dumming down, but progression as GUE evolves and appeals to a larger market.

Hopefully this helps and I am happy to answer any questions.

[Tim Ingmire]

Originally Posted by Andy Kerslake

On the other hand for those divers who dive singles below 20m on holiday, perhaps they do not need the best backward kick in the world etc, so we will have a recreational pass.

Does this pave the way for Reef Diver 1 course?

Do we see the potential here for a PADI-like proliferation of courses based on the fundamental DIR 'philosophy'? In marketing speak - increasing revenues by relevant and credible brand stretch and extension through the creation of new courses based on the solid foundations of the DIR philosophy and team approach.

I can see many dive centres and guides around the world buying into this - imagine, you know your clients will behave as briefed and won't go off doing silly buggers underwater.

Actually it's probably not such a bad idea.