IART - anyone done this course?

[Phoenix]

I'm becoming really old in a few weeks (40) so my wife has decided to give in and "allow" me to get an Inspiration.

My local Instructor is through IART, their website is frankly, pants and has been under reconstruction for some time now. Has anyone got any experience of this agency? are their courses any good?

I can't ask any previous students as the guy has only recently been granted Instructor status and in any case the previous students were all tourists who have left the island. I have dived with the guy and am pefectly happy with his water skills.

Ian

[Drmike]

Hi Ian,

I know a few IART guys but IMO the key to good instruction is not the agency so much as it is the instructor. When picking an instructor I think its good to look for one that is specifically doing the kind of diving you want to do (or end up doing) using primarily the equipment you want to be using.

If (say) you are interested in wreck diving on an Inspiration, I think you would gain a lot from taking a course with an instructor who himself mostly does wreck diving on an inspiration.

I know it does sound obvious, but I see people all the time taking instruction from someone who only ever dives the unit during student training or who dives it in a different environment to that the student is contemplating.

From what Ive seen a good instructor will often add his own experiences to the training and little tricks hes picked up. If he is actively doing the sort of diving you want to do with the same equipment then he will likely have environment and gear specific extra stuff to share that may well not be part of the official course.

Anyway, this has been my experience so far.

Good luck with the training.