The purpose of the class is two-fold. The first is to act as an access course to the rest of the GUE curriculum, be that Technical, Cave or Rebreather. It allows participants to acquaint themselves with the thinking behind the DIR system, before moving ahead with more challenging diving.
The second purpose is to try and improve the basic skill set of the recreational diver. This is done by introducing the concepts behind DIR, and translating them into real-world diving skills. We also challenge the diver to start thinking more critically about the way in which dive planning and conduct is approached.
The course usually runs over a four-day period, generally starting on a Thursday morning and going through to Sunday afternoon. Day one is spent covering most of the theoretical aspects. We also look at the equipment configuration and dry-run some of the skills to be practiced. Days two, three and four are spent diving, practicing the skills and debriefing using the video. We usually wrap up the course on day four with a summary of what’s been learnt, and an individual debrief for each student highlighting strengths and areas that need practice.
That’s how we run the course if everything goes smoothly. Often, we find that some students are great at some skills, but need extra practice in others. The dives do get modified to reflect this fact. This is a tough course whatever level of diver you are, but it is a lot of fun.
If you are interested in taking the course, or want more information about what it involves, please contact Rich directly. Any places on organised courses will be advertised on this page.
