Houston Training

[Ramses]

Hi, I recently found out I can use what I have left of my GIBill to further my scuba education, but I have to use NAUI centers. There are 2 in Houston:
- Deep Abyss in Humble
- Texas Scuba adventures.
Was wondering if:
1. Ya'll could DM some of your thoughts on either place
2. Offer some advice on how to pick a shop for training?

Thanks in advance.

 

[McLOT]

Hi @Ramses
Good to hear that this is available to you. I hope you use it!

I am not familiar with either center.

There are a large number of shops and facilities across Texas and some are better than other for sure. Some closed during COVID but there are still many left and working hard to support divers and earn a crust. All of them can sell you gear, some will offer trips or activities, and some offer training at their facilities or local pools and lakes.

One thought I have is to look at the small print of the legislation regarding the NAUI certification. Is it specifically for the center or for the staff (full-time or contract) at the center?
Many centers have multiple certifications and they also employ and rely on trainers that also have multiple certifications and skill-sets. Depending on the wording and details, this may open up a larger number of centers and more options for you.

 

[Ramses]

That was a good call out. It looks like with NAUI it’s for the center specifically, so I’d have to pursue at one of those 2 that I listed earlier.
Interestingly enough, it looks like SDI/TDI approached it differently with the VA. So long as a dive center has SDI/TDI courses, it looks like I can use them for training with the VA Benefits.

 

[McLOT]

So maybe you have wider options if you select a different organization.
Factors would include location, costs, availability, and who you want to deal with.

Then you would be looking at the factors for who is conducting the training, e.g. experience and skills of the trainer.

Maybe ask some other questions here as you figure it out.........

 

[Ramses]

It’s a bit overwhelming to be honest.

For example as I look at the various organizations:
NAUI has stuff around scientific diving and part of my motivation for looking at them is the alignment with Force Blue. I’d like to volunteer with them at, whereas something like SDI, or GUE seem to have a bit more rigor.

I was looking at this site and they have a table of the breakdowns on each of the orgs: https://diveotter.com/choosing-training/choosing-dive-agency.php
I like the breakdown they have because it SEEMS like, I could look for SDI instructors or GUE(for the sake of this example) and feel slightly more confident that the instructor will be, at the very least, trained and have a bit more structure around the work they’re delivering.

Or maybe I’m just overanalyzing all of this..

End of the day, I want to learn the right stuff and enjoy my time learning it.

Beyond that once you consider those things, to your point, whats a good way as a newbie to assess the instructors before selecting?
I randomly signed up at one place for my openwater and while I have no complaints, I also don’t know enough to make that sort of a determination.

 

[Lakediver]

I have certs from all three major agencies ... OW from NAUI, AOW from PADI, and Nitrox from SSI. I think most divers will agree that the agency you use doesn't really matter. They all teach basically the same stuff, especially at the OW level (not sure which specific classes you are wanting to take). Personally, I think the instructor matters more than the agency they're certified for. I'd worry more about finding an instructor that you like and trust. As far as how to find an instructor that you like and trust, I tend to consider recommendations from others. And not all recommendations are equal, so Google reviews may not be that helpful. For example, if I wanted to get into cave diving, I'd talk to @LegoBloxs and @birddog or my cenote guide from my trip there last year.

It sounds like you've already got your OW cert ... what certifications are you wanting to get?

 

[Ramses]

Thank you.
Advanced open water and rescue diver for sure. Then beyond that I'm not totally sure. There is a group called Force Blue that takes veterans and gets them into scientific diving and that greatly appeals to me. Their requirements are rescue diver, so that's already along the lines of what I'm looking for anyway.

If I choose to use my VA stuff for training I think I'm a little limited place to take courses in Houston. From what I can see so far there is the 2 NAUI places and Gigglin' Marlin does courses from SDI/TDI, but I need to confirm with them.
I haven't found a place that does SSI or PADI for use with VA stuff yet.

Although, the more I research the more it looks like I should really plan to do the advanced open water away from Houston.

 

[Heidi Ho]

Yes, we know Force Blue; they spoke at one of our meetings

Great goal to have.

 

[Hawkeye Mark]

While I am not familiar with Deep Abyss it appears they are based out of the former WW Diving facility in Humble which is across from the post office.

 

[Lakediver]

Gigglin Marlin is a good shop, as far as I know. I've only been there once, when @Cthulhu Calls (my partner) did his discover scuba there. I was actually impressed with the amount of instruction that he got. I expected them to just throw him in the water with gear and some basic instructions, but they went into a lot more detail than I expected. And @VanessaArrrr used them exclusively for a long time, although I'm not sure if she has taken any classes with them. She could definitely tell you more about them. I'm not sure how often she hops on the board these days, but your best bet would probably be to send her a direct message.

For SSI/PADI, have you checked to see if you could use Gulf Coast Scuba for your VA stuff? Carl and Aiar are both excellent instructors. @Cthulhu Calls took his OW through Gulf Coast, and Carl was his instructor. Plus Carl has been teaching in Houston for like 20 years or something. And @SilverBubbles did rescue and rebreather classes with Aiar, and she always spoke very highly of him.

RE: taking AOW in Houston ... the main reason I would advise against taking it here is the deep dive. There's only one place around here to get your deep dive done, and that's at Mammoth Lake in Deep Hole. Which is literally just a 60 ft hole in the lake, in pitch black, low viz water. The other option is Lake Travis in Austin, but it's going to be basically the same. I did my AOW in a lake in Oklahoma, and that deep dive was not a pleasant experience. To paraphrase my dive instructor from back then, the bottom of a lake is damn deep, damn dark, and damn cold. If I were you, I'd do it somewhere tropical, like Cozumel.

 

[Atlantean]

I would extend a strong second to @Lakediver's comments re: Gulf Coast Scuba and the individuals noted if that is an option for you.

I did my AOW deep dive in Lake Travis many years ago. It's quite cold and fairly dark but IMO, I would probably go that route versus Mammoth IF going further afield is not an option.

 

[Ramses]

Thank you all so much. This helps a lot.

 

[Lagerhead]

Just finished the AOW this weekend at Mammoth. The Deep Hole is indeed not pleasant. It’s incredibly dark even with a dive light. And narrow. We had to follow the chain down and back up to stay together. And two at a time. However, it was only about 5 minutes of the whole weekend. The rest of that dive and the other AOW dives were fine.

 

[Ramses]

Awesome. I’m going this weekend to finish my open water.
Probably going to pick a place to do my AOW while the drive to learn all the things is strong right now.

 

[Lagerhead]

Sounds awesome. Have a great time!!