Posted by B.S. Flag on June 16, 2005 at 20:56:06:
In Reply to: Re: Looking for a good shop/Instructor for Tech Diving In LA/OC./SD Area posted by Chris on June 16, 2005 at 11:56:47:
A cult? It only seems so to those who cannot fanthom another, perhaps even better, way to dive.
Seems to be about, and what it is really about, is a point for discussion, not name calling and generalizations.
Never met a GUE instructor without the attitude problem? You must not travel up north much and dive Monterey, or up to Seattle where there are some of the nicest and most skilled bunch of GUE instructors ever.
GUE was never a marketing scheme for Halcyon. DIR was a phrase coined by George Irvine and is used by GUE to promote their philosophy.
Halcyon was created to make the gear that no one else would at that time. Nowadays there are many manufacturers that make gear that fits into that philosophy. Don't believe that marketing was the original intention. DIR is a slogan acronym used by Halcyon though. Someone who promotes a diver has to have all Halcyon gear to be GUE trained, or even DIR, is a mislead snook.
I've only heard of one GUE instructor who no longer teaches for them here in CA. I think he resigned due to disagreements with their new training standards or something like that. IS that many instructors? No. One perhaps, but not many.
The roll of instructors for GUE has been expanding in many different countries and the USA. Where do you see their role of instructors shrinking? They doubled here in the Monterey and BA in the last three years, some even moving onto different areas to instruct. Or do you mean the role of them being instructors is shrinking? I don't see that either.
There are those who are a bit brazen with their new found GUE trained skills, but as more than one scuba old timer here has said, they are well trained.