GUE FUNDIES
A few months ago, I completed my GUE Fundamentals course. I’ve been wanting to do this course for quite some time, so it was wonderful to finally have a chance to do it. I took the course with my co-worker Vic and was taught by my friend Jason Cook.
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GUE, or Global Underwater Explorers is a nonprofit organization that offers diver training programs as well as exploration and conservation efforts. It is most well-known for the diver training programs as it, like PADI, TDI, NAUI and others, offers dive certifications that are accepted around the world. While the organization does offer entry level diver certifications its focus is more so on technical and cave diving.
Unlike other agencies you can’t just “crossover” to join in GUE courses. They are very structured and have total standardization requirements, meaning that to join them you must not only learn, but master their ways. If you’re already a tech or cave diver, this means taking Fundies. Fundies is the gateway to the rest of GUE courses, so even people like me - who are already tech divers with different agencies - still must take this more basic course to learn about GUE.
You may be wondering why I would want join GUE courses; as said above, I’m already a tech diver. Personally, I believe that there is always more to learn, and you can learn from anyone. To be the best possible diver, you need as much diverse training as possible. Get different perspectives, learn different tips and tricks. Figure out why different people or training agencies do things differently, so you can then make the best possible decision with the most education. GUE is known for being incredibly strict in their journey towards diver perfection. There is no doubt that GUE divers are good divers, and that is what I was looking for; a way to challenge myself and improve my diving and teaching.
When I first heard of GUE, I didn’t like it. I heard the organization had an extremely strict stance on everyone diving the exact same gear in the exact same configuration. For me, that doesn’t really work. I’m a small person and throughout my diving career I’ve constantly had to adjust to make things work for me. Standardized gear often just doesn’t fit me. As the years have gone by many brands have made efforts to be more inclusive in their sizing and creating gear for women, but the scuba industry is still seriously lacking in that department, so I had always had a thought in my head that GUE would want my gear to be set up in a way that just doesn’t work for me.
Throughout my years as a diver, I’ve heard almost every comment imaginable about needing to tough it out, “this works for everyone else”, or just that I simply wouldn’t be able to do things because of my size and gender. So far, through trial and error, I’ve found that all those comments are false. However, there isn’t much wide-spread knowledge on gear for smaller frames, so most of those comments were probably made with the person genuinely not knowing any different. With this much “history” behind me, I was hesitant of any organization that seemed to only have one way of doing things.
There are two things that got me to finally give GUE a try. First, I'm already very competent and comfortable with my diving abilities, so if I was told that what I was doing was completely wrong, and viable solutions weren’t presented, I could have easily said “oh well” and continued diving how I already was. Second, I knew and trusted my instructor. We'd dove together before, and I knew him as a nice fun guy who genuinely just wants to get people diving. He had never had the stuck-up approach that I'd associated with GUE, and that made me listen to more GUE divers to realize that none of them had that “I’m right you’re wrong” attitude I’d heard so much about. He was just like me; a dive leader that wanted a healthy, solid dive community.
As soon as I signed up, I could already see there was a lot more structure than any other diving agency I’d learned from. My instructor had pre-made detailed intro sheets and emails that got us signed up and filling out electronic paperwork. Once this was done, I had a resource pack available to me. This resource pack came loaded! It had documents upon documents of articles, worksheets, additional reading and so much more! In a time where it feels like other agencies are removing more and more information from their courses, this seemed like a great start. Another thing I liked was the strict no smoking stance enforced in the paperwork. I had to sign an agreement saying I don’t smoke and wouldn’t start. Diving and smoking really don’t go together, especially when bringing tech diving into the mix, so this was great to see.
When the course finally started, we began with a long classroom session. The classroom session was thorough and didn’t gloss over things that other agencies do. Because all three of us were tech divers already we had a chance to “go off topic” and have discussions about different applications of this knowledge and dive deeper into it than in the average course. We compared how Vic and I already tech dive to the GUE way and, most importantly, the why behind the GUE way. For me, the why is
always key; if I don’t understand the logic behind something I tend not to do it. If the reasoning can be explained – even if I don’t agree with said reasoning - I can accept it and give it a try.
The nice thing with GUE is that there is always an explanation. For the most part everything made sense as to why they did things the way they did. There were a few things that I questioned, so they were then explained in a way so that although I still may not have agreed, I could understand why they chose to do things that way. Things like standardized gas mixes; while I do think it is overall better for divers to choose the specific mix for the specific dive, all the arguments for standardized mixes make complete sense and there is plenty of evidence to back it up.
The things that I found were different than what I already did were explained and really, they all just come down to a choice. There is no completely perfect answer to some issues and GUE has long stood behind standardization, so it needed to choose a single way to do things. Standardization allows for less diver error as everyone is used to the exact same things, so again it just makes sense.
After our classroom session was completed, we tried to head to the dive site, but it was peak summertime and there was no parking. So, we modified the schedule and headed to the pool for our swim tests. Even at our level of diving we still had to complete a timed swim. While a part of me thought this was overkill, a larger part appreciated it. So often in diving I see people who “check the boxes” for a certification once then never practice again. They’ll go years assuming they’re great because they collected all these cert cards, but never go back to the basics to confirm they still have a master on those basics. Swimming and basic fitness are a huge part of diving, and it is important to stay in shape, so having it a requirement is good to see.
The next day we went straight to the dive site and started out with some land drills. Again, land drills are something most other agencies don’t focus on, but really do make a difference in diver abilities. This course really reminded me how useful land drills can be and made me realize I should incorporate them more in my courses. I'd only ever had one other instructor get me to do them, yet they really do make the dives go so much smoother.
Once our land drills were done, we completed our “GUE EDGE” (GUE’s version of a buddy check or START drill) then headed into the water. Jason set up a line on the bottom for us to do skills on, as well as an upline with a float to practice our ascents. We went over valve drills, finning techniques, out of air drills, DSMB deployment, and more. Really, as the name suggests, the fundamentals. Periodically, we’d come to the surface and chat about things, giving us a chance to practice ascents while we did so. Skills were repeated again and again until they were perfect; hesitation or a wrong hand placement wasn’t acceptable. Everything needs to be automatic. Throughout this practice Jason filmed us so we could review the video later. This is a technique that I use when teaching as well, and I find it incredibly helpful for students to be able to see what they are doing.
Partway through the day we got out of the water, had a lunch break, and Vic and Jason swapped/ topped up their tanks (as some of you know I have obnoxiously large doubles so I still had gas for days). During our surface time, again we went over skills and some basic land drills. We reviewed how the skills were going and what needed improvement. Jason was nice and encouraging throughout, but it was clear that we needed to achieve perfection if we wanted to pass this course. Everything, from which hand grabs which reg, is specific to GUE and anything else is incorrect. Even which gear was in which pocket needed to match. For me I found breaking my old habits most challenging. I had to swap which pocket my DSMB was in, so I would hesitate when pulling it out. I was used to switching regs one handed, while GUE demands the right hand handle the long hose, left hand to the short hose. Little things like this meant re-doing skills again and again.
Finally, after hours at the site we were done for the day. The next day we met at the shop and started in the classroom. We went over the footage from yesterday and more academic training. While watching the footage I learned that my flutter kick wasn’t quite right and would need correction to pass. With our new-found knowledge we headed back to the dive site. Our session started much like the day before; land drills, GUE EDGE, practice skills on our line. I specifically wanted to practice finning as that was my weak area, however my buddy was having a tough time breaking his old habits and doing things the GUE way, so we spent more time on those skills. When gas was running low, we finally called it a day.
Jason let me know that although my flutter kick was looking a lot better, it still wasn’t completely perfect, so I would only be getting a Rec Pass. This means that although my skills are all good and I am welcome to join any recreational GUE class, I’m not completely ready for a GUE tech course. I was incredibly disappointed with this, however, I learned that this isn’t as much of a “pass/fail” situation as I had thought. If I can show Jason I can do a perfect flutter kick at a later date, I can still receive my “Tech Pass”.
The GUE Fundamentals course is structured a lot differently than other courses, and I don’t really think I fully appreciated that till the end. It isn’t so much about a certification as it is about training, which really is what the dive industry needs more of. Many people complete the course without any certification, they just learn and practice more skills. Being a “GUE diver” doesn’t necessarily mean you have a high-level certification card; it just means you’ve taken the course. The course itself is more like a skills workshop with an examination. You're still expected to go out and practice what you’ve learned on your own time.
Overall, I'm glad it took the course. I learned different teaching techniques I'll be applying to my own courses, as well as a different mentality to diving. I was challenged to do things differently and adapt my style and attitude which I think is good for all instructors to do. There are still some things I don’t entirely agree with, but at least I understand why they’re done that way, and can choose to do it “the GUE way” should the situation call for it. Will I drop my TDI START drills and devote myself to GUE? No, not at all. But will I join GUE dives and follow their standards while doing so? Of course! Will I practice my flutter kick and get my tech pass? Definitely! Will I continue taking GUE courses on occasion? Probably! Divers should strive to learn more and challenge themselves. There is always so much more to learn, and sticking with one path exclusively can lead to missing many opportunities. Jason was a great teacher and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to learn more about GUE through him. Next, I’ll have to try to return the favor and teach him sidemount! Always keep learning!