UTD Scuba Diving Podcast

Send us a textJust a few minutes after the UTD Instructor Development Course ended at the Rivemar Dive Center in La Azohia, Spain, Jeff and Ben sat down with the four English-speaking instructor candidates to get their take on the week...how it went, their expectations, and much more.For information on becoming a UTD Instructor, click here.

Send us a textWe did it again, another carcast. This one we recorded on our road trip from Madrid, where Alan and I just picked up Ben at the airport, on our way to the Rivemar Dive Center in La Azohia, our host for this instructor development course. In this episode we discuss the upcoming class, the journeys of some of the instructor candidates that brought them to the IDC, and our expectations for this upcoming week.For more information on becoming a UTD Instructor, click here.

Send us a textThis is The Random Episode – we've collected questions from the past few weeks and here a some of the obscure and random things we covered in this episode:Why are there various low pressure inflator connectors?Why is our compass NOT on a boot with the SPG?Can we do a "swimming" deco stop, or to we have to hold still and be serious?Does Ratio Deco scale to rebreathers and cave diving?Why don't we use ball valves on our scuba cylinders?Can you use a wet suit as a dry suit undergarment?And much, much more.To submit your obscure questions (and to contact us for any reason) please click here for our contact form.

Send us a textThe Big Scuba Podcast, a show based in the UK and hosted by my new friends Ian and Gemma, explores all things scuba. They got interested in the UTD Scuba Coaching Program, so we started talking about that, but quickly moved to UTD's philosophy, teaching ethos, and history.For me, it was back to basics, forcing me to define, to people not familiar with UTD, why us – why choose us, what makes us different, where did coaching come from, and much, much more.Have a listen, and check out the rest of their episodes.https://utdscubadiving.com/https://www.thebigscuba.com/

Send us a textRecurrent training is a thing in many, many industries. Flying is where recurrent training is the most obvious – pilots are required to complete various scheduled trainings to keep their certificates current and diving should be no different.Since our inception, UTD has always had a structured recurrent training program called the Annual Dive Review. This is modeled after flying's Biannual Flight Review, something that has been in place for pilots for decades.In this episode Jeff and Ben explore recurrent training for instructors and students – the how and why, the ego and the logic.Questions? Contact us to learn more about the UTD ADR.https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

Send us a textTrying something new here...a "car-pod," or "pod-car," or "car podcast," or something. In any case, I was in traffic for about two hours and had some time to think about, then record, a short podcast on choosing a coach, staying with a coach, leaving a coach, and much more. But most importantly, how to apply what you learn in the UTD Scuba Coaching Program to not only diving, but to the rest of your life.UTD Scuba Coaching Program:https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-scuba-coaching/Contact us:https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

Send us a textEn enero de 2023 hemos completado el Castilla Cave Tour. En este viaje hemos visitado algunas de las cuevas más icónicas del centro de España. Empezamos en el Pozo Azul que es actualmente la cueva con mayor desarrollo explorado en Europa con +13km de longitud. Fuente Azul es una de las cuevas más profundas con una cota de -130m. Fuentenavinahttp://www.espeleogaem.org/fuentenavina/s_fuentenavina.htm es una cueva bastante cerrada con un desarrollo de unos 700m a través de unos tubos con muchos zig zags. Finalmente, Fuencaliente es una surgencia que desemboca en un lago en un parque regional y es extremadamente ratonera. En cierto modo, para los que conocen los cenotes mexicanos, parecida al Cenote Minotauro.Este podcast lo grabamos a modo de conversación entre los miembros del equipo la última noche en el hotel. Muestra las opiniones de los diferentes miembros, desde los más noveles que recién empiezan a bucear cuevas tras el Cave 1 a los más experimentados que buceaban con CCR y torpedos.In January 2023 we have completed the Castilla Cave Tour which was a trip through some of the most iconic caves in central Spain. We started at Pozo Azul which is currently the longest cave explored so far in Europe with +13KM in length. Fuente Azul is one of the deepest caves at -130m. Fuentenavina is a tight cave with aprox 700m penetration through tight tubes with many zig zags. Finally, Fuencaliente is a surgence which feeds a lake in a Regional Park and it is extremely tight. In a way, for those familiar with Mexican Cenotes, like Cenote Minotauro in that sense.This podcast was recorded on the last night at the hotel as a conversation with part of the team in Spanish. It highlights the impressions from newer cave divers who joined this trip to more seasoned ones diving on CCR and Scooters.

Send us a textIn 2022 I was invited to speak at the Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society's scientific meeting. This was in the ORCA project: Operational Resilience and Cognitive Awareness, quite a mouthful, but basically it was a meeting about human factors in scuba diving.In UTD we have been teaching human factors in our training programs since day one, but there is a secret. Listen to this short talk to learn the secret to teaching human factors in scuba diving.JeffAs always, let us know if you have comments:Click here to contact us:  https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

Send us a textIncident and accident reporting. Is it good for scuba or terrifying for scuba? In this episode Jeff and Ben are joined by Diver Alert Network's Cat Harris. Cat manages DAN's incident reporting system.Should scuba take a page from general aviation, an industry that has consistently published accident data and analysis? Or should scuba continue to hide behind the idea that telling anyone there could be some danger associated with scuba is just bad for business.Also joining us is Andrej Gaspar, a UTD Instructor in Slovakia, whose student just created an reporting system for mountain incidents and accidents.What do you think?Let us know by clicking here.  https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/DAN's Incident Reporting websitehttps://dan.org/safety-prevention/incident-reporting/

Send us a textWhy no bungees? Why no double bladders? Do you need an STA? Why are they all black?In this episode Jeff and Ben tackle these questions and many more as they dig into the ins and outs, and ups and downs of BCDs, wings, dumps, and bladders.Questions? Comments? You can reach us by clicking here.