Instructor Training.
UTD courses on board the MV Tala are provided by resident instructors Faisal Khalaf and myself, Mo
Hammoud, while a wide range of visiting instructors, Paul Okishev, Ben Bos, Jeff Seckendorf, Andrew Geortgisis and Brian Wiederspan, to name few, all repeatedly schedule courses during their trips
adding to the growth of the regional community.
With proper training techniques offered by UTD’s range of courses, scooter dives using the Z-System
Side Mountsystem has provided diving around some of the magnificent islands and reefs. One favorite is the Brothers Islands alongside sharks, tunas and Manta Rays, often in ripping currents. These
dives have regularly proven to be accomplished to the highest degree of success and safety.
In addition the Middle East climate and water temperatures are generally welcoming year round,
especially in the Red Sea, attracting members of the UTD community from Europe and Russia to
schedule wreck exploration trips/course oriented trips during the winter months of Dec-Feb, where
the students can focus more on the training without the distraction of the cold water, as was the most
recent IDC conducted in Sharm El Sheikh by Flavio Turchet…. congratulations to the team and new
UTD instructor Andrea Schenato, who divieds his time between his home in Italy and a dive center in
Egypt.
Since the birth of UTD in the Middle East and Egypt, progressive dive education in the region has
been making its mark fast creating more demand for courses, gear and quality diving.
In 2014 we will see even more divers in trim, more video debriefs and many more confidently smiling
Ocean Friendly fun Thinking Divers within the UTD Thinking Teams.
TM