The "Woodstock of Rebreathers" starts today

“This is the Woodstock of Rebreathers”

Held at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Rebreather Forum 3.0 starts today. Jorge A. Mahauad, managing director of Galapagos Tip Top Diving and Galapagos Rebreathers will be attending the conference and promoting rebreather travel to the Galapagos Islands. 

Jorge can be reached at 239-849-6795 or by email and will be glad to talk about rebreather travel to the Galapagos to anyone who is interested in it.

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PADI Tec 40 CCR Instructor x-over Course Report

From left to right: Mike Fowler, Antonio Martell, Chris Brown, Ian , Eric Machum, Jorge A. Mahauad, Peter  Den Haan and Georgia Hausserman

I arrived to Orlando on Sunday night for the PADI Tec 40 CCR Instructor x-over Course. The program was held in the YMCA Aquatic Center in International Drive. I was very happy to find some people I knew in the course; it made it most welcoming to see those friendly faces there. The x-over course was spread over 3 days on site but I might say the process of crossing over to the PADI system for rebreather education started weeks earlier. 

Prior to the course we had to make time and study in depth the PADI Rebreather and Advanced Rebreather manual. This material is a very complete and thorough guide written and revised by some of the most renowned rebreather instructors, manufacturers and explorers in the industry. 

It’s very nice to find that so much of the knowledge spread over forums, magazines and blogs has been finally gathered in one, very well designed educational material that will serve as a guide and reference for both new and experienced rebreather divers. In addition, the PADI Tec 40 CCR student manual is another great tool that includes the general rebreather theory, the mindset of a technical diver (which is something applicable either for an open or closed circuit diver) and general information regarding equipment and manufacturer differences. 

The Tec 40 CCR manual is a great source of information for the novice rebreather technical diver and a great reminder for the open circuit technical diver. I guess this is not a surprise for all the people teaching and working with the PADI system in technical, recreational and now rebreather diving. 

Georgia Hausserman during the class

On Monday, Georgia Hausserman took us through the theory of the instructor manual of the PADI Rebreather and Advanced Rebreather Diver Courses and the Tec 40 CCR course. A great thing of this course was to have Mike Fowler and Peter Den Hann from Silent Diving Systems. The insight and guide on the Ambient Pressure Diving Rebreathers and their own teaching experience came in as a great resource and made a big difference for us. 

Tuesday started with a setup practical application as outlined in the courses and continued with a skill circuit in the pool. After this we did teaching presentations using the PADI system and kept learning new things from the people who make the APD rebreathers. Wednesday started with another CCR setup and we performed the Tec 40 CCR diver course skills in the pool. After this another practical application was performed, this time to clean and disassemble the units. Right after this we had time to talk on the classroom, do the Rebreather and Advanced Rebreather Instructor exams and have some more manufacturer insight. 

This was a great experience for me. I’m happy to have participated and very excited about the soon to come recreational version of the APD rebreathers. Version 5 looks very promising and will allow student divers to go through all the range of PADI’s rebreather education, from basic recreational diving to Tec 100 CCR with one, proven, modular and adaptable unit. The new APD rebreather should be out before DEMA and a very exciting and promising future of rebreather diving seems to be ahead of us all. I will be in Orlando for Rebreather Forum from Friday to Sunday and will be back in the Galapagos on Tuesday. Needless to say, the Tec 40 CCR course and Rebreather & Advanced Rebreather will be available from Galapagos Rebreathers and the Galapagos Tip Top Dive & Training Facility. I will write a report on rebreather forum upon my return. 

Galapagos Rebreathers wins PADI "I heart the sharks" photo contest

About a month ago I uploaded one of the Galapagos Rebreathers theme photos to a Facebook PADI contest. The contest was titled "I heart the sharks" and the objective was to raise awareness about sharks in social media and support the ongoing Project Aware efforts to shark conservation. You can view the photo here. Well, we won!!!

Now, a couple precisions need to be made. At first, Photo was taken by Dr. Claus Meyer, a customer of us. Claus released all rights to use these and many other photos of him to promote Galapagos Rebreathers. Second, the ticket to Australia is obviously going to Claus.

Thank you everyone for the votes and support on this. We would have never achieved the win without the votes and support of your social media actions.

See you in Rebreather Forum 3. We have rebreather liveaboards with photo opportunities as good as this in 2012 and 2013. There is still availability for the one in 2013. For more information on the 2013 trip please click here. The 2012 trip is fully booked and will come  right after Rebreather Forum 3.

Galapagos Rebreathers training facility

Galapagos Rebreathers is hosted by Tip Top Diving in the Galapagos Islands. At this time, we offer rebreather instruction in the APD rebreathers (Evolution, Evolution + and Vision Inspiration) with air diluent through TDI. 

Jorge A. Mahauad, manager of the firm will be x-ing over to PADI Tec 40 Rebreather Instructor during Rebreather Forum. Needless to say, PADI rebreather diver, advanced rebreather diver and Tec 40 CCR diver courses will also be available in the near future.

Here are some of the latest photos of our training facility.

2013 Galapagos Rebreather Liveaboard

The Galapagos archipelago is a world famous hotspot for observing marine mega fauna, especially sharks. The use of rebreather technologies provides great opportunity for very close wildlife experiences in the islands.

(c) Claus Meyer 

In the Galapagos hundreds of hammerhead sharks and giant manta rays cruising overhead while big schools of Galapagos sharks wonder very close can be the fore playing scene for a bus sized whale shark to appear out of the blue. This is the reason why many diving enthusiasts and underwater imaging specialists come every year. 

(c) Claus Meyer

But very few of the regular tourists will ever have the opportunity to witness this world patrimony national park with the bubble less and quiet and moist environment a rebreather provides.  From September 16 to 23, 2013 a rebreather oriented expedition to the Galapagos Islands is being organized by PADI Course Directors and Technical Instructor Trainers Andy Phillips and Paul Toomer. The specialized trip is supported by Jorge A. Mahauad and Galapagos Rebreathers. 

The organizers have chartered Humboldt Explorer, a 35 meter steel hulled licensed live-aboard vessel with capacity to accommodate 16 divers in 8 air-conditioned double occupancy cabins with private bath and showers. A comfortable dive deck and a camera table are available for all divers. Social areas include a partially covered sundeck with Jacuzzi, ample seating space and a salon including a lounge and dining area.

This is the first rebreather only trip in the Galapagos organized by Galapagos Rebreathers. Trips like this have rarely been put together in the past and this amazing experience is now made available to a very limited and select group of divers.

Galapagos Rebreathers will provide an expedition technician to operate boosters and deliver high pressure oxygen. Granular or pre-packed CO2 absorbent, on board steel 2 or 3 liter rebreather cylinders with in line style valves and 6 liter aluminum bailout cylinders with DIN convertible valves and stage / sidemount rigging will be available for all rebreather divers.

12 spaces are available. For more information contact:

Andy Phillips: gopro(at)utiladivecenter.com

Paul Toomer: paul(at)divingmatrix.co.uk

Jorge A. Mahauad: jorge(at)galapagosccr.com

Galapagos Rebreathers makes the business press in Ecuador

Jorge A. Mahauad, founder of Galapagos Rebreathers, was featured as the cover of LIDERES today. The weekly business publication features different entrepreneur profiles and is the leading weekly business publication of Ecuadorian Press. The article highlights his entrepreneurship in developing the technical and rebreather diving market in the Galapagos Islands.

From PADI's Tec Rec Blog

This entry was posted on November 10, 2011 at 12:19 and is filed under News, Rebreathers in the PADI Tec Rec Blog. We have exciting news for 2012. Stay tunned...

Photo: Dr. Claus Meyer

The Galapagos Islands are known worldwide for providing incredible opportunity to observe marine mega fauna. Common encounters include big schools of hammer-head and galapagos sharks, white tip reef sharks and whale sharks. As a result, the northernmost islands of Darwin and Wolf have been considered top ten dive sites in the world for big encounters by many diving magazines worldwide and a healthy dive tourism market has grown steadily.

Until recently, the use of advanced diving technologies had been limited due to the recreational diving profiles performed and the close encounters available even for open circuit divers. But this is no longer the case.

The opportunity to experience the worldwide famous destination on a closed circuit rebreather is now available and provides a whole new level of enjoyment underwater by granting closer encounters and great photo and video opportunities.

The following footage is a raw-ish edit of a single 60 minute rebreather dive in a recent trip organized by PADI Master Instructor Jorge A. Mahauad and PADI Course Director Andy Philips. This trip is the second since 2010 by Galapagos Rebreathers, a rebreather travel specialized organization in the Galapagos Islands who is consistently promoting and executing rebreather live-aboard and land based trips there.