Tiedemann’s Diving Center

My wife has wanted to dive for many years. She’s tried to learn from several places but never finished her open water certification. I always wanted to learn, but prefer smaller classes. We went to Tiedmann’s Diving Center… and I was immediately impressed. Ed was such an informative guy. There was no sales pitch, no you must sign here. There was free information. Encouragement. Openness. It was a HUGE change from what I am used to. We signed up.
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the signup, SSI vs Padi and whatever. I prefer the classes on the computer. I am a digital person and this was the best way for me to learn. Add in that I have a digital version of my certification :) and it works for me.
I had mask issues… I should say HAVE as I know I still have to work on it. Karl, my instructor, never pushed me. He never made me feel I was holding anyone back. He was patient. He was kind and he was beyond amazing. He took his time, taught us what he knew and treated us like equals. Just like Ed, there was no judgement — only learning and confidence building.
During my open water certification, I saw many other classes with varying degrees of knowledge and teaching. Some had more issues than others. I kept fighting with my buoyancy and my fears of trying to breathe the entire pool up my nose during the mask removal skill or mask 3. I met a new instructor that weekend — Ryan. Again, another extension of Ed, he gave me time… almost 1000 psi worth of air, to do the skill. He didn’t care how long it took, he waited. I even had a contingency plan to do it in a shallower depth where it might be warmer. I was never left to feel inadequate or a failure. In fact I was told many times to relax and don’t think — just do.
The point in, Ed and his team embody professionalism. They embody patience and share knowledge freely. I can text or email anything and I will get an honest answer. I can buy whatever gear I want from Ed’s shop, but I am also spoken to about what I really need. I’ve already signed up for more certifications with Ed and I plan on adding more. If you have an interest or have questions — this is the place to go.

Got my open water certification and all my gear here. Ed is one of the best scuba teachers on Long Island and has been doing it forever. When I dive with other people, I find myself more knowledgeable and competent and that relates directly back to the great training I received. If you want to learn SCUBA the right way and the safe way, go here. Also the shop has everything you will need gear wise as well as nitrox and air fills.