What to Expect at Your First GUE Basic Fundamentals Class

GUE Basic Fundamentals (commonly called “Fundies”) is one of GUE’s most popular courses and serves as a gateway into the GUE system. It’s designed for progressive preparation — taking your existing diving skills and building them toward conscious competence. Whether you’re a diver from another agency looking to sharpen your skills or someone who wants to eventually pursue technical or cave diving, this course will transform how you move and think underwater. Here’s what to expect.

Understanding the GUE Fundamentals Pathway

Before diving into the course details, it’s worth knowing that GUE now offers three levels at this stage of diver development, each targeting a different goal:

• Performance Diver (2 days, 4 dives) — for building a solid foundation and achieving comfort with GUE concepts. Great for divers new to GUE who want to improve trim, buoyancy, and learn the basics.
• Basic Fundamentals (3 days, 6 dives) — for progressive preparation and achieving competence. This is the course we’re focusing on here. It builds on everything in Performance Diver and adds more advanced skills.
• Technical Fundamentals (4 days, 8 dives) — for experienced divers aiming to achieve automaticity. This is the course that opens the door to GUE’s cave, tech, and CCR training. It requires prerequisite certifications and dive experience.

Your instructor can help you determine which level is the right fit based on your current experience, goals, and skill level. The courses are designed so you can progress from one level to the next over time.

Before the Course: Online Academics

Before the in-person days begin, you’ll complete six academic modules through GUE’s Mastery Learning™ online platform. These cover: Introduction and Overview (GUE’s philosophy and system), Building a Solid Foundation (buoyancy, trim, balance, propulsion, basic skills, and equipment configuration), Dive Planning and Gas Management (unified team, gas strategies, situational awareness), Breathing Gas Dynamics (gases under pressure, oxygen complications, narcosis, GUE standard gases), Decompression (the basics, minimum deco procedures, and decompression illness), and Diving Safety and the GUE System (accident prevention and the GUE approach).

Take this seriously — the in-person days move quickly and your instructor will expect you to arrive with a solid understanding of the theory. You’ll also need to own or arrange GUE-standard equipment: a backplate and wing, long hose, backup light, primary light, wetnotes, and jet fins. The course can be done with single or double cylinders. If you plan to use doubles or a drysuit during the class, you’ll need prior experience with them. If you don’t have all the right gear yet, talk to your instructor well before the course — they can advise on what to purchase or borrow.

Day 1: Field Drills and Your First Dives

The first two days are conducted in shallower water (around 5 metres), giving you a controlled environment to build your foundation before going deeper later in the course.

The day begins with field drills on land: equipment assembly and functionality checks, equipment configuration, gas analysis and cylinder marking, and the pre-dive sequence. You’ll also practise fundamental skills on dry land — propulsion and maneuvering techniques, Basic 5 scuba skills, S-drill, SMB deployment, no-mask swim, and valve operation. These land drills build muscle memory before you get in the water.

The GUE Basic 5 are a set of core skills performed while maintaining neutral buoyancy and horizontal trim: (1) Regulator Removal, (2) Regulator Exchange, (3) Long Hose Deployment, (4) Mask Flood and Clearing, and (5) Mask Removal and Replacement. These are the building blocks that every other skill is built upon.

Your first dive focuses on buoyancy and trim practice, propulsion techniques, and a slow ascent with at least one stop. Your second dive introduces maneuvering techniques, the Basic 5 scuba skills, and another slow ascent. The emphasis on Day 1 is getting comfortable with your body position, your breathing, and your kicks — no advanced drills yet.

Days 2–3: Building Skills Progressively

Each day follows the same pattern: field drills in the morning to introduce or review techniques, followed by dive sessions where you apply and build on what you’ve learned. You repeat and refine skills from the previous day while adding new ones — this repetition is key to building real competence.

Dive 3 is where the S-drill (gas sharing) is introduced, along with propulsion practice and slow ascents. Dive 4 adds descent drills, valve drills, refinement of previous skills, and an out-of-gas (OOG) ascent drill with at least two stops. By this point, the dives go deeper than the first two days.

Dive 5 continues with descent drills, further refinement, no-mask swim, SMB deployment with an ascent drill, and the unconscious diver lift (note: the no-mask swim and unconscious diver lift are flexible skills that can be performed on any dive from 3 to 6). Dive 6 brings it all together: descent drill, valve drill, S-drill, maneuvering techniques including helicopter turns, and an OOG ascent with SMB deployment and at least two stops.

Your instructor will give you detailed feedback after every dive. This is one of the most valuable parts of the course — the feedback is direct, specific, and constructive. You’ll know exactly what you did well and exactly what needs improvement. Each day builds on the last, so you can see your progress in real time.

The Evaluation

At the end of the course, your instructor evaluates you against GUE’s standards. There are four possible outcomes:

• Pass: You’ve met the standard for Basic Fundamentals. You can continue to GUE’s recreational courses (DPV 1, Photogrammetry, Scientific Diver, etc.) or upgrade to Technical Fundamentals when you’re ready.
• Provisional: You’ve shown solid progress but need more practice on specific skills. You’ll have a defined period to meet the remaining requirements.
• Incomplete: You need additional training time to reach the required standard.
• Fail: This is rare, but it happens. It simply means you need more foundational development before attempting the course again.

There’s no shame in any outcome. The evaluation is what makes GUE certifications meaningful — they represent actual demonstrated skill, not just attendance. Many divers who receive a Provisional go on to pass after focused practice.

How to Prepare

• Get in the water before the course. The more comfortable you are in your gear, the more you can focus on learning new skills.
• Work on your fitness. You’ll need to swim 275 metres in under 14 minutes and 15 metres underwater on a single breath.
• Complete the GUE Mastery Learning™ theory thoroughly. Don’t just skim it — your instructor expects you to arrive prepared.
• Arrive with an open mind. Even if you have hundreds of dives, be ready to unlearn some habits and embrace a new way of thinking about diving.
• If you’re unsure whether Basic Fundamentals or Performance Diver is the right starting point for you, reach out to your instructor. They’ll help you find the best fit for your current level.

What Comes After Basic Fundamentals?

Once you’ve passed Basic Fundamentals, you have several paths forward. You can take GUE’s recreational specialty courses, continue building your skills through coaching and practice dives, or upgrade to Technical Fundamentals when you’re ready for the demands of cave, tech, or CCR training. The upgrade process starts with a knowledge and skills assessment, adds new skills and procedures, and can typically be completed in one to two additional days depending on your progression.