How do you know if a dive instructor/shop is reputable and safe?

[Scott]

For example, I have it on good authority that a chain of shops in your area has a policy of putting the lead equivalent of 20% of a student's body weight on them for OW classes and then planting them firmly on the bottom of the pool on their knees for instruction. Consequently, students come out of their programs with no buoyancy skills whatsoever. If it turns out to be as true as I have been led to believe, I would avoid using them for instruction at all costs. How would you know? Simple. If you are considering OW instruction with them, you ask them about that policy.

If this is a large retailer with multi locations in and out of California, then I can tell you there is nothing in their written policies about over weighting students or an outline of how to teach the course. This may be the practice at of a couple locations as a number of instructors teach for multiple locations or it could be just a few really bad instructors.
I know it wasn't the policy at my location.

 

[robertarak]

There are good and bad instructors everywhere. Large chains that happen to have a dive isle or two and a pool tend to have less control, less experience and the good instructor is usually the exception, not the rule. True dive shops, that are only dive shops tend to have higher caliber instructors...usually. You should always get recommendations, check yelp, check Scubaboard, etc. Also you should always interview the shop/instructor. I wrote a very short article on that subject here: SCUBATUDE Scuba Diver Resources

 

[Neilwood]

One thing I would look at is the general set up of the establishment/website.

The dive school I ended up doing my OW with had obviously spent a large amount of time and effort in setting the environment up well (clean and tidy pool area, uncluttered shop, excellent changing facilities) , the website was brilliant (well laid out and clear), the workshops were busy but tidy etc. Any time I have phoned the shop they have been more than happy to help.

It shows a lot about the mindset of those running the show imho - are they there to just make a buck (obviously they all want to but is it at the cost of other things) or do they take pride in things?

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

In my initial days of diving I was under the impression that if a place says "PADI" then minimum training standards will be met. If the guy is in business and it says "PADI" then I am safe! Other agencies I did not recognize as much. I learnt the hard way that this is a dangerous way of looking at the diving world. For one of my courses, I went with a diveshop that violated multiple standards in such an epic way that it is now hard to believe. The problem was that I did not know what the standards were until much later in my diving progression. When you are new to the diving world, the only thing you know is what the instructor tells you so it is a self-contained bubble. There can not be an "informed customer" at that initial level because it is information that you pay for.

Here is what I would do differently. Instead of finding instructor first and then making friends among his diving circle, I would do things the other way around. I would start making connections within the local diving community first. Each instructor has built a certain following behind him and you will be able to look at the following and tell what kind of person is leading the pack.

In my area we have a lot of shops and instructors. One particular group is very large, shop affiliated and enjoys very close associations with the owner. They are recreational divers who are fun to hang out with but they have no desire for technical diving so I do not see myself growing further with them. We have another group which is small but when you meet them you will know that they are not small because the instructor is bad but because they like to do technical diving and the clientele is smaller. He only stocks gear for his students so you will not be able to find a lot of recreational gear. Some instructors in our area have built a reputation for turning our dissatisfied customers and as you move around the diving community you will be able to learn that they have created disgrunted students more than others. When you hear the same nature of complaints from more than one people who do not know each other then you can sense that there is some truth to it.

All of the above may sound a lot of work but if you start hanging out with divers then everything I have written above comes to you more like a "vibe" than statistical data on which you will make decisions.

Good luck.