Bad experience with PADI OW cert in Bonaire

[boulderjohn]

You got what you paid for. No offense to you, but you're paying discount prices for a professional service and then complaining that the service is not superior.

PADI's priority is a low entry cost, and then teaching you as little as possible as quickly as possible to make that low entry cost profitable.

If you really want quality dive instruction then you need to find a better dive organization or pay more for individualized instruction.

I'm not saying that PADI instructors are bad, they just don't get paid much, and so you aren't going to get much time out of them. Consider paying your instructor for individualized instruction. Your instructor will be making a living wage, and your experience will likely be much different since the instructor is getting paid for his/her expertise.

This is nonsensical beyond belief.

PADI is an agency that certifies instructors, the same as other agencies. It does not set the price of instruction. It does not pay these instructors. It does not make instructional schedules. All that is up to the dive operation that hires these instructors.

 

[tursiops]

This is nonsensical beyond belief.

PADI is an agency that certifies instructors, the same as other agencies. It does not set the price of instruction. It does not pay these instructors. It does not make instructional schedules. All that is up to the dive operation that hires these instructors.

The issues the OP has are with VIP diving, which is surprising. They have some excellent instructors and a very good reputation. The issues are not with PADI. The op should make sure that VIP Diving knows of their concerns. I'd be surprised if the course directors (Kevin and Maarten) didn't show appropriate concern. Only if blown off by VIP would it be worth contacting PADI, and then only if the exchanges are in writing and contradictory to PADI standards. "He said -She said" complaints and personal disagreements or misunderstandings are of no value.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

@BlackMargate, In regards to the mask you’re using, what type of mask is it? Did you go to a dive shop and get an actual real professional dive mask or is it one of those cheap snorkel sets you buy at WalMart or Target?
And the snorkel, same question as above.
And also, do you have any facial hair/ mustache?
You might want to concentrate on the mask issue first and get that resolved because that is nothing but a hassle and an huge distraction having an ill-fitting mask. It should have nothing to do with different mouthpieces, snorkel or regulator, the mask should be able to compensate for facial and mouth movement. You just need to find the right one. Make sure the mask strap is pulled down low enough on the back of your head too and the strap is somewhat snug but not tight.
And when you say you have 8 years of snorkeling, is that just floating around on the surface looking at stuff below or does that include any freediving down to depth?
Another thing I could suggest to take baby steps to get used to scuba diving and gear is to maybe do a discover scuba or get what I have seen referred to as ‘scuba diver’ resort course. It’s not full OW but it will give you more mechanical experience.
Just a thought.
We want to see you and your S/O succeed!

 

[NearlyRetired]

Hi,

My SO and I have been snorkeling for 7 years in open ocean conditions, and we decided to try SCUBA and apply for PADI's OW cert. We did the e-learning, and then booked the practical part of the course with a well-known business in Bonaire.

Our class started with a total of 4 students, and was supposed to take 3 days of 9:30-5pm. In the first morning, another student had various problems that took time to figure out, and the teacher quickly started putting pressure on the class to move faster to keep on schedule. That student had to drop out. When in the afternoon my SO had issues duck diving to the depth required by the instructor, they were also strongly suggested to voluntarily drop out, lest they slow the schedule more. We proposed practicing by ourselves for the rest of the day, and re-test the skill at the end of day 2, which extended our day to 10+ hours.

The second day, we headed to a wavy ocean for more confined dives. The instructor told us that they could only afford demonstrating the skills once and there wasn’t time to answer questions. If we didn’t fully understand the demonstration, we had to look at another student. As we started practicing buoyancy, several issues came up: uneven weights distribution in the rental gear causing bad trim, masks constantly flooding at depth, air overconsumption due to purging masks, people crashing into coral heads, etc. The work felt hurried, unpleasant, and unsafe. After discussing with the instructor, we decided to both fold and forfeit the class.

This experience really left us confused and demoralized about diving. Is this expected for a class? Do SB’ers have suggestions to get a better experience if we tried again, here in Bonaire or back in the US (NY)?

Thanks a lot!

That is unfortunate, but not surprising. We've been to Bonaire a few times. The diving is fantastic. The dive shops, however, can be very rigid and intolerant if things are not keeping on schedule. It's kind of the culture of the island. I wouldn't go back expecting a better experience. Maybe give Cayman Brac or Cozumel a try.

As for rental gear for new divers, it takes time to get used to and often can be ill-fitting. If you end up diving frequently, invest in your own gear. It's so comforting getting the gear that works for your body and preferences. Just one less thing to worry about.

 

[BlackMargate]

@BlackMargate, In regards to the mask you’re using, what type of mask is it? Did you go to a dive shop and get an actual real professional dive mask or is it one of those cheap snorkel sets you buy at WalMart or Target?
And the snorkel, same question as above.

Hollis M-1(plus Fourth Element fabric strap, which is more comfortable for me) with Aqualung Impulse 3, and Scubapro D-Mask Wide with Tusa Imprex II. We always get help from the local store in NY for fit, burning/scrubbing, etc.

And also, do you have any facial hair/ mustache?

No for both of us. I've used silicon paste with success some previous time when I had more hair, but it's easier to shave

You might want to concentrate on the mask issue first and get that resolved because that is nothing but a hassle and an huge distraction having an ill-fitting mask. It should have nothing to do with different mouthpieces, snorkel or regulator, the mask should be able to compensate for facial and mouth movement. You just need to find the right one. Make sure the mask strap is pulled down low enough on the back of your head too and the strap is somewhat snug but not tight.
And when you say you have 8 years of snorkeling, is that just floating around on the surface looking at stuff below or does that include any freediving down to depth?

I've done light freediving to 5m with a weight belt. I don't think we got past 3m with SCUBA. Mask gives me no issues either with leaks or equalization on a freedive. SO hadn't done freediving before, but also didn't have mask problems when we were practicing duck diving in the pool by ourselves.

Another thing I could suggest to take baby steps to get used to scuba diving and gear is to maybe do a discover scuba or get what I have seen referred to as ‘scuba diver’ resort course. It’s not full OW but it will give you more mechanical experience.

Our instructor also suggested doing the Scuba Diver certification instead of OW, but that shop seems to give it as a 2-day course, so it felt like it'd have the same pace or worse. We'll see how it goes with a private instructor these coming days, and we'll report back.

We want to see you and your S/O succeed!

Thanks! We do really appreciate the encouragement and help, it makes a world of difference. We were ready to give up before this.