Bad experience with PADI OW cert in Bonaire

[BlackMargate]

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!

 

[GDHLEWIS]

Clearly a bad Instructor OR and instructor under a lot of pressure / over worked. Makes no difference how big a / well known the business is, doesn't ensure quality service. Classes should not be so hurried especially with new divers, Id complain to the Company directly first and state your dissatisfaction at the service provided, if they do not take responsibility for what seems their lack of professionalism then google reviews and similar social media reviews can be a powerful tool that can have real world effects on their future business. Like any training school you will find bad eggs out there as well as trainers that are just oxygen thieves. There are plenty of good instructors and school out there so don't be dishearten with it all, just don't use them again . If you find a center or trainer that takes your fancy ask on here if anyone's used them nearly guaranteed that some one will perk up and give you advice or opinions on them. Sorry you had such a bad experience, don't worry though there are better, I had a similar experience when taking my son through his PADI Open Water, first school lost their best instructor and I wanted nothing to do with their back up instructor, so changed centers and started again with him easy enough.

 

[lowwall]

That is not how it's supposed to work. E-mail the operator with your concerns. If they don't provide a satisfactory response including a refund for their part of the course (everything except the e-learning which you can use elsewhere), then contact PADI

Help | PADI

PADI®, Professional Associaion of Diving Instructors®, is known for its slogan - The Way the World Learns to Dive® and is the global leader in scuba diving education. If you have a scuba diving question, the global PADI organization is here to help.

www.padi.com

Next time check in here and we should be able to give you recommendations for an instructor in a given area. You can also consider a private course for just the two of you. It will cost more, but relieves a lot of the pressure. You can split the difference in costs between a quickie course and private by finding a shop that has longer courses and limits the number of students like Aqui Water Sports of Ft. Lauderdale.

Taking a class in NY is ideal if you'll be diving in NY. But if you are only planning on doing warm water diving, I'd wait for your next trip.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

You need to file a formal complaint with PADI.

 

[tarponchik]

A leaking mask is your responsibility, IMO. The instructor can help you picking up one, but he can't be blamed for leaks. Since you are an experienced snorkeler I am surprised you had mask issues.

People crashing into coral heads when practicing buoyancy is wrong, of course. This shoud be done over the sand.

 

[tursiops]

It would help if the dive operator were identified. I guessed Buddy Dive, but there are no coral heads to "crash into" in the sand in front of Buddy Dive where the OW classes are held.

 

[TravisD]

Not sure if this was an independent instructor, or someone working for a dive center, but did you attempt to bring it to the Center/operator's attention while it was happening? It's harder to fix things after you've left. Of course, if the Instructor was the highest ranking person for the operation you booked, then all bets are off, but when they're representing a larger business who has interest in keeping a good reputation, they may have been able to better resolve your issues.

Also, this is a good example of why many will recommend doing you OW class (as much as possible) before you go to your destination. That usually gives more flexibility with dealing with any problems that may arise, and you don't spend large chunks of your time in Paradise getting frustrated.

Regardless, good luck resolving the issue, and I hope you find a way to finish the program!

 

[uncfnp]

Not an instructor and never have been but I have been a student, many times and all but once while at dive destinations.

This is tough. You have an instructor with a set schedule and limited time. It would seem that situations like this are almost inevitable, especially in a group class and a beginner’s class. All but one of my away courses have been private or at most another student known to me. And all the classes came with the knowledge that if I couldn’t do it in the time frame given, I wouldn’t get the certification. But this is an Open Water beginner’s course so that does change the expectation a bit.

First recommendation, do the course locally. If not an option my second recommendation is to do a private class (in this case you and SO).

I am curious how the instructors on SB handle the time constraints with a group class?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

This is a huge problem with current scuba training, especially in destination locations where people are on vacation and don’t want to spend precious time in an OW class, they just want it to be done so they can go diving.
The problem is, to do it correctly and make sure the students absorb the info and also do the skills satisfactorily means it may be more than three days. You got caught in the hard current of run-em-through scuba by an incompetent instructor that seemed to have no experience with fast track training. And also not everyone is cut out for fast track training. I’m sure the instructor was plenty stressed out that his class was falling apart due to extreme time constraints. It was a typical cattle drive operation it sounds like. He started with four and ended up with one. That’s a horrible success rate! You have to wonder how often does this happen? and what kind of subliminal damage is it causing the industry?
This is the type of thing that gives scuba a bad name. It leaves people like you and your SO confused and demoralized and it’s a huge turn off.
I recommend getting trained at home. Find a shop and/or instructor that can tailor the training to fit your needs, not the needs of a tight schedule. Everybody has a schedule but there needs to be some flexibility for students to work out problems. I used to Dive Master for a lot of classes and we were assigned students to go into the corner of the pool and work on things that needed special attention.
Eventually you should also look into getting your own gear so you can learn it, be familiar with it, know it works, and you can also customize it with different hose lengths etc., to fit YOUR needs not a general rental fleet. I’m going to be blunt, rental gear sucks!
It’s very important to be relaxed and confident when learning scuba diving, and gear familiarity is part of that along with watermanship and being comfortable in the water.
I sincerely hope you guys don’t give up. Scuba is a wonderful activity so hang in there!

We expect reports on your progress!

 

[JoeTPhilly]

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!

Sorry for your experience. There is a GUE training center in Bonaire. I would get in contact with Mr. G at Area9 Mastery Diving Center and get some proper training.