Does PADI care?

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surfsidedav

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
187
Reaction score
11
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
# of dives
200 - 499
Before this goes any further, this has nothing to do with whether or not you like PADI or if you agree/disagree with the way they teach, so this ISN'T meant to be an opportunity to bash PADI. That being said, here goes. This past weekend I was in Fl doing a drift snorkel down Rainbow River with a group. A dive flag was properly displayed. A pontoon from Shop X was heading upstream and our group was instructed to go right, giving the pontoon the wider, deeper part of the river to pass us. The pontoon captain made no effort to steer clear of us to the point where our group had to go left to let the boat pass us. Now maybe the captain is an idiot, maybe he's never read a rules of the water handbook, maybe he's an a$$hole. Don't know. But I do know that this has happened two weekends in a row, exact same scenario. So, the question is, does PADI care that its 5-Star diving center Shop X is being reckless on the water? Or unless it specifically involves diving, they don't care and will do nothing. Kind of like they can sell crack at the shop, as long as it isn't during dive class. Before somebody gets hurt, something needs to be done to correct this situation. I know I have the right of way, but I'm not willing to get chewed up by a prop to prove my point. Any suggestions?
 
I don't know if PADI would care or not (I'm leaning towards yes though), but are there laws in the area regading how close you can come to a dive flag? Maybe the best place to is to report him to law enforcement. Are there police boat-patrols in your area?
 
I'm sure they'd care just as much as anyone else would. I'm equally sure they don't know the first thing about it either. Suggestions ? Tell them.
 
I don't think whether or not they care is the issue. The issue is whether or not they can do anything about it even if they want to.

I agree with DivingPrincessE, if laws were violated, the place to go is law enforcement. When PADI standards are violated it should be reported to PADI.
 
Agree with Mike.
Don't know what this has to do with PADI !

Could be the shop owner's don't know. People like you need to make sure EVERYONE hears about the incident. But local law enforcement should be the first.
Did you get other witness statements ?
 
I agree it sounds more like a law enforcement thing then a PADI thing. Even if you don't get anyplace with it, if they do things like this repeatedly, and other people report it too, a trend is likely to get noticed. If no one reports stuff nothing gets done for sure.

Marine and dive flag laws aren't PADIs to enforce. But the same thing about trends may apply - if there are repeated complaints of whatever sort against a shop I'd think a trend would eventually be noticed or taken into account when a problem that comes up and is in their domain.
 
First you should pay a little visit to "Shop X" and voice your concerns to the owner to give them a chance to resolve it. If they're not aware of the problem they can't fix it. Go as a group for maximum effect, they're more likely to take you seiously if there's more than one person doing the complaining. Law enforcement won't be able to do anything unless the catch them at it.
 
So, the question is, does PADI care that its 5-Star diving center Shop X is being reckless on the water?

From my experience, they do care. I was with a group at a PADI 5 Star resort where a fatal accident occurred. The resort was at fault. Our trip leader runs a PADI dive shop, and reported the incident to PADI. The resort's 5 star rating was off the resort's website, and PADI's listing of five star resorts by the time we returned home.

Any suggestions?

Contact PADI. The only way to answer your question is for you to contact PADI. I think only you, since you were involved in the incident, can determine if their response equates to caring about the incident.
 
Yup get a group together and see the shop owner. Make sure he knows you've told whoever has jurisdiction over that bit of water and PADI. Explain that you don't want to escalate the situation but you are concerned about safety. Go with an attitude of solving a problem, not one of making a scene.
 
The US Coast Guard rules for navigating inland waterways are pretty clear, regardless of whether a dive boat is involved or not. I don't know, in that area, how you'd report it, but I'm betting there is some agency with jurisdiction in that area for controlling inland boat traffic. They would be the ones to take the issue to.
 

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