OP
Heatheroe
Contributor
Ok so for Charlotte, NC area folks, what are your opinions on Open Water Adventures?
How to vet a dive shop
- Thread starter Heatheroe
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OP
Heatheroe
Contributor
Unfortunately, most new divers do not discover SB prior to learning to dive. All these questions especially Jim's interrogation are of minimal consequence. Questions asked by new students are: How much, how long and where. All the other stuff is butterpuffle. Very few new customers question the credentials or techniques of their instructors. Anyone bringing @Jim Lapenta 's questions to an LDS will be shoo'ed out of the store.
Seriously, the number of LD stores is diminishing so rapidly that most customers have little choice anyway.
Seriously, the number of LD stores is diminishing so rapidly that most customers have little choice anyway.
You've been disappointed for 8 years now. Maybe you just need to go to the place you had your best experience and get certified.
Your sister needs to do it for herself so I agree with her and do it separately if she is not comfortable with it. I prefer to split up family members and spouses if possible as it removes any pressure they may feel to please each other. As for the tagging along with the class we do it all the time for certified divers but if your not certified they are not going to let you go.
So your issue is not quite what I expected, and probably not what most people were imagining either. Seems the way to avoid that issue is to call the shop and find out where they do their pool work and checkout dives, how often they're scheduled, and what their backup plan is. I find it strange that the shop you went to before didn't have your in-water time scheduled when you signed up. The shop I used had the whole thing planned out when I signed up; weekend 1 was class and pool, weekend 2 was ocean dives. On day 1, we found out that the water polo team at the school whose pool we were using made the semifinals and was revoking their reservation, but there was an assistant instructor with a backyard pool where we were able to finish up. (Incidentally, the shop I'd originally been planning to use has their own pool, so they don't have to worry about that.) On day 2, it began looking like beach conditions the following weekend might not be favorable, so they offered us the option of doing 3 boat dives on Saturday so we'd just have the one dive left, and if that couldn't happen those of us going on vacation could at least get the scuba diver cert (PADI's OW-lite option that limits you to diving with a DM, which is mostly what people do in the Caribbean anyway.) Luckily the weather cleared up enough by Sunday that I was able to get the full cert. In retrospect, trying to get certified the month before my vacation was cutting it close, and I'm grateful it worked out in the end.
I couldn’t tell from your thread 8 years ago if you had told the shop about your already scheduled vacation when you signed up for your class.
That is odd about the scheduling.
That is odd about the scheduling.
For OW checkout dives too?
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