Heatheroe
Contributor
I would have been on the side of the pool if the instructor allowed it or in their observation room. Not in the pool.How do you let divers tag along? We don’t allow that at all. Instructors, DMs and students. That’s it.
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I would have been on the side of the pool if the instructor allowed it or in their observation room. Not in the pool.How do you let divers tag along? We don’t allow that at all. Instructors, DMs and students. That’s it.
I think you are right. But while Utila may be one of the cheapest places in the world to get certified, getting there definitely is not cheap.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.
I know but we had not seen the groupon and didn't find out until we were in the first class and had already paid $600 for the 2 of us. We were the only ones who paid full price. I think he was cutting corners to save money since he had offered and sold so many Groupons.Groupon should have been a warning right away. Stay away from them.
I get this question quite often and have addressed it here before. I have a list of questions I recommend students ask. Two sets actually. One for the shop and one for the instructor. Both can be found in my book but to not run afoul and get accused of shameless self-promotion here are the basic questions. If you want more details on each, that's in the book. There's too much to post it all here.
For the instructor:
- “When did you become an instructor?”
- "Have you had any large gaps in your teaching career? How recently? How many courses have you taught in the past year?"
- “What is your certifying agency?”
- “How much time is required for the course?”
- “How large are the classes?”
- “What equipment do you provide and what do I as the student need to supply?”
- “Is your class schedule set or flexible?”
- “Do you teach skin diving skills?”
- “What methods do you use to teach proper weighting?”
- “What methods do you use to address the panic cycle?”
- “Do you teach students to perform skills in a horizontal position from the beginning of the class?”
- “Will I have time to just swim and practice the skills we learn?”
- “Can I sit in on a class or pool session?”
- “What methods do you use to teach buoyancy and trim?”
- “How much time will I get to practice these skills?”
- “Do you dive with students after class has ended?”
- “Where do you do your checkout dives?”
- “How many places have you been diving?”
- “When was the last time you were diving?”
- “How often do you dive for fun?"
I have let it go after all these years and surprisingly the shop is still in business. We saw him once a few years later at the airport in Bonaire. I'm sure he didn't recognize us but I gave him the stink eye the whole plane ride home, haha.
Shops here will let you, one of them if you have ever taken a class with them will provide free rental gear including full tank for it. Just don't interfere with the classes.
That makes sense. I got to drive along with both my daughters during their classes. For the oldest, she was part of a larger group. Actually two separate groups from the same shop, but different instructors. When they were doing the skills part, I kept well clear, and really just observed and recorded on my GoPro. I did buddy up with her for other parts of the dive.If they are going to be diving together, then at some point I want to see them dive together. This way, I get to identify any problems caused by the 'seasoned' diver and make sure that they have the same signals and protocols. This is especially important if the 'seasoned' diver has learned bad habits or holds to some of the old ways.