Is the instructor partly to blame if you fail your OWC?

[rick00001967]

Our training shop was a grass roof hut on a beach, only visible from the beach. We were lucky, we decided to cut our evening short on vacation, and find the actual location of the dive op the day before.

Missing people in our class, the next day.

Our 2nd boat ride after cert, was buried in a maze marina at the wrong slip.

Apparently, even with massive giant tanks of helium onsite, flying a balloon is too hard to pull off. A hot dog stand has more sense than that.

After certifying the next 4 weeks of scuba vacations was riddled with dive shop "kiosks" nearly impossible to find, boats in marina mazes, 3rd world addresses, manditory phone check in in a country our phones failed in, useless cab drivers, and not ONE single dive op that can put GPS coordinates on their website.

where did all this fun and excitement take place? lol

 

[MidOH]

I recently ran into another post by this gentleman in which he said that all through the dive industry, all the shops hide the part of the OW course that talks about hydrostatic inspection of tanks because all their tanks are out of hydro. When I challenged him on this, he said he didn't pay a lot of attention to that part of the course, and he referenced his experience with a specific shop's tanks.

Apparently he had trouble finding a dive shop one day, and so he opines that all dive shops with all agencies around the world intentionally make it hard to find their shops. Seems logical.

Actually I said THEY didn't give much attention to tank stamps. I had it memorized.

Then I asked around to my peers. And we payed attention at other dive ops. Enough to have a valid opinion.

 

[MidOH]

where did all this fun and excitement take place? lol

Assorted Caribbean islands, Dominican Republic, Mexico.

Some places are more organized, but it's an Indiana Jones adventure getting to most.

One dive op was literally a 4 foot by 5 foot kiosk next to a marina. No signage any different than any other tourist trap kiosks. I think we passed it twice. In flip flops, in 100 degree heat.

If your into that, cool. If you're not, plan ahead.

Get to your local a day early. Find where you're going, the day before. Make it a mission, then relax and get dinner.

 

[rick00001967]

Assorted Caribbean islands, Dominican Republic, Mexico.

Some places are more organized, but it's an Indiana Jones adventure getting to most.

sorry you had that experience. cant say i ever had that problem. now car rental agencies on the other hand.....

 

[MidOH]

Eh, actually turned out good. But man, so many times have we been close to having prepaid days go south, due to simple things.

I don't know why this industry goes out of its way to make things confusing or hard.

If I ran an op:
-Training shop coordinates and travel instructions posted online.
-Dive shop coordinates posted online.
-Dive boat slip coordinates posted online (if it applies).
-massive overhead signage
-Dive op, Dive shop, website, even the damn boat, have the same company name. (Nothing is more fun than booking with "a" but your actual sign says "b")

 

[Scubagermany]

I've been reading a lot of threads where people are saying to change instructors. How can you tell if your instructor is good or not? Do I wait at the last minute before cancelling my course? Will I get a refund? Are the reviews accurate concerning a dive centre? Do I take that person on face value? What decisions should I consider when I get there?

I do not know what is customary in the US or in Mexico.

When I go diving (usually I go to the Meditarranean or Egypt) I just dive as much as I want to dive, do a certification if I feel like it and I always pay at the end of my holidays.
Has never been different in any dive shop I have been to.
So there is always room for a renegotiation of the price if something went wrong....

 

[sea_ledford]

-massive overhead signage
-Dive op, Dive shop, website, even the damn boat, have the same company name. (Nothing is more fun than booking with "a" but your actual sign says "b")

The photo lab I used to take film to on Maui to get developed, also sold the disposable film cameras in a plastic housing for snorkeling. They got tired of answering the same question every day, "Do you sell underwater cameras?" So they made a GIANT banner that you literally had to duck under to see the counter. It said "YES, we sell underwater cameras!" Guess how much that affected the number of times they got asked that question? None whatsoever. People are just generally completely oblivious to their surroundings, especially on vacation.

For some reason, 90% of the dive shops in Texas feel their name must include both "Texas" and "scuba" so they basically all have the same name. I've been here for 15 years, I still can't remember the names of them.

 

[dmaziuk]

People are just generally completely oblivious to their surroundings, especially on vacation.

Not really, no: we do see what we expect to see perfectly well. There is a name for this: The Invisible Gorilla, and the guys who came up with it got a Nobel for it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Don’t feed the trolls

 

[Wibble]

Just taking notes on correct training procedures. May need to make a complaint to the agency.

Do explain…

Have you taken the Open Water class yet?

With all scuba training, be that basic beginner training through to advanced technical training, you only get out of it what you put into it and your learning doesn’t stop at the end of the class as you must practice your skills.

Good instructors undoubtedly produce better results but all instructors vary in their approach so not all “good” instructors may be suitable for your circumstances. However, with basic classes, the issue can be the one-on-one time you have. Often paying the least possible may bring poorer results.

And for goodness sake, take the class in the environment you’ll be diving in. Pretty warm water resorts won’t be producing competent cold water, poor visibility divers. If you’re going to be diving in the UK, take the class in the UK