Lost dive holiday whilst in the Maldives - do I have a case?

[darren_uk]

I live in the UK

I wanted to do my PADI Open Water course with my kids - 2010.

We decided to go to the Maldives.

After some googling we settled on Velassaru

I contacted the island and asked them to put me in touch with their onsite dive centre.

I emailed the dive centre explaining precisely what we wanted and ask if there was any paperwork or anything (e.g. any books I could buy here in the UK and read before I arrived, or any medicals or any other paperwork)

They wrote back saying that they'd sell me the books there anyway, and also there is a medical form to fill out.

After a few more exchanges I booked in, flew out and looked forward to my diving lessons.


The next day morning I turned up in the dive centre and was given the usual paperwork.


This was a badly photocopied medical form and I answered "YES" to one of the questions.


The dive centre said I couldn't dive without a medical. "No problem" I said, "Tell me where to go."


"You can't." came the response.


Thus I was stuck on this small island and my diving holiday was destroyed.


Upon returning to the UK, I'm now a PADI Instructor complete with an HSE Dive Medical. I have also become aware that he could have (as I do for my students) emailed me the pdf of the medical form and said something like "We'll need you to say 'NO' to all of these - if you say 'YES' to any of them both now and on the first day of your course, you won't be able to dive without a doctor's medical" - I send this out to give people a chance to not have a wasted journey.



This dive centre on Velassaru could have done the same. PADI agreed with me, although because he hadn't technically breached any standards they couldn't take it further.



In short I feel I wasted quite a lot of money on this holiday that I'd never have gone on otherwise - the sole purpose (as detailed in my protracted emails with both the hotel and the dive centre) was for a dive holiday.



Comparing it with my pilot's licence in the USA ten years ago, the school said they send all students for a medical that will cost X; that was done, and I expected, from the wording of the dive centre's emails, that I'd turn up and be sent for a medical, only to find that no such facilities existed.



So: opinions: did he do wrong?


And if so, anyone advice how to go about getting damages through the Maldives legal system?

 

[Jax]

Do you believe you have no responsibility in this?

Did you not check to see if you could meet all the requirements before you left?

What about the swim test - did you know about that? Underwater breath hold?

How did the medical slip through the cracks?

It's a year and a hundred-plus dives later, and this still sticks in your craw? Perhaps some research on the effect of bitterness and resentment might be helpful.

No, your Velassaru dive centre did not do wrong.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It was a damn good lesson in dive planning from where I sit. Taught you to line up ALL your ducks before you show up at the site. Why didn't you call a local instructor in the UK and ask what you should do. Why was PADI even consulted? They are a body that issues a plastic card like any other agency. They are not the better business bureau. What would you actually sue them for? Your failure to fully research what you were doing. If I were a judge I'd slap the lawyer that brought a case like this to court.

 

[yarik83]

I feel for your issue but like others pointed out you have to have all your ducks in a row.

I think your first problem started in the fact that you wanted to get certified at location. You SHOULD HAVE taken classes in your native tongue and gathered experience before heading to maldives. What would have happened in maldives (were you to get certified there)... you would go through the accelerated course and get yourself 2 15 minute dives because you and the kids would run out of air with absolutely no practice. Hundreds of pounds spent. At the very least you could have taken them snuba diving to cut your losses and still get something out of your vacation.

I always tell people in my dive club... newbies specifically... DO NOT get certified on site and DO NOT get certified at home and a day later fly on your vacation. Vacations are expensive and so is diving. You can have yourself 1 hour dives paying same amount that inexperienced divers pay for 15 minutes of fame.

Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way.

No reason to sue.

 

[tajkd]

Been there - done that. One time is all it takes to learn forever. I was lucky in that there was a doctor on board who filled out the medical for me. Now every year I get a new form filled out when I do my physical.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

The short answer to your question is "no." Also, a suit would be totally impractical to pursue even if you had a case. How familiar are you with the Courts in the Maldives, or their laws? Your action would have to be be brought there, and their laws applied. Even if you won, you would lose, because you would spend more money than you could ever win. (BTW, I have been practicing law as a trial lawyer for 34 years). While Jim Laplenta's comments are a bit harsh ( or a lot harsh), he does point out the "value" of the experience. That is this : before planning any trip to an exotic place, be sure you know their policies and procedures. Know the conditions precedent to diving. Know that you will not be in the USA and rules in foreign lands are different and you have to follow their rules. I'd like to suggest that you reflect on what occurred and write a post for all the scubaboarders to read that gives them a list of do's and don'ts as you have learned them. Thanks for sharing your experience, even if it was painful.
DivemasterDennis

 

[beautybelow]

They must not have wanted to sell a course very badly.

For one thing, just a blanket "you must answer no to all the questions" is a terrible approach. Sitting down with the student and going through them one by one and if they have any questions regarding a specific one and explaining that, although you are not a doctor, it is your experience and knowledge that this particular question is not a risk issue under these particular circumstances (if indeed it is not) is a better approach.

Who is liable if you tell them to answer "no" to a question that is a real issue?

Or who could live with letting someone get hurt just because you didn't want to take the time to access the students health?

Diving is a serious health risk to begin with...scaring someone out of being honest with their current conditions with an "it will be a big pain in the @ss if you are honest" is not a good approach in my opinion.

Neither is simply telling them you can't dive or learn to dive because you answered yes to one of the questions. Did the instructor try and investigate what the question was and why you answered yes?

Or better yet, did you?

 

[RJP]

Short anwer: No
Long ansert: Get over it

Would have been nice if the resort sent you the medical form ahead of time, but even not doing that is no big deal. Did you make it clear "Look, I'm coming here for the express and sole reason to take this dive course, so please let me know right here and now if there's anything that might prevent me from taking that course that I need to be aware of or should otherwise review ahead of time..."

The resort did tell you that you'd need to complete a medical form. A quick google search would have turned that form up. A quick review of that form would have told you that answering YES to any of the questions would likely mean NO to diving.

Lesson learned.

 

[Tao of the Dive]

"Passed with high marks, now to get experience?!?!?" NOT the kind of instructor I would want.

As litigious as you come off, it is ironic that you suggest to your students to lie on a medical form which may result in them suing you.

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

To follow a similar pattern to other posters...

No there is nothing you can do about it - it is essentially your own fault
Yes it is incredibly bad customer service - but you can't sue for poor service (although sometimes I wish you could)

It never ceases to amaze me how many people rock into my office each year without having contacted us first and having traveled half way around the world to learn to dive only to be turned down because of (usually) asthma. Occasionally something else but most often asthma. And when I won't shift on the medical often their response is to say they will go elsewhere and lie - at which point I give their first physiology/physics lesson so that they understand the potential seriousness.

I also am astounded by the few who are in a seriously unfit condition and expect to be able to learn to dive. So unfit I feel unsure about having them do any physical activity under the wings of the dive center.