oh my. . here we go again. If you haven't been diving w/ them, then you can't be 'honest' about them, or even 'know' them. They cater to ALL divers. They teach many levels of diving. We only talk about shops and boats we 'know' and have been diving/ have had service w/.
I've checked all the dive ops on Maui and B&B stands out. Kris has always had a thing against them and he doesn't give an honest opinion about them. And Kris you said their reputation precedes them yet less than a year ago you were in their shop trying to work a deal with them.
For the record, Al, it was over a year ago that I last went in their shop. And that was because I was willing to give them a chance to show themselves as a viable affiliate both in terms of recommending divers to them and using their boat for my personal diving. Unfortunately, the customer service aspect was lacking. Their conditions for teaching off their boat (the primary reason I was looking for an affiliate at the time) were excessive compared to any other boat operator that worked with outside instructors.
Some of these conditions were obviously personal. Including "don't wear any logo wear from Maui Dive Shop or Maui Dreams on the boat" and "try not to mention PADI." Others were business oriented, but definitely did not suit the way I conduct my business -- they included using them as an exclusive source for rental gear -- this was a problem, as I like my students to get the best value they can, and with B&B quoting $45 per day for lower quality gear than the shop I use that was charging $25, that's really hard to justify.
The limited interaction I had with them further verified the veracity of what I had heard of them before then.
Now perhaps I haven't given them an honest chance. But truthfully, they closed that door on themselves -- I have no reason to recommend them but am doing what I can to limit myself to facts (obtained through third-parties, including your comment about 3 DM's) from this point.
They bring 3 DM's all the time. With a guest list that doesn't exceed 12 they can break off a DM easily withinout hiring someone extra. They can afford to bring that many and still be the lowest price on Maui because they aren't tied into activity brokers. They don't advertise and don't need to. There are time when there are more than 3DM's on a boat.
Thank you for the correction... that does make it much easier for them to do as you say.
That surfer at the boat launch was a classic post of yours. Talk about slander. You claim to "know" what's going on but it took you almost 5 weeks to get your surfer boat launch post online; really you don't have any inside info.
If you check my OP, I did not mention any boat by name. I've not been at that ramp for several months and have very little "inside info" since the fall, which is why the delay. The info I had on that topic came from the person living in that surfer's ohana -- and it wreaked of bias -- so I asked about "a situation" not mentioning the boat or operator in question.
I have been on Maui Dive Shop, Extended Horizons, Mike Severns several times and Ed Robinsons a few times... I think most of them are pretty good operators and I see them all diving the same spots again and again (meaning we're all diving the same spots).
Yes, I'm sure they have their favourite spots -- but my experience with these operators are that they'll honor the "been there done that" requests.
Having dove a lot around here, oftentimes going to the same mooring or anchoring point, I really don't understand the "don't go to the same spot twice" mindset. With a hundred or more dives at Ulua, it's still my favourite shore site to go to, with no two dives being the same.
I know you can't help but go negative about people you "hate" (even though you don't even know the B&B people.) I would rather you just not mention B&B again.
This was hardly "going negative" -- if you read my recent comments on the topic of technical stuff, you'll notice that I'm not going one way or the other... in fact, that might actually be recommending them!
As for hating them... I don't think that's the right word. I've found them to be less than conducive to friendly interaction and, aside from here on Scubaboard, found very few people that recommend or choose to dive with them.
Remember it's not cool to teach diving in the USA if you don't have a work permit or a CORA permit.
The way I conduct myself here is above reproach both in terms of immigration status and beach park access.
Of course since they changed some stuff with my provider his response may have bounced...time to try again.
This is getting good!
