senseichavez
New
I’m not able to post in the regional forum so leaving this here.
First off, my dive was fine. Nothing spectacular, but fine.
However, the dive operator shouldn’t be in business anymore, or they should at least hire new staff. I indicated at the beginning of the dive that we had a diver who was basic open water certified and had not dived in a few years. She was excited but nervous.
When we first arrived at the dive shop, they didn’t even greet us. I had to introduce us and give them our certifications: mine as a new Divemaster and hers as an open water diver. We emphasized again that it had been a few years for her and that she had very few dives overall. She isn’t someone I have dived with before, so I appreciated her honesty about her lack of experience.
Once on the boat, the dive briefing was minimal—just a vague direction and an estimated duration of 50 minutes. We checked our own setups at the surface, and I helped her because the staff were short and rude. I’ve been with other dive shops on vacation, and 95% have been overwhelmingly positive experiences. When they handed her gear to her, they seemed disgusted that they had to help her while she was struggling with a cumbersome 7mm wetsuit. This is a dive she’s paying for, and the dive guides weren’t making any effort to earn their pay or tips! Next, he told her to back roll off the boat without asking her to put on her mask, put her regulator in her mouth, or check that her BCD was inflated. I had to tell her to stop, slow down, and not stress out. She was anxious enough, and the guide wasn’t helping.
For my gear, he said, “You’re a Divemaster, put it on in the water,” and just threw it overboard in choppy water. I didn’t mind, and in some ways, it was easier, but it wasn’t necessarily safer since he didn’t know my abilities.
Once we were in the water, he had me buddy up with her and then just took off. She couldn’t get buoyant, so I tried to calm her down, took hold of her BCD strap and hand, and tried to help her level off. She overinflated, underinflated, and I tried to slow her down a few times. The dive guide was nowhere in sight. Mind you, there were two guides and four divers; we were supposed to split into two groups of three, each with a guide. She began surfacing, and I tried to release some of her air, but by that point, she had already surfaced. We hadn’t gone below 15 feet, so she was fine. I inflated her BCD at the surface, and then, finally, the other dive guide came to help her, while our guide was still nowhere in sight. We helped her get out of the water before continuing our dive.
I would never recommend these guys to anyone and will likely report them to PADI. I told our crew steward to never book anyone with them again. She was concerned.
Luckily, my friend isn’t soured. I encouraged her to find a local dive shop (we don’t live in the same state), take some refresher courses, and she’ll discover that most dive professionals are welcoming and patient. She is excited to do just that.
Aborting the dive was absolutely the right thing, but these folks were no help. If I hadn’t been there, I’m terrified of how it could have gone.
First off, my dive was fine. Nothing spectacular, but fine.
However, the dive operator shouldn’t be in business anymore, or they should at least hire new staff. I indicated at the beginning of the dive that we had a diver who was basic open water certified and had not dived in a few years. She was excited but nervous.
When we first arrived at the dive shop, they didn’t even greet us. I had to introduce us and give them our certifications: mine as a new Divemaster and hers as an open water diver. We emphasized again that it had been a few years for her and that she had very few dives overall. She isn’t someone I have dived with before, so I appreciated her honesty about her lack of experience.
Once on the boat, the dive briefing was minimal—just a vague direction and an estimated duration of 50 minutes. We checked our own setups at the surface, and I helped her because the staff were short and rude. I’ve been with other dive shops on vacation, and 95% have been overwhelmingly positive experiences. When they handed her gear to her, they seemed disgusted that they had to help her while she was struggling with a cumbersome 7mm wetsuit. This is a dive she’s paying for, and the dive guides weren’t making any effort to earn their pay or tips! Next, he told her to back roll off the boat without asking her to put on her mask, put her regulator in her mouth, or check that her BCD was inflated. I had to tell her to stop, slow down, and not stress out. She was anxious enough, and the guide wasn’t helping.
For my gear, he said, “You’re a Divemaster, put it on in the water,” and just threw it overboard in choppy water. I didn’t mind, and in some ways, it was easier, but it wasn’t necessarily safer since he didn’t know my abilities.
Once we were in the water, he had me buddy up with her and then just took off. She couldn’t get buoyant, so I tried to calm her down, took hold of her BCD strap and hand, and tried to help her level off. She overinflated, underinflated, and I tried to slow her down a few times. The dive guide was nowhere in sight. Mind you, there were two guides and four divers; we were supposed to split into two groups of three, each with a guide. She began surfacing, and I tried to release some of her air, but by that point, she had already surfaced. We hadn’t gone below 15 feet, so she was fine. I inflated her BCD at the surface, and then, finally, the other dive guide came to help her, while our guide was still nowhere in sight. We helped her get out of the water before continuing our dive.
I would never recommend these guys to anyone and will likely report them to PADI. I told our crew steward to never book anyone with them again. She was concerned.
Luckily, my friend isn’t soured. I encouraged her to find a local dive shop (we don’t live in the same state), take some refresher courses, and she’ll discover that most dive professionals are welcoming and patient. She is excited to do just that.
Aborting the dive was absolutely the right thing, but these folks were no help. If I hadn’t been there, I’m terrified of how it could have gone.
