Padi question

[lawofgravity]

after doing my owc at my LDS, for $170 US, I did get the feeling that they were trying to grind out divers asap. I felt totally unprepared to go diving, even though I had done all the skills. And yes, I did get the sales pitch from them offering "substantial" discounts if I bought equipment from their store. Turns out, with the discounts, it still cost way more than buying online.

Luckily, when I did my first trip to the Caribbean, I dove with my buddy, who is a dm and a dive instructor/guide who charged $420 for owc. I picked up so much, in terms of confidence and tips from those two that I wished I had paid the extra $$ to do my owc there. I guess you really do get what you pay for.

lawofgravity

 

[DiverBuoy]

Actually that particular group does produce a reasonably consistent PADI product, and these students have exposure to shore diving off local beaches as well as island diving off of a boat. Considering conditions locally in California these divers are really preparred for a wide range of diving throughout the world.

Like any big chain - you see their divers everywhere, and since they train such huge numbers of students one can find plenty of targets for humor.

But I digress, this local chain is clearly using a training loss leader to sell travel experience, further education (full priced), and equipment. Their equipment prices are barely below MSRP but always going on sale, like any dept store. They have powerful bargaining numbers with manufacturers and are always adding and dropping brand name lines. They even dropped PADI 10 years ago and picked up NAUI then dropped them and returned to PADI - whatever works best for their business

 

[MikeFerrara]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
Actually that particular group does produce a reasonably consistent PADI product...

Oh...consistant I believe. The joints around here are consistant also.

Edited out "Quote" syntax from subject line per senior moderators request, a glitch caused edit marker to remain behind in the post. Sorry Mike Ferrara - DB

 

[DiverBuoy]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
I'll bet money that I wouldn't need to watch many of these classes before I saw standards violations or at least something less than student mastery of skills.

The chain store in question - requires instructors to follow everything to the letter - Instructors are required to carry the slates, and use the slates, and they Course Directors (plural) who work for the chain do audits. They make surprise visits to classes AND they query fellow DMs and AI assistants. As funny as the thought of a commercialized cattle run is, this is a 5 star organization actually. There is still a lot of humor to be had.

 

[KyMermaidDivr]

I took my OW classes thru an independent instructor not exactly affiliated thru a dive shop, but the fees were a little cheaper and my buddy had access to him thru where she worked, as that was where he taught his pool sessions. He was a super nice guy ... well, it was November and my buddy and I decided we were going tropical to do our OW classes. I did a lot of research and called a lot of dive shops ... my ear was sore for days! LOL My gaurdian angel led us to a wonderful operation in St Croix called Dive Experience. Anyone going to St Croix, I wholeheartedly recommend them, btw. Of course, they first wanted a pool session to eval our skills since they hadn't had us from get go ... they were appalled. I was embarrassed and furious. But they were also furious with with what was left out of our instructions, but was kind and patient enough to work us through it and very thankful that we weren't bimbos and were quick learners that took things very seriously and understood the risks behind diving and why they were taking the extra time and effort. I was so ever grateful and still am to this day. I can't say enough good things about that dive operation and how they took us under their wing. They, also, took us on as locals and acted as our tour guides, which was way beyond their call of duty. I think we spent almost every night, if not every other night with one or more of them. They showed us the "real" St Croix, which is what I like to see anywhere I go ... not the usual touristy crap.

Mike, you being local, would, I'm sure, know of this guy if his name was mentioned and you may have already guessed. I've learned a lot about what I've missed out on since then and am eager since I've just gotten back into the sport to advance my training and hope my new fellow friends will point me in the right areas. Now, to just figure out how to divide my time! LOL

 

[Hallmac]

I teach diving no gear,. I will tell you what to buy. But most I teach scuba.

Do you teach them about what is out there. what works and what doesn't, what is needed and what is not. How about facts and falicies?

Do we as instructors have an obligation to make well rounded students that won't fall into equipment traps or do we just train them to follow our directions so they can descend and return without injury.

Can you even make a diver without serious equipment training?

Every day I see equipment questions posted here maybe we are not doing enough equipment training. Which leads me to this post.

We just dropped our training costs to get students in the door.
And because of local competition, shorted our training from twice a week for four weeks to twice a week for three weeks. Can't make great divers if we don't have a chance to train them!!!

Think we are making money on our classes? Do it because we love the sport. Not to get rich.

Hallmac

 

[Lawman]

training with Eds Dive & Drive. You not only get
a C card but you get a license to drive 18 wheelers!
It's both a recreational and employment training
facility. The price was only $37.00 US [ $ 4600.00
Cdn]. You swam in the pool, put on a BC and
took your final [and only] dive in the lagoon
behind ED&Ds main campus and truck stop.

Who needs big names like PADI & SSI when you
can train with Ed?

Eds D&D Class of '00