DivingPrincessE
Contributor
I would look for a new instructor, then try to finish it up. This guy doesn't sound like he is doing you any favors rushing through things and combining dives.
Panic
- Thread starter roughie
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DivingPrincessE
Contributor
I am sorry to hear about your bad experience!, the instructor could have done better , however he might have been under a lot of pressure from the center, so instead of looking for a new instructor, you might want to look for another center.
Gen San Chris
Contributor
Sure sounds like your instructor was for some reason rushing you through your training and cutting corners! You must do 4 Open Water dives, these cannot be combined as that is a breach of standards!
You did very well in the circumstances and made the correct choices! You obviously have what it takes to be a diver so I advise you to complete your training and enjoy your future life along with your wife and dive, dive, dive!
You did very well in the circumstances and made the correct choices! You obviously have what it takes to be a diver so I advise you to complete your training and enjoy your future life along with your wife and dive, dive, dive!
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Call your credit card company and get a refund, then search for Walter's post on how to tell if you found a good instructor and take the class over. You were scre*** out of the training you need to have to even have a chance of diving safely and enjoying it.
If the instructor gives you a hard time over the refund, tell him you would be happy to discuss your class with his certification agency. Even the most lenient agency standards in existence do not allow for one pool session and "combining" OW dives.
Terry
Your instructor is the problem, BIG time.
You really need to get in contact with who the instructor is offering you the card from (PADI NAUI, SSI,SDI,whoever)
You really need to get in contact with who the instructor is offering you the card from (PADI NAUI, SSI,SDI,whoever)
Here's how to evaluate this incident:
The diving gods have sent you a strong signal to look for a new instructor/dive center. Do not anger the diving gods by ignoring their message!
But seriously, as Walter points out this instructor has violated the standards of their agency, and the folly of doing so has been made obvious to you. There's a reason to do MORE pool work and MORE open water dives vs FEWER, and that reason is getting you comfortable in the water.
In PADI, the complete removal/replacement of mask is done in Open Water dive number 4, for exactly this reason. At this point you would have 100% more dives under your belt than if you had done it as you had on OW dive #2. And you probably would have been 1000% more comfortable underwater.
So your instructor actually violated standards TWICE. First by only doing 2 dives instead of four, and second by doing this skill on the wrong dive. And I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that he violated a few other standards along the way as well.
The diving gods have sent you a strong signal to look for a new instructor/dive center. Do not anger the diving gods by ignoring their message!
But seriously, as Walter points out this instructor has violated the standards of their agency, and the folly of doing so has been made obvious to you. There's a reason to do MORE pool work and MORE open water dives vs FEWER, and that reason is getting you comfortable in the water.
In PADI, the complete removal/replacement of mask is done in Open Water dive number 4, for exactly this reason. At this point you would have 100% more dives under your belt than if you had done it as you had on OW dive #2. And you probably would have been 1000% more comfortable underwater.
So your instructor actually violated standards TWICE. First by only doing 2 dives instead of four, and second by doing this skill on the wrong dive. And I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that he violated a few other standards along the way as well.
diver 85
Contributor
Don't know about what you should do but IMO, you are using an 'inferior'(let's leave it @ that) instructor--one that likes to hear the change rattle in his/her pocket?......hmmm....good luck, guess just complete the course??....
I'm sure the Op's post is as true as he remembers. But one person's rush is another person's crawl. However, the 4-dives-combined-to-2 doesn't lend well for the instructor. The truth is, we are only getting one student's side of the story.
To the OP, I agree with what others are saying. You will gain confidence through redundancy. Doing a drill 2 times makes the drill still a new activity. But doing it 20 times makes it old hat. Like others have said, if you get in the pool and toss off you mask, then take out your reg, recover the reg and then replace and clear the mask, then repeat ten times, by the time you get done a mask clear will be boring and second nature. The drills really are not difficult after you do them a bunch of times.
Sit down and talk to your instructor about all this.
Just one more note of caution, when you get all done with the class, and it's a hundred dives from now, and you are confidently swimming around on some reef looking at the fishies, and you suddenly find yourself with a flooded mask and a reg knocked out of your mouth, you will feel exactly the same as you did the other day when this happened (and possibly bolt for the surface) if you don't continue to drill on a regular basis, even after you finish the class. But if you do keep up with your skills, you'll easily recover your reg, clear your mask and go right on as if it never happened.
It's your instructor's responsibility to teach you the drills. It is your responsibility to perfect and keep current with them.
To the OP, I agree with what others are saying. You will gain confidence through redundancy. Doing a drill 2 times makes the drill still a new activity. But doing it 20 times makes it old hat. Like others have said, if you get in the pool and toss off you mask, then take out your reg, recover the reg and then replace and clear the mask, then repeat ten times, by the time you get done a mask clear will be boring and second nature. The drills really are not difficult after you do them a bunch of times.
Sit down and talk to your instructor about all this.
Just one more note of caution, when you get all done with the class, and it's a hundred dives from now, and you are confidently swimming around on some reef looking at the fishies, and you suddenly find yourself with a flooded mask and a reg knocked out of your mouth, you will feel exactly the same as you did the other day when this happened (and possibly bolt for the surface) if you don't continue to drill on a regular basis, even after you finish the class. But if you do keep up with your skills, you'll easily recover your reg, clear your mask and go right on as if it never happened.
It's your instructor's responsibility to teach you the drills. It is your responsibility to perfect and keep current with them.
don Francisco
Contributor
Sorry, but with all due respect, I can't let this excuse slide by. The instructor is the one with final responsibility for training, and cannot let anyone pressure him into violating his own or the agency's standards. If there's pressure for shortcuts from his employer, than it is he, and not his students, that should be looking for a new center.
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To the OP- You should definitely get in more practice time and continue with your certification. Whether you can work through the details and have confidence with the current instructor, or feel you want to switch is your call.
If you do decide to switch instructors, you're probably entitled to some kind of partial refund. Your course called for adequate classroom and pool time to master the skills, and 4 dives. You were shortchanged on the first two, and 4 dives "compressed" into 2 dives is still 2 dives, so you have 2 more to go.
I suggest a long sitdown with the instructor and center, and depending on how that works out go on from there. If you opt for a new instructor, you might ask for a "referral", crediting the class and pool work, so as to bring down the cost of completing the course elsewhere.
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