Saba - be careful

[fatherandsondiver]

I am sorry to report a bad experience with Saba Divers (Scout's Place). I planned to go to Saba from Anguilla with my 12 year old son for a day of diving on Christmas. My son is 12 but is very experience for his age, having done over 30 dives. We had been staying in Anguilla and diving there daily at 80 feet. I emailed multiple times with Saba Divers in advance making sure they would be comfortable letting my son dive deep and see a Pinanacle, as we had been to Saba the year before when my son was too young to do deep dives.

Long story short, Saba Divers said there would be no problem and we would dive as deep as we felt comfortable, and could do a Pinnacle dive if they did one that day, weather permitting. We flew to Saba, paid the dive shop and were taken to our dive boat. As we were leaving, the divemaster said my son would only be permitted to dive 40 feet. This was classic bait and switch. To make matters worse, the next day the owner of Scout's Place sent me an email suggesting that their perception was I was forcing my son to dive against his will.

These operators are intolerable. I want to make sure people understand their practices and are forewarned before going there. They did not stand behind their emails. They quoted Padi policy that did not exist. They told y son that scientific research has shown that divers in their teens should not dive deeper than 50 feet or their development might be impaired. Then they accused me of mistreating my son.

I have requested that the dive shop refund me for what I paid them, even as I am out the cost of travel to Saba and my son was mistreated by them. To date they have gone silent.

Be warned. I do not believe that Scout''s Place is run by good people.

 

[DeputyDan]

IMHO Your son is still to young to be doing deep dives.

 

[BDSC]

If you paid cash you are probably screwed. If you used a credit card then call your credit card company and tell them not to pay that charge because you are going to dispute it. When the dive operation doesn't get their money, they will probably be calling you!

 

[wreckchick]

Did you tell the dive op that your son was 12? No 12 year old is going past 60' with me under any circumstances and even that is a little past where I'm happy. I'm perfectly happy taking juniors on 40' dives all day long but screaming and stomping because the dive op would let you take your son past the 70' mark that's been established for juniors with a junior advanced doesn't seem quite fair.

Don't come back that the Anguilla dive op let you dive to 80', that's borderline negligent in my book to begin with.

Rachel

 

[fatherandsondiver]

Thanks for the thoughts. I am disputing the charge and I have warned Scouts Place that I am going to dispute it as well, They have had full notice.

As to whether or not my son is too young to dive, that I believe is a personal choice. Padi rules, as best I can tell, permit him to dive deep as long as he is with me, once he turns 12 (he was not permitted at age 10 or 11). This is not relevant to the dive operator however.

The point is, Scout's Place was not comfortable taking my son down to 100 feet, that is their prerogative. I would not even want them taking me if they were not fully comfortable. I emailed them before I came, however, that my son was 12 and that we wanted to dive deep. If they had an issue with that, the time to tell me was before I came to Saba. Their error was saying, in writing, "come to Saba and dive as deep with your son as you feel comfortable and we have no problem with his 12 year old age" before I booked the trip. They only changed their tune once I had flown to Saba and paid them for the dive. At this point, I was totally at their mercy. This is unprofessional. Whether you approve of 12 year old's diving 100 feet or not, it does not justify making promises to do something and then not doing it once you have been paid and forced your client's hand (assuming no new information became available).

Additionally, the dive shop had no business suggesting that my son appeared like he was being forced to dive. Besides the fact that they were wrong, and my son loves diving and is pushing me to do it more with him, the owners were way out of line. They were trying to deflect the blame from their own poor business policy.

 

[mselenaous]

IMHO Your son is still to young to be doing deep dives.

I concur.

Did you tell the dive op that your son was 12? No 12 year old is going past 60' with me under any circumstances and even that is a little past where I'm happy. I'm perfectly happy taking juniors on 40' dives all day long but screaming and stomping because the dive op would let you take your son past the 70' mark that's been established for juniors with a junior advanced doesn't seem quite fair.

Ditto on my watch.

 

[Walter]

The issue here is you were misled. That's always wrong. OTOH, I agree with others here, 80 ft is way too deep for a 12 year old, I don't care what PADI's "rule" might be. Perhaps you should look at this as a blessing in disguise. It could be the wake up call that let's your child grow up healthy.

 

[Web Monkey]

Long story short, Saba Divers said there would be no problem and we would dive as deep as we felt comfortable, and could do a Pinnacle dive if they did one that day, weather permitting. We flew to Saba, paid the dive shop and were taken to our dive boat. As we were leaving, the divemaster said my son would only be permitted to dive 40 feet. This was classic bait and switch.

You should send them a thank-you card instead of trying to smear them. I wouldn't take a 12 year old much deeper than 25' regardless of what any cert agencies allow or don't allow.

Teenagers and Diving

Terry

 

[obsession600]

Sounds like a mix of good safety practices and bad business practices. My guess is the person answering your emails deals with the money and not the divers.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Now that the Dive Shop has been notified, hopefully they will clarify anything that needs it. I am not going to assume that the OP was misled until that is confirmed. I agree with all here that 80' is way too deep for a 12 year old and that the OP really should be thankful for the blessing in disguise.

And I tend to agree that the dive op may have been out of line (this depends entirly on what they saw) for telling you that you were forcing your son to dive that deep. However, if you are putting your son in unnecessary risk somehow then it is the dive op's moral obligation to point it out (IMO). If you are not, then they should say nothing. I believe that taking your son to 80' at 12 years old is putting him in unnecessary risk and therefore warrants comment by the dive op.....just my twisted and biased view.