WARNING: Jolly Dive boat captain by name of Paul sexually harassed me

[Snoweman]

I have emailed PADI about this, as well I have posted on tripadvisor and reddit as you see in my post!
A note: the review about them making fun of dive equipment, Paul did that to me as well which really bothered me as it was unnecessary and very unprofessional!!
Thank you for commenting those other reviews. So disappointing they’ve stayed in business as long as they have.
And yes that’s him!! People should recognize that face and know what he really is, someone who has a blatant disrespect not only for his customers but for women in general. Thank you for your comment!

I'm curious about how he made fun of your equipment. Can you elaborate on that point?

 

[Snoweman]

While I agree on principle, it's a sad fact that experience has shown that the OP's story is quite believable. And way too common.

Until the accused party chooses to answer, we only have the OP's story to base our opinion on. And the longer it takes for the accused party to answer, the more the OP's story gains credibility.

I'm guessing the party in question doesn't follow this board. Just a hunch...

 

[GreyDyvr]

Never trust a white dude with dreadlocks.

This is one more good reason to always carry a dive knife.

 

[Scott]

Sorry this happened to you.
What a scumbag.
Don’t let one scumbag tarnish your views of the industry, there are professionals out there.
Posting about it here, Reddit and Trip Advisor will hit the owner where it hurts, his pocketbook.

 

[JackD342]

I'm curious about how he made fun of your equipment. Can you elaborate on that point?

I have only once had a dive operator ridicule my gear. I wouldn’t even mention it, but as it happens, it was in Antigua!!
It was my very first trip with first complete set of gear. I don’t remember at all what was said, but I do remember being a little ticked at the time that I had paid someone to make fun of me. And felt more than a little vindicated when another diver’s gear rented from this guy blew out a hose on the boat.
Certainly not the same person, as this was 20+ years ago and he was diving a faded (almost translucent) horse collar that was probably brand spanking new and state of the art when he first dove it. I remember he basically had a shack on the beach, where it was impossible to both rinse my gear and keep sand out of it too. We had to carry our tanks out to the boat until chest deep, and then hand them up.
He was a great naturalist though, pointing out all kinds of stuff underwater. The downside of all that knowledge though was that he would write out whole paragraphs of explanation on his slate, and then the whole group would “cluster” in to try and read it.

 

[s_mc1998]

playing devil's advocate here.... but before we get the torches and pitchforks out on the word of a first time poster... perhaps a little restraint is in order before we tar and feather this person?

Just wondering why on earth you’d think I’d be lying, how would that benefit me?? Really sad that every time someone speaks out about sexual harassmen/assault someone has to jump in and say hm maybe they’re lying! I’m being anonymous, there’s no benefit for me at all. I wasn’t aware of this forum, but was told this was a good place to spread my warning as I don’t want anyone to experience this ever.

 

[s_mc1998]

I'm curious about how he made fun of your equipment. Can you elaborate on that point?

I have all my stuff colour coordinated and he kept making fun of it and calling it stupid and silly and when I got all suited up he continued to make fun of it because it was pink and he clearly thought it was so silly I had pink gear, which isn’t a big deal and I didn’t care after 2 minutes but it was still annoying and unnecessary. As well, I had my dad help me with setting up my tank and the boat captain made fun of me for having help from my dad.

 

[s_mc1998]

Sorry this happened to you.
What a scumbag.
Don’t let one scumbag tarnish your views of the industry, there are professionals out there.
Posting about it here, Reddit and Trip Advisor will hit the owner where it hurts, his pocketbook.

It’s unfortunate because the week before at a different island I had to sit out dive two and the dive master and I chatted with him and he was kind and respectful and not once did he make me uncomfortable. It sucks I had this bad experience because now if I ever have to sit out again the thought that it could happen again will be in the back of my mind.

 

[lv2dive]

let’s start out with:
A. I believe you
B. I think your family handled the situation well by involving authorities.
C. I think you did a good job with your write up (see point A)

That being said.. and just stay with me for a minute here.... it is not beyond the realm of possibility that a sleazy operator could use allegations like yours to try and put a competitor out of business. In other words, you *could* be making all of this up to bad mouth the operator and run his business into the ground so you get a larger percentage of the tourist dollars. Again, I do not believe that is the case! But if a similar thought crossed someone’s mind, I wouldn’t get strongly offended if I was in your shoes, either.

You said something like “it’s sad every time someone speaks up about sexual harassment, someone says they are lying.” I don’t disagree with you that it’s sad, or that it happens, but in this case, I don’t think *that* is what is happening. I did not perceive the inquiry about whether your statement should be taken at face value as having *anything* to do with your post being about sexual harassment. Rather, it was simply that you were posting a story about egregious behavior, and there was quite a lot of righteous indignation from multiple users based solely on your words, even though none of us know you.

ScubaBoard IS a good place to put a warning out, and you all did well by involving the authorities too. If I were in your shoes, and people had a question or two, I’d try to recognize the bigger picture / where they are coming from. And if someone questioned the truthfulness of my post, I’d recognize that it’s not about me - someone is lying on the internet every second of every day! I try not fault people for being a little cautious and I definitely try not to take it personally.

Thanks for putting your experience out there, I imagine it will influence many people’s choices in the future! I do hope you don’t let this experience color your perspective of the sport/activity. I’ve been diving for almost 30 years and I can assure you that your experience is uncommon.

Just wondering why on earth you’d think I’d be lying, how would that benefit me?? Really sad that every time someone speaks out about sexual harassmen/assault someone has to jump in and say hm maybe they’re lying! I’m being anonymous, there’s no benefit for me at all. I wasn’t aware of this forum, but was told this was a good place to spread my warning as I don’t want anyone to experience this ever.

 

[Edward3c]

I'm curious about how he made fun of your equipment. Can you elaborate on that point?

For someone who’s gone through a traumatic experience, I find it sad that others want them to relive it. The whole thing with abuse allegations is the person is believed, it’s this questioning that allows perpetrators get away with it.