kdsmithjr
Contributor
I wasn't sure where you were when you said "island time." It sounds like you weren't dealing with a "professional" dive shop. By that a mean there are folks out there who will hire divemasters who are desperate for work and, when they can get away with it, those dive operators will cut every possible corner--some will cut dangerously close to the quick as you implied with the person on a wreck dive.
I'm a relatively new diver, with a few more dives over the 25 needed for your advanced open water (it's a two part certification and i just finished the first "level" of advanced open water). I'm recently retired State University of NY administrator/instructor who has decided to retire in the Philippines. I learned to dive at the Carabao Dive Center in Davao City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Great shop. They have a four day open water course. the first day in in the pool...and with my experience it was one instructor to two students. The next three dives are in open water in the Davao Gulf...where the water is around 85F and in the open water it is one student to one instructor.
I hear there are some great dive resorts here in the philippines, but I assume there are a few that will try to fleece you, if they think they can get away with it. I even had an experience with one place that wanted to charge me ten times (yes,ten times) what Carabao Dive Center charges for a dive. So shysters are everywhere.
I'm a relatively new diver, with a few more dives over the 25 needed for your advanced open water (it's a two part certification and i just finished the first "level" of advanced open water). I'm recently retired State University of NY administrator/instructor who has decided to retire in the Philippines. I learned to dive at the Carabao Dive Center in Davao City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Great shop. They have a four day open water course. the first day in in the pool...and with my experience it was one instructor to two students. The next three dives are in open water in the Davao Gulf...where the water is around 85F and in the open water it is one student to one instructor.
I hear there are some great dive resorts here in the philippines, but I assume there are a few that will try to fleece you, if they think they can get away with it. I even had an experience with one place that wanted to charge me ten times (yes,ten times) what Carabao Dive Center charges for a dive. So shysters are everywhere.