Divemaster Course

[taz22]

GTADiver once bubbled...
I hear that Robin and Lori are the two best instructors in the Brockville area. I have not taken a course with them but they run a boat called underpressurized

I try to stay away from calling any one individual "The Best", there are few instructors in the Brockville area and I am sure they are all good. It would be as vain of anyone to say that only one particular person is the best because this is totally judgemental on the part of the person doing the post.

I believe that the Robin and Lori people you talk about are from Ottawa are they not and only run charters in Brockville in the summertime, however I could be wrong.

If you re-read my post you will see that I mentioned that Mike took his training from Bob Lighthart, who most people in the Brockville area will conceed as I phrased it "One of the Best"

 

[PeekaBoo]

Hello

If your in the Toronto area, give UPPER CANADA SCUBA a call, they don't give you your Dive Master card in a weekend like other shops do and send you off into the masses not knowing what your doing. they have a PADI course director on staff all the time and Your expected to participate in class room, pool sessions and boat charters to learn the required skills as set fouth by PADI standards. I guarintee they will make you a PADI professional, and most of all they don't nickel and dime you as you go.

Peekaboo

 

[taz22]

PeekaBoo once bubbled...


If your in the Toronto area, give UPPER CANADA SCUBA a call, they don't give you your Dive Master card in a weekend like other shops do and send you off into the masses not knowing what your doing.

Sad that certain dive operators would do this.

The Divemaster course I am taking is a full 16 week course, which includes all of the PADI requirements. Come Janaury it will be 2 nights a week as we have our Dive Master night and start observation the confined pool sessions of an of a couple of open water courses. We also will have a number of pool sessions with some PADI Dive Master to help us with our skills etc.

Then come April we hit the open water for a number of sessions including oberservation of open water students and also time on the charter boat. Then of course we will have our emergency sessions and mapping etc.

Seems to me to be a full course and well worth the money.

 

[Big-t-2538]

KEV49 once bubbled...
Took the time yesterday to go to 3 of the many scuba shops in town what an array of sh.. Shop 1 couldn't be bothered to stop making out on the phone. Shop 2 the price went up with each passing second by the time I left I'm sure I would have been majority partner. Shop 3 the bimbo behind the counter didn't have a clue about anything to do with diving let alone talk about equipment or courses.
Anyone else find sub par service for the shops in their area?

That I truly believe has some horrid ideas about what is right and wrong in diving (mainly Nitrox and the sole use of computers) but that's another topic. I imagine you are some place where diving is prevolant....so there have to be more informative shops somewhere close by. It's unfortunate that not all shops are created equal, but you have to shop around for everything these days....you'll find something

 

[KEV49]

It was actually the Ottawa area wher Iwas looking for shops to do my DM course as I will be moving into that area in the early new year, as you can tell by my initial post I wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms. The one store that some have made reference to is so expensive for the course when you figure all the add ons that I would be better off to become a partner in the store, judging by the rock on the finger of the girl I spoke to I guess someone has to pay for it! All I am looking for is a store who has experience working with and training quality divemasters, my goal is to become an instructor because my job will take me to the sunny south in the coming year and I was going to try to trade my services as an instructor for free diving.

 

[taz22]

Good luck in your search. I am sure that you know that Brockville is only a 1hr drive from Ottawa via the 401 & 416.

Cheers, Taz.

 

[blabermouth]

Hello

The stores in Ottawa definetly have attitude, if they don't give you what you want don't do business with them. One thing I have always found in Canada is that Canadians in retail just don't understand the word CUSTOMER SERVICE. I've walked into many dive shops and had the owner/worker not even raise his head to say hello. I learned my lesson the hard way in the past and if I don't get a welcome greeting to hell with them. I've always found that Americans in retail will always go one step further to make you feel welcomed in there dive shops which I have always received firm attention and a hello. This may sound like such a small thing to bicker about, but when I'm about to lay down some cash in an already dead market in Canada in a store that may not be doing so well and could use the business I demand a little respect like saying Hello.:reaper:

 

[Firefly]

 

[KEV49]

Well I can report that I did manage to find a shop to do a DM course with, they answered all my questions and concerns and have a full range of TDI courses as well. They also packaged together the DM course with some others which I want to do at a price which was very affordable.