I am a noob PADI Open Water diver... just qualified last week actually.
- Congratulations.
I did my closed sessions and academic work at home and then went to a warmer location fro the open water dives.
- Excellent way to do it, no time wasting there.
Arrived Sunday; dives 1 and 2 Monday; dives 3 and 4 Tuesday... passed.
Prior to these dives, I had never dived in the sea at all, nor had I dived in a wetsuit.
The sea where I dived was extremely salty (tasted like battery acid!!) and I was using a shorty for the first time...
- The Red Sea is extremely salty, lack of tidal movement ...
So ... what's the beef? Well, firstly, I had to use 12 kg of weight to descend and I was made to feel like a freak by the instructor (although subsequent conversations with divers has led me to believe taht the amount of weight needed varies enormously depending on variables such as body mass, salinity, experience etc...).
- Questions?
Why did he make you feel like a freak?
Was he derogatory or was he trying to have a little misplaced fun at your expense?
The Red Sea is extremely salty and therefore everyone needs more weight.
Next, and more significant, on dive 2, the instructor felt it would be helpful to pull me down, so he grabbed my leg and pulled me down to 6 metres. I had difficulty equalising and felt as if a knife had been stuck in my left ear... but with enough huffing and puffing I cleared the ear...
- Did he pull you in a fast way?
- Did you give him the signal that you were having trouble equalising?
- You say you were breathing heavily due to stress, this contributes to inability to descend if you are not breathing out on the way down for a little bit.
Next day was more straightforward, but I was getting a bit dehydrated (air temp 45 deg centigrade, water temp 27).
By Wednesday, I was dehydrated and suffering from vertigo and severe congestion (along with diarrhoea). Spent the whole day on a boat lying on the cabin.
Day 4, I went to see a doctor - extremely experienced in dive medicine and with a hyperbaric chamber etc in his office. Told me that I had sustained some damage to my middle ear and this was effecting the inner ear and causing the vertigo. The other symtoms were mainly due to the dehydration.
I visited him for the next 3 days and he was satisfied with progress and response to treatment.
I am now back at home, one week after completing the course and the vertigo has nearly gone (as well as the other symptoms).
My question is this: Should the Instructor be held responsible in any way for this occurence and should I therefore report him (and to whom?)? Or should I chalk it up to experience and forget about it?
- IMHO the only thing you can report him to PADI for is disparaging your LDS who did your theory and pool dive training. That will be difficult as it is the spoken word not the written word.
- They will send you a questionnaire, which is only tick boxes BTW, and at the end you can make the comments you have made, and then send it back.
They will ask the Instructor to give his side of the story and then they will decide that no Standards Violations did occur and drop it.
- You have said you will not sue, but even if you did, you would lose as it could not be proven that the injury done to your ear was caused by instructor negligence.
They will look at your exam/knowledge reviews and general course
They will ask ...
Did you give the signal?
Did you blow too hard? (you yourself said huffing and puffing)
You were dehydrated in a blisteringly hot country and were not fit to dive.
- In summary, PADI will not be interested Standards were not broken. However a letter to the Dive School that ran your dives might help, complaining about his attitude.
Just as an afternote, I nearly gave up everything after day 1, but I persevered and now am resolute to continue diving... but a little wary of who to trust.
- Experiences like this are unfortunately getting more and more common. All the time that instructors are being allowed to become instructors with minimal experience and low numbers of dives then these stories of bullying and lack of control will persist.
Good luck with your next course, but keep diving