Check out this post about Coconut Tree

For many years Coconut tree has been high on the list of reputable places to dive with and I stil believe that even though some of the tech guys are a little full of themselves, BUT this ONE POST WONDER To tripadvisor has steped up to a new level. I know if I were a Coconut Trtee representative i would also post to TA about this and I would imagine there are hundreds if not thousands here that may decide to join Tripadvisor if for no other reason than to post about this incident
Very negative experience with Coconut Tree Divers - West End Forum - TripAdvisor

So you're saying the poster is lying, or is telling the truth and should remain silent? I couldn't tell from your wording. Is he lying about the entire thing.. no firecracker exploded? Is he lying about his hearing being damaged or is he lying that a doctor told him his hearing was damaged as a result of the firecracker?

What I am saying is a one post wonder has posted serious accusations, Many here are familiar with the daily goings on at CCT, They are also affiliated with the largest certifying agency in the world yet this person does not mention them AND, once again AND, If this were TRUE he would have a legal team going after the Agency who would have told him to keep his mouth shut. Of course if it is true and the fella is happy bashing in a forum rather than suing for actual damages then more pwer to him. I am not all for legal action for stubbed toes, hangnails, and little crap but if someone caused my loss of hearing and made me unable to dive I would not be writing to Tripadvisor and lawyers then would be involved.m Now if someone believes this crap, I do have a few acres I am not planning on doing anything with on Roatan and all it will take is a little fill dirt, some drainage and cutting some mangroves and it will be a great piece of property and i assure you that you can get permits for all of this

How does one go about suing somebody in Honduras from the US? I thought the usual method of dealing with something like that was to hire a hitman from the mainland for $35.00.

The shop is a PADI shop, They are insured through an agency recognizing PADI, The Majority if not ll Instructors are NOT Hondurans. Was the guy that allegedly lit the firecracker Honduran? I am not a Lawyer nor do i play one BUT I do assure you there are plenty of legal folks who would know the ropes and i also assure you, they would not suggest posting on an internet forum while there is pending legal action. The dude is Full of **** I believe.
Don't we all know by now to list everyone but in reality the suit will come down to insurance? And that Insurance is NOT Honduran
And Again. If it were legit and one was taking legal action , as would be expected in this type of case, We all know the lawyers would not condone such posting on travel forums as they may draw attention in the wrong area such as this one already has

The TA poster said that one of the owners set off the firecracker about 10' away from him while he was standing IN the shop. Not sure that is even possible? It's been a very long time since I even in the shop, might have been expanded.

Acts committed outside the scope of dive instruction would not be a matter for any certifying agency's insurance coverage.

If an instructor drops a beer bottle on your head as you are standing in the dive shop, you drink a beer.
If he drops a weight on your head while you are in class, you may have a case.

If an instructor throws a firecracker-
+ was classroom in session?
+ were you present as a student?
+ was he working, were you in his care?

Then maybe you do have a case against the agency that you both were engaged with, although they would likely foist it back off on the LDS as the insured party (instructor) was acting outside the scope of his employment.

Unless it was a PADI Firecracker Distinctive Specialty.

My rules:
•Trip Advisor, as a SCUBA reference, sucks.
•First Time Posters on Trip Advisor are more suspect than anything else
•I do not trust Honduran Fireworks

A high volume of Professional Certs are issued at the CCT Divers Shop. As a sad universal truth, such operations also generate a high level of criticism, truthful, deserved, or not. Sometimes, their competition uses such blind forums as a method. Other times, people in paradise just screw-up as there is a tendency to screw-off.

Doc:

Unless it was a PADI Firecracker Distinctive Specialty.

Click to expand...

Doc, you owe me a new computer monitor. I just spat coffee all over mine from laughing so hard.

Genius, pure genius.

C.

Who gives a rat's butt what agency they are affliliated with? Means nothing other than they send a substantial amount of money to it instead of distributing it to their underpaid employees so that they can put a meaningless sign in the window.

Maybe a Jr EOD cert was happening and that's why the firecracker instead of C4 or Semtex?

I am wondering why this person waited until the end of February when the incident occurred (or allegedly so) in December 2012.
I also dove with them when I lived in Roatan. They certainly didn't seem like the type of people who would pull a prank like that.