Recommended instructors in Bali

I am about to go to Bali next month for a open water and Advanced Open water certification.

My questions are:

1. Should I go with NAUI or PADI instructors for my certification
2. in another thread Naui vs Padi it says that instructor's are more important than the organization which is naui or padi. if that is so then can anybody refer me to any top notch instructors?
3. What kind of costs will I be looking in terms of certification and accomodation.

would really appreciate your response.

Rouham

rouhamm:

I am about to go to Bali next month for a open water and Advanced Open water certification.

My questions are:

1. Should I go with NAUI or PADI instructors for my certification
2. in another thread Naui vs Padi it says that instructor's are more important than the organization which is naui or padi. if that is so then can anybody refer me to any top notch instructors?
3. What kind of costs will I be looking in terms of certification and accomodation.

would really appreciate your response.

Rouham

Click to expand...

FWIW: I got certified in Bali, but could not recommend my instructor...I was explaining the physics to him :06:

...The shops I went to had a pool of instructors that they called on when a class formed...who you got depended on who was free and what language you wanted...My instructor did the theory on the day his wife went into hospital to have their first child...Needless to say, he was a little distracted...I survived, but learned a lot more in my A O/W that I should have known from my O/W

I suggest going around to meet the instructor before the course (if you can) OR asking other divers you come across when you are there about the shops they're diving with...some are first rate...others are very, very dodgy...Don't know what your preferred language is, but this can also be a factor with lots of instructors from different countries there...Also don't know where you'll be staying, but this may limit your choices if you're outside of the southern touristy areas.

All that said, I really enjoyed the diving...easy and high quality...I saw a sea snake on my very first ocean dive.

Hi there:

First of all thank you so much for answering. I am really trying to get mysefl prepared for this trip and minimize my chances of disappointment. My preferred language is English. Your response pretty much goes with my impression previously which is to visit all the different shops and go with the one's I am more comfortable with.

You mentioned something about the limited options of staying in some localities. Where should I stay? did you find any dive shops whiich had better reputation than others?

Hope to hear back from you with any and all tips that you may have.

boxcar:

FWIW: I got certified in Bali, but could not recommend my instructor...I was explaining the physics to him :06:

...The shops I went to had a pool of instructors that they called on when a class formed...who you got depended on who was free and what language you wanted...My instructor did the theory on the day his wife went into hospital to have their first child...Needless to say, he was a little distracted...I survived, but learned a lot more in my A O/W that I should have known from my O/W

I suggest going around to meet the instructor before the course (if you can) OR asking other divers you come across when you are there about the shops they're diving with...some are first rate...others are very, very dodgy...Don't know what your preferred language is, but this can also be a factor with lots of instructors from different countries there...Also don't know where you'll be staying, but this may limit your choices if you're outside of the southern touristy areas.

All that said, I really enjoyed the diving...easy and high quality...I saw a sea snake on my very first ocean dive.

Click to expand...

rouhamm:

Hi there:

First of all thank you so much for answering. I am really trying to get mysefl prepared for this trip and minimize my chances of disappointment. My preferred language is English. Your response pretty much goes with my impression previously which is to visit all the different shops and go with the one's I am more comfortable with.

You mentioned something about the limited options of staying in some localities. Where should I stay? did you find any dive shops whiich had better reputation than others?

Hope to hear back from you with any and all tips that you may have.

Click to expand...

If you're staying in the south (Kuta)...there are many many operators and heaps of instructors...lots of choice (though I can't make any recommedations. If you go north around to Candidasa, up to Tulamben or further to Lovina and points west, there are fewer operators and many shops may not have a regular instructor...Don't know if that applies to you or not...We did travelled around and did some nice diving all the way around Bali, and many people do that as a 'dive safari' with a shop based in Kuta, Sanur or Nusa Dua...We dived with local shops near Candidasa and Lovina but didn't do any cert courses there...Sorry, I've got little else...and my information may be out of date...we were last there a few years ago.

Hi Ben:

Thanks for the input. Do you know anything about Tioman island in Malaysia? I am looking into that as an option as well.

HI again,

Sorry, I haven't been there, but I heard that there is a new marina under construction on what used to be reef! Ugh! I haven't heard anything lately, but the last I heard was not optimistic.

Rouhamm, there are several interesting dive sites in Tioman. Generally they are nice to dive, especially for weekend divers from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Many divers prefer other islands that are (quite) nearby to Tioman like Aur, Dayang (on the southern part) and Tenggol and Bidong (on the northern part). Of the diving destinations along east coast of peninsula Malaysia, only Redang and Tioman islands have small airports. Others, boats are the only means of getting there (from the mainland jetty).

BTW, to boxcar : the marina was a plan and it's not materialized, it's being put on hold until report from EIA investigators is final. I also heard that there's another marina that's being built in Singapore.

"FWIW: I got certified in Bali, but could not recommend my instructor...I was explaining the physics to him "

There are very little actual physics in an open water course. Did you perhaps attempt to go outside the scope of the course with the instructor?

Video Diver:

"FWIW: I got certified in Bali, but could not recommend my instructor...I was explaining the physics to him "

There are very little actual physics in an open water course. Did you perhaps attempt to go outside the scope of the course with the instructor?

Click to expand...

Hmmm, I'm not sure what you're getting at here, or what constitues 'acutal physics' or what your experiences are with open water courses

My experience is limited...I'd never done an open water course before that, so I had no idea how much Physics (or general scientific concepts) were involved...and I haven't done one since, but from the the ones I've been able to observe in my current LDS, there is some basic science in the course...

I though it was curious, even strange that the instructor threw up an overhead slide with an equation on it, mumbled something about pressure and depth, shrugged and said, "I never really understood this". I don't know if he really didn't understand it, or didn't want to spend a lot of time on it or didn't know how to explain it to me (English was not his native language) Being familiar with the equation, I put my two cents in about basic relationships between volume, pressure and the effects of depth when diving...

If that is going 'outside the scope of the course', yeah, I guess I'm 'guilty'...????? It must have been my fault.... :06:

That said, I still couldn't/wouldn't recommend the instructor.