Troubling incident in San Pedro

[AWMIII]

If true this is quite disturbing. Read "girls beware"review of Amigos Del Mar
Amigos Del Mar Dive Shop - San Pedro - Reviews of Amigos Del Mar Dive Shop - TripAdvisor


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---------- Post added May 27th, 2014 at 08:07 PM ----------

The text from the review:

I was not going to post this because I thought the justice system would prevail, however it has failed.
Last week my daughter was sexually assaulted by a man who was in training for his instructor's certification in the employ of Amigos Del Mar.
When we filed a police report the constable told us that once arrested he would not be released.
Not only was he released within a matter of a few hours, it took them 2 days to arrest him.
That aside, this man is now working at the same dive shop again.
I am appalled at the owners of Amigos Del Mar and warn all women to stay away from there!!!

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[Downing]

I just followed the link over to Trip Advisor. There are now two posts alleging sexual assault, but both appear to be talking about the same incident. The second post is even more damning as the reviewer names the suspect and says the police told him this guy has been reported for this before.

Man, ADM's last three Trip Advisor reviews are kicking them hard.

 

[AWMIII]

I heard about the incident through the grapevine. I don't want to editorialize due to the serious nature of the allegations. People close to the alleged victim seem to be outraged at the lack of response as of yet on the part of the police and his employer. .

 

[davidbaraff]

I am quite concerned by this post, plus the trip advisor post on May 25, about lack of safety at the blue hole. In fact, Amigos del Mar is who I had picked out to do my diving with, as people seemed to think they are both safe and run a very comfortable trip out to the blue hole. (My wife is going to accompany me on the Blue Hole trip, though only for snorkeling. I wonder now do I have to be concerned with her being off on her own? Hopefully not as this is a DM the people are talking about, hopefully not a snorkel guide... But still.)

Is Amigos del Mar still a class act and a good choice, or is there something rotten going on? Is there some other comporable dive-op I should be targetting? Any opinions greatly appreciated...

 

[AWMIII]

It seems Amigos Del Mar was expelled from PADI over this incident.
http://www.padi.com/scuba-diving/ab.../consumer-alerts/expelled-dive-center-resort/

 

[Downing]

Wow, per that link this just happened yesterday. You are definitely on top of things.

I wonder if PADI goes so far as to make sure ADM takes down all their PADI flags, banners, signs etc, including their website. Speaking of their website, ADM appears to be affiliated with not only PADI but SSI and SDI as well.

I went over to Trip Advisor to see how they've been faring there lately. Definitely a mixed bag of cheers and jeers, but the more interesting thing was that the two posts alleging sexual assault have been removed.

 

[AWMIII]

I communicate almost daily with old and recent friends in San Pedro. I actually know the victim.

The court case is still pending.

 

[Wookie]

Read their tripadvisor reviews. Mostly bad. The positive ones lauded the ability to touch a nurse shark, the rum flowing, and the arrangement of land tours. The bad ones had to do with diving and broken boats. Isn't diving and boating what a dive shop is supposed to do? Gotta get the basics down, then work on the peripherals.

 

[Doc]

Read their tripadvisor reviews. Mostly bad. The positive ones lauded the ability to touch a nurse shark, the rum flowing, and the arrangement of land tours. The bad ones had to do with diving and broken boats. Isn't diving and boating what a dive shop is supposed to do? Gotta get the basics down, then work on the peripherals.

Not on OP per-se, but...

As a sidenote, (and please Cappy Wook, tell me if I am putting words in your mouth)

I understand what your referencing, but some readers here might hear that as a 1+ for using Trip Advisor as a meter of a SCUBA operation. Yes, I also see that the TA poster's happy thoughts about grabbing animals and drinking rum really are the best unknowing indictment of an operation and complete affirmation of the writer's ignorance, but they know not what they say... I find Trip Advisor is useless for actual SCUBA information. Nice hotels? Yes.

On the same note, we here at SB, as any open forum, can be propagandized and covertly spammed by those with an agenda. In this case, obviously now in retrospect, likely not the case. Most other examples of first-time poster slams are usually shut down on SB by follow-up comments. On TA, disgruntled former employee and competitor written comments are rampant. TA seems to largely ignore those if not excessive. TA will however quickly delete any negative but truthful item, in particular island crime issues that might actually affect even casual tourists. Very heavy handed Moderation, but in a weird way. (Must not upset the cruise ship advertisers, right?)

 

[Wookie]

(Must not upset the cruise ship advertisers, right?)

Actually, you won't find any or too many cruise ships rated on TA. Thankfully, TA considers us a cruise ship and will not allow us to be rated. Not that I mind ratings, but TA indeed seems to be the place for disgruntled customers to go pick a bone. I just found it interesting to read the reviews. The things that keen divers, like you and I might be considered to be, are not the things ADM are known for, or rated highly for. What they are rated highly for are things that once a year 2 days in a week's vacation divers might be enthusiastic about.

I try to take TA reports with a grain of salt. I read the report between the lines, and try to balance what the reporter says with what I think they were looking for. A reporter looking to touch a shark or drink rum punch or take land tours is probably not the diver I want to dive with. The reporter telling me that I would have to switch boats 3 times in a single day and only get 8 min dive time in Blue Hole, (which was $150 when I got married there in 1999 on the Miss Gina) without an apology or any consideration from the op (like a spot on the next day's trip, I know ops don't refund) wouldn't be a dive operation I would seek out.

As far as sexual harassment goes, there are 2 sides to every story, I have a number of them to tell, having been a dive instructor and captain for many years.