New Divers Beware: Sketchy dive shop in Cozumel puts profits over safety

[Ben Prusinski]

Also, on Dive 3 my primary regulator seemed faulty and I had to use my "buddy's" the one with the longer hose.

At this point, it would have been wise to abort the dive and ask for a new regulator. Never dive with bad equipment as it is not worth losing your life over. As for the dive op, I am not passing judgement because I was not there but hopefully to the OP you have better dive experiences in the future and be careful! Never let a DM or instructor force you into unsafe practices. Even they can be wrong. Fortunately my instructors in the Dominican Republic were top notch and did a great job teaching me.

[Quero]

Quero,

I appreciate your work, but can I get a little clarity? Do you mean that Zman's post is outta line or are you agreeing with him? Is the problem too many disagreements? If I am outta line, I give you permission to call me out and quote the problem so we all can better understand the issue. (Or maybe I am the only slow one in the class....)

Sure, cvchief.

I was actually using Z's post as an intro to show that our users are quite aware that this thread was already getting dicey; if it had been out of line, I would simply have removed it, as I have already removed several posts from this thread--posts discussing other users' personalities. I'm trying to nip this behavior in the bud before it erupts like one of Mexico's legendary vocanoes, and we can return to dedicating moderator time and effort to other parts of the board, not just Cozumel.

[Karibelle]

I wonder if the OP had his memory jogged by the two rebuttal responses. I may have to go to the PADI website to understand the elearning process.

Does the student get any pool work prior to going to Cozumel? I can see doing book work on line but how do you do all required pool work just prior to the first two checkout dives? Just seems odd if I understand an earlier post correctly.

Of course I do not twitter or use f*ceb**K either so I am be crotchety and set in my ways.

If I am being bad, you know how I should be disciplined.

e-Learning is for the knowledge development portion only. The "book work" is done at home, online, at the student's convenience. Upon completion of the modules and the quizzes, the student gets a form to bring to the instructor with his scores. He can also be in contact with an instructor during the e-Learning process if he wishes to be. When he has completed the work, and is face to face with the instructor, the instructor will administer a "quick review" to identify any areas that may require further discussion.

No water work is included in the e-Learning program. The confined water and open water dives still need to be done in person. It sounds like those were scheduled over two days here in Cozumel, based on the owner's post.

kari

[Sideways]

But Quero.... It's ALL about us!!! Just kiddin

**waves at Kari

When I did my eLearning, I did the book online, then the pool (confined) and OW dives in Playa. I had an absolutely awesome Instructor.

[DevonDiver]

I would have signalled to the instructor about problems equalizing and went back up to the surface even if he did not comply. Not worth risking destroying my health. Then I would have given both the instructor and the dive shop a few choice words in Spanish and reported them to PADI and DAN for unsafe practices. Sorry to hear you went through this ordeal.

Guess who read the first page only and then jumped in with a post

[Ben Prusinski]

OK sorry but I must admit to be fair to everyone I did say that I have not passed judgement on the dive op since I was not there and cannot make that call. Still, it sounds like a number of red flags went up that the OP should have caught and not kept diving. On the PADI forms we have to sign as new OW students, I think that there is a form that indicates that we are responsible for our health and safety as well and not to depend on the instructor or dive op for everything.

[DevonDiver]

Ben, one of the issues with the rampant angst-ridden criticisms we sometimes see here on Scubaboard is that the issues weren't first raised with the dive op, either during the courses/diving or afterwards. If they are, and complaints still result, then they tend to be far more factual, clearer to understand and less 'dramatic'.

When I read the OP's first post, my 'cynic' node was engaged. I asked some questions and got little in the way of clear reply. Others seem to have put some clarity on the situation. Cynic node is still working fine, I think.

[nimoh]

DD, I think you were right all along. Consider your cynic node validated

[Christi]

Its unfortunate that anytime there is anything negative posted about any dive op or instructor, the poster is the one called into question and judged.
This board would be a lot more interesting and informative if people could give their honest opinions. Many do not as they rightfully, after years of watching the movie, know the ending. Anyone saying or implying anything negative gets judged by people who were not there and most likely have not even dived with the one in question.
It is just a matter of time before the pile on starts....

Have we been reading the same thread????

I would say that is is exactly the opposite (at least in this case). People IMMEDIATELY assumed that the perception/recollection/ "facts" were exactly as stated by the OP and jumped all over the shop and DM before hearing facts. I think Devon Diver did a fine job of offereing up alternative scenarios and possibilities as well as explaining that his PERCEPTION of danger may not have truly meant that he WAS in danger. New divers are nervous and scared to begin with, so things that are normal or SOP may be intensified by the new diver.

Also as pointed out by Devon Diver, during the OW dives, the student is to APPLY and DEMONSTRATE on his OWN the skills previously taught in the course. Yes, the instructor is still there to supervise and to be there in case anything goes wrong, but he is not to "hand hold". I was not there so I cannot confirm in fact what did or did not happen, but after hearing both sides and now knowing who the instructor was - the OP's version sounds less and less believable/accurate about the true events.

I am not saying that the OP was "lying" - but it did sound to me immediately as if some of the things he claimed were just way too out there to be true. Now that I know who the instructor was - I can recognize more discrepancies in the OP's post. Rafael IS IN FACT one of the most by the book instructors I have ever known. I have known Rafael for many years and he has ALWAYS been this way and still is...in fact I respect the fact that he stays on top of the standards and follows them religiously.

I find it very interesting now that the OP has not come back to the thread since his story has a rebuttle by both the shop owner and other divers that were on the dive. Also interesting, but not surprising that the grievance was aired FIRST on the internet and never to the shop/instructor being accused. That is very poor form and solves nothing.

[nimoh]

I hope that if people stumble across this thread, they read further into it and don't avoid the dive shop because of the first post