Dangerous Scuba Instructor

[The Chairman]

You became a member and started a thread to trash talk someone.

Who did he trash talk? No names were given. Divers need to break out of that silence is golden mentality. If you see bonehead instructors, please say something.

You did the right thing contacting PADI with your concerns. If they closed their investigation, then it would appear that there is a disconnect in understanding what is happening.

Many shops offer a zero to DM. Most students feel that they "start" their training with the first class even though that's not the actual DM portion of the process. It's a pretty common misconception. I did the very same thing when I finally got certified. I think it took me two or three months and would never, ever recommend that instructor to anyone under any circumstances. I'm an adequate diver in spite of his less than competent tutelage.

SKILLS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN CARDS!!!​

You and you alone are responsible for your competency or lack thereof. Just because your instructor is an idiot, doesn't mean you have to dive like one. Concentrate on your trim and neutral buoyancy and then work from that. There's a lot to learn right here on SB that will help close your knowledge gap. Carpe Divum.

 

[BioLumiLuna]

Yikes, this guy doesn't sound legal if this story is true. Maybe he faked his PADI partnership or something like that? Cause the first thing that struck me was the diving alone thing.
In every class and group dive I went on, we were always instructed never to dive alone, and last year a camp counselor at the Marine Biology camp I go to over the summer died because he went diving alone and had an equiptment malfunction or something like that.
While I'm not saying if it's real or not, cause I'm not in the position to say that, I'm just saying as a genral statement that trusting your gut in this scenario would be the best. This guy clearly doesn't know what he's talking about and could possibly be opperating illegally (fake scuba instructors giving out lisences is illegal right? I'm pretty sure it is...), and also putting the well being of students on the line.
I hope this story is exagguarated cause if it isn't I'm super worried about other dive students that could have been hurt or sent off with false information that could put their lives at risk in the future.

 

[kelemvor]

It's possible he meant to just go do some diving outside of class. I.e. get on a boat and dive with an instabuddy or whatever.

 

[chrisch]

Why oh why oh why do people with less than 40 dives think they want to be a Divemaster? I am scared to dive on my own but I am going to be responsible for other people's safety.

Oh dear.

 

[Stoo]

Me too. IMO, that's about the point to start thinking about AOW.

I guess maybe someone out in the world is exceptional enough to advance that quickly and be competent. However, I'd wager that's a rare person indeed.

Some years ago, my kid moved to Utila to write a book, and decided to get certified while she was there. She signed up at a well-known diving centre. From that point on, my emails went something like this:

Day 1: Dad, I signed up for a dive course. Start this afternoon.
Day 3: Dad, I got my OW1
Day 5: Dad, I just finished my AOW
Day 6: Dad, I did my Rescue Diver. It was pretty hard.
Day 7: Dad, I did Night Diver, Wreck Diver, Navigation, Fish ID Diver, Jellyfish ID Diver, Seven-Days-a-Diver Diver, Badge Collector Diver and a few others I can't remember the name of.
Day 9: I started on my DM.

At that point, I decided it was worth a trip to Utila. She had indeed completed about 17 courses at a vast cost, but had literally NEVER been diving outside the constraints of a course. Every. Single. Dive. Was in an Instructor-led format. (I assume the Instructors were also novice divers who'd met the bare minimum standards)

She and I dove together that week and she did fine. And on clarification, she had enrolled in a "DM Apprentice" programme, which basically meant she would help out around the place, dive for "free" (after paying $1000 for the privilege). Basically, it was a way for the shop to get a continuing source of labour, that was willing to pay for the right to hump tanks.

Having said all this, PADI fiercely protects their brand and reputation. If the OPs post is accurate, then I can't imagine PADI not responding with considerable enthusiasm.

 

[Lou PS]

Hi everyone! I have so much to tell you about how much of a cowboy this instructor was. Everything about what I have said is completely true, I have witnesses to testify and recorded tapes on this instructor. The reason why I haven’t released his name is because I want to have the best chance in bringing him to justice. I found this guy on a website, a skills-exchange swap if you will, certifying people cheaply in exchange for some manual labour. When I first met the instructor, we got along well, I had previously established the foundation skills with a very strict instructor in Hong Kong, so I felt comfortable diving alongside his beginner students. That was in February 2018. Then, I returned in the Summer period, to complete the course over two months. The reason why I mention this particular website, was that it works similarly to Airbnb because it takes on zero culpability if something goes wrong. In fact, if you have a negative experience, you can only award the host 1 star out of 5, any comments will be disabled. When I found this out, I just couldn’t believe that this website would delete negative comments. I am worried for those millennials seeking an adventure and don’t have the life skills/sense. There will be someone who doesn’t have the intelligence to follow this instructor’s mind tricks, and someone will get hurt. Maybe not next week, but in his lifetime, as he continues to grow a diving business off a boat that circulates around the Caribbean.

 

[Lou PS]

I mean to say, ‘who doesn’t have the common sense, and subsequently follows this supposed instructor’s mind tricks.... (nearing on 12am in Hong Kong)!!!

 

[Lou PS]

The initial problem I believe to have in my argument is that the instructor stated that I take responsibility for myself, there was no forcefulness. This instructor is very cunning, he’s the type of guy who knows all the loopholes and takes advantage of those. Ha! In every aspect of his life! He was eloquent and good at debate; I am sure that he sweet-talked his way out of this.

 

[Lou PS]

If I can prove that the instructor pressurised me to dive alone, would this be enough for PADI to reprimand him?

 

[Lou PS]

FYI - I also got in touch with lawyers in the USVIs and I was met with laughter. They said “well, what do you want to achieve... we can only help out if you’re seriously injured or dead!”

What crazy logic is this? Why do we have to sit back and wait for something terrible to happen when I know this guy is committing serious diving offences on a regular basis.