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Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
'merica
# of dives
2500 - 4999
This is why instructors in Hawaii have such a bad reputation. What kind of safe and environmentally friendly practices are these?!? And he's using them to advertise his business. I hate to trash people, but this reflects poorly on every scuba diver in Hawaii

 
I see instructors in Texas do the same things...standing on the bottom and their students standing on the bottom. I don't get it. Teaching skills while neutral is really not a lot of extra work!
 
I see this all the time here. My problem with these videos is the instructor wearing the 'dig me' mask. Who trained this instructor that it was a good idea to instruct blocking the one thing they have to convey calmness and security? It all comes down to PADI being motivated by the $$ and allowing 0-Instructor certifications to happen as fast as you can pay for it.
 
Your first post?
 
What does that have to do with the info presented?

He said he hates to trash.....then his very first post, he trashes.....just saying
 
obvious bashing of a competitor or x girlfriend. First post here to bash someone else. Thousands of dives but new to SB?
 
This is why instructors in Hawaii have such a bad reputation. What kind of safe and environmentally friendly practices are these?!? And he's using them to advertise his business. I hate to trash people, but this reflects poorly on every scuba diver in Hawaii

You made an account on Scubaboard just to have a go at this guy? That's just about as sad as his video (which was very sad indeed).

Before we go on here, let's see some of YOUR video, mate!

If someone feels inclined, I would suggest that they contact the person whose video is being used here to inform them that their competitor is doing this and to invite them to respond in this thread. At the very least they have a thing or two to learn so being on Scubaboard would be good for them.

R..
 
Having said the above, those videos, especially the 2nd one is shocking to me as an instructor.

He has two students on the video but we only see the other one (the one with the blue flippers) briefly.

However, the student he puts in the spotlight seems to be very comfortable in the water and very enthusiastic. That is what makes this instructor so incredibly hard to watch. She could have come out of that course really knowing how to dive and in the same amount of time... if she had just had an instructor who approached it conforming to the PADI standard.

We only see him demonstrate one skill (badly) and we don't see the student repeating any skills so it's hard to know if she actually learned anything. However, even with next to zero information to go on, a few things were clear:

- securing the octopus like that is dangerous because in an emergency it cannot be released easily enough.
- the console is not secured at all. Beyond being a dumb thing to do, streamlining is a standard. Moreover the dangling console during the giant stride from the boat is potentially dangerous. Did the instructor not see this?
- at one point the student's primary is routed under her arm. Did the instructor not notice that?
- buoyancy and trim by both of the students AND by the instructor are completely beyond belief. I would say, without exaggerating too much, that some of my OW students likely have better buoyancy control and trim than we see from this instructor. In my interpretation of the standard, what I see there does not conform to PADI's performance requirements.
- both students appear to be overweighted (I mean too much lead on the belt, not too much fat). This could explain the horrible positioning in the water while swimming. They both appear to be overweighted to about the same degree so I would assume that this is a conscious decision on the part of the instructor.
- the student's cycling kicks were not addressed. In the latter parts of the video she was still doing it. I would have fixed that in the first module. In our OW course addressing proper finning is almost literally the first thing we do under water in module 1. You gotta get some of this stuff sorted out coming straight out of the gate or you'll pay the price in efficiency for the rest of the course.
- the instructor's mask is reflective. I mean..... holy bejesus. Who would even think to do that? Eye contact is such an important thing for communication. Looking cool is NOT the instructor's job!
- use of the go-pro in that manner during training is a straight up standard violation. At times another diver was making the video but at times the instructor had it on a selfie stick.
- in the first video one of the divers has a burst HP hose. This should have shown up in a pre-dive safety check (buddy check). My assumption therefore is that either the check was skipped or it was noticed and in the instructor decided to dive with it like that anyway.

All in all this comes across as being the kind of instructor we all wish nobody would ever choose to train with. I've seen more disturbing things on videos before but this instructor, in my opinion, has a lot to learn.

R..
 
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