Important Questions You Need To Ask Before Getting Certified

The first thing you’ll discover when comparison shopping for PADI scuba certification courses on Maui, is that there is no shortage of dive companies out there competing for your hard earned dollars. Unfortunately, it can be a daunting task trying to find one that has a proven track record of honesty, integrity, and reliability, while at the same time providing a positive certification experience. It pays to do your homework, too, because every year we receive a number of certification students who started out with “Brand X”, only to become dismayed at the substandard quality of their course, and the unprofessional attitude and lack of experience of their instructor. To help you comparison shop, Scuba Gods has compiled a list of questions any potential certification student needs to ask before getting certified. If you’re only looking for the cheapest price, it’s best to stop now, because nothing you read here will convince you of anything. But, if you’re serious about doing things the right way, and care about the quality of your certification course experience, check it out....

How Long Does The Certification Course Last?

While not a violation of PADI certification course standards, we’ve explained elsewhere on this web site why 2 or 3 days for scuba certification is not enough time for the average person, and advertised as such, is nothing more than a clever marketing campaign designed to appeal to tourists. Click Here if you missed it.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: The Scuba Gods PADI Open Water Diver certification course lasts 4 days. We guarantee you a professional and personalized certification course experience.

How Much Does The Certification Course Cost?

Lowball prices are designed for only one purpose: To get you in the door. The hidden charges for the course are never advertised. As explained elsewhere on this web site, PADI has little control over how an individual dive business markets the scuba certification course, especially in regards to price. Click Here if you missed it. Remember, in the end, you always get what you pay for.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: The Scuba Gods PADI Open Water Diver certification course is a first class, all inclusive experience. There are no hidden charges....Ever.

Are References Available From The Most Recent Students?

Always ask for phone or E-mail references from the most recent certification students who have just completed the course. Don’t settle for written quotes, either, that are years old and taken from some data base of generic customer comments. If a lame excuse or noncommittal answer is given, take your business elsewhere. A quality dive operation that has nothing to hide will be happy to provide such references.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: Scuba Gods will provide E-mail or phone references at any time, from our most recent certification students.

Who Is The Instructor?

How Long Have They Been An Instructor?

How Many Certification Courses Have They Taught?

How Many People Have They Certified?

We could devote an entire web site to the topic of why you will have a difficult time getting a straight answer to any, let alone all of these questions, especially if you decide to go through a retail dive shop, hotel concession, or independent activity agent for your scuba certification. The employees staffing dive shop retail desks are often times not instructors, and may not know the answers to such questions. The employees staffing hotel and publicly located activity desks are often times not even certified divers! Their income is based solely upon generating commissions selling a number of different water based activities, including snorkel tours, whale watch excursions, sunset catamaran cruises, and, oh yeah....scuba diving, too. It’s important that you understand the distinction between selling scuba diving and teaching it. They will promote the water sports company that pays them the highest commission, period. If you think these people care anything at all about the quality of your certification experience, think again.

To further complicate matters, good instructors who have an extensive resume of experience teaching scuba certification courses, are extremely hard to find. Retail dive shops have a notoriously high turnover ratio of scuba instructors to staff. Many of the ones who are there are recent hires, and have very little real world experience teaching courses. They can reflect back upon life on Maui in terms of weeks and months, not years. They also work long hours for very little money, generally getting paid by the activity, (x) the number of bodies in that activity, not by the hour. With a pay structure such as this, you can understand why instructors need dive shops to overload certification courses with students, and also for their need to get you in and out of the water as quickly as possible. Do you think these people have any incentive, whatsoever, for providing you a quality certification experience?

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: Over the past 14 years, Scuba Gods has taught and certified more than 350 individuals who now travel this Earth in search of the ultimate dive. Click Here to view the extensive resume of the only instructor you will ever need.

Is The Instructor First Aid / CPR Certified?

PADI doesn’t require it’s instructors to hold these important certifications, or even to renew them once they expire. (First Aid expires after 3 years / CPR after 1 year) Both require time and money to maintain once you have them, and quite frankly, it’s a pain in the okole to keep on top of. But, any instructor who is serious about teaching a certification course needs to go the extra mile and make this a requirement, not an option.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: Your Scuba Gods instructor is current in both First Aid and CPR.

Will The Course Be Taught Using Rotating Instructors?

This means that one instructor “Team Teaches” the course with another instructor on alternate days. (Usually one instructor starts the course, and the other instructor finishes) It’s a common business practice that some dive operations use that totally benefits them, not you. While not a violation of PADI certification course standards, it’s no way to teach, in our opinion. People will defend it, claiming it’s a non-issue, because all PADI instructors are supposed to teach the certification course in the same standardized manner. The truth is, in the real world, it just doesn’t happen that way, and this type of teaching method will do nothing but confuse you. Unless you are doing what they call a Referral Certification steer clear.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: Your will find no first time and / or rotating instructors teaching the Scuba Gods PADI Open Water Diver certification course.

Will Both Instructor And Student Use The Same Scuba Equipment Setups?

A simple, but effective teaching technique. When both instructor and student are using the same brand of scuba gear, and have similarly designed equipment configurations, it allows students to learn faster and easier, both in and out of the water during the course. (Beware: Some retail based dive shops are notorious for putting their instructors, not students, in top of the line gear during a certification course, in the hopes of up-selling equipment to students after they are certified.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: Both instructor and student will use the exact same, top of the line equipment setups during the  Scuba Gods PADI Open Water Diver certification course.

Will The Course Incorporate A Giant RDP Table Into The Academic Sessions?

Learning how to use the dive tables is perhaps the greatest academic challenge a student faces during the certification course. A quality dive operation will have available an enlarged version of the standard size dive table, allowing students to easily master this important academic information.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: Scuba Gods provides a giant RDP table for you during your certification course.

Can I Get A Student Discount After Getting Certified?

Any reputable dive operation should give you a generous student discount on future diving activities, merchandise, and equipment purchase in appreciation for taking their certification course.

• Learn To Dive The Right Way: Trust us, Scuba Gods will take care of you. Substantial discounts will be available on scuba equipment, merchandise, shore and boat diving, and any future scuba courses you decide to enroll in.

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