Quality Management Report

Quality Recognition 

yellow fish bullet

I recently completed my OWSI-Examination in Vechta and would like to take the opportunity to send some words of appreciation for my Instructor, Volker Sass, Tauchsportzentrum Stuttgart (TSZ). The qualification I received from Volker and his team combined with the fantastic team spirit at the TSZ made me go beyond my initial goal of becoming a divemaster: I am now a proud OWSI! Volker is a true professional with perfect diving skills, excellent way of qualifying aspiring scuba divers and a fantastic mentor for scuba divers on their way to become professionals. His courses are fun but highly professional. On top of that, he managed to gather a team of instructors and divemasters around him that make the TSZ a homely place to be and just drop by. I wouldn't be where I am today without Volker, his support and guidance, as well as his team at the TSZ.

Best regards,

Boris Fitz PADI# 985741 Volker Sass MI-951305, Stuttgart, Germany

red fish bullet

Bent not only has an encyclopedic knowledge of diving but is the ultimate professional in both his teaching skills and demeanor, as well as an easy going nature. We were completely disillusioned before we met Bent, and his team, but he managed to restore our faith. We would thoroughly recommend Bent Posejpal and Sea Fun Divers to anyone who is considering doing any type of further education in the PADI system and think that PADI should be proud to have these people in their association. 

David Crossley Bent Posejpal MI-500375, Phuket, Thailand

yellow fish bullet

Over the last 4 years Knut Haslev has provided me with exceptional training development with his knowledge and skills of diving, both in theory and practical application. He has been instrumental in my progression from taking my PADI Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and Divemaster courses, Speciality Courses in Dry Suit and Master Scuba Diver Certificate. Without his personal tuition my journey so far would have been much harder and his constant encouragement and ‘can do’ attitude has made it very enjoyable which is what diving is all about, fun and enjoyment within a safe environment. As I do not wish to offend my very good friend Barnabe Toledo, PADI 926162, I must also mention his great character and friendship towards everyone that enters the Dive Centre. I have known Barny since he bought Bueco Costa Dive Centre and seen it continually develop into the very successful business that it is today. He is always friendly and cheerful towards all the customers that enter the centre from outright beginners to the professionals (even if things are not going well). He is the ultimate teacher and I have seen the frightened novice turned into the confident diver within a matter of days, as well as the most awkward of ‘I know everything’ divers handled with a smile and a totally professional attitude. Barny is proactive in Project Aware around the centres dive sites of the natural park called ‘Acantilados de Maro – Cerro Gordo’ and with the local town councils to protect the underwater area from over fishing.Buceo Costa Dive Centre makes certain that all the necessary licenses and regulations that are required to dive in Spain are in place and followed; to ensure all its customers have a safe and enjoyable diving experience with them.

Kind Regards
Martyn Sands
PADI Divemaster 640115

Buceo Costa, S- 798808, Playa Burrians, Nerja, Malaga, Spain

red fish bullet

I have recently completed my open water course in Cala Blanca, Lanzarote. I feel that it is incumbent on me to commend the excellent teaching I received at this PADI centre. My particular instructor was Petra Van Borm (969924) who had the not insubstantial task of teaching both myself, an english speaking adult with some dive experience, but also a rather nervous spanish speaking boy who was perhaps 12 years of age. I am sure you will understand the evident difficulties of having to speak in two languages and balance two levels of experience and confidence. I must say that she completed this balance with good humour and absolute professionalism. She does both your training regime and the Dive Centre great credit and I wish her well for the future.

Best Regards,
John Brotherton

Petra Von Borm MSDT-969924 – Playa Blanca, Canary Islands

yellow fish bullet

Myself and family recently returned from holiday in Lanzarotte and wanted to share our experiences and compliments to 2 divers that we met . We were staying in Puerto del Carmen and whilst we were there we met Simmone Laemmle and Kev Turner from Canary Island Divers - my son - aged 8 decided that he would like to try scuba diving like our friends did although he was very anxious and worried - Simmone and Kev took him into the pool and explained what they would be doing and explained that if at anytime he wanted to stop he could and instantly put my son at ease -- and loved it - he decided he wanted to try it again so they had another 30 minute session in the pool diving for treasure ( money and plastic toys ) and playing frisbee in the pool and this wet his appetite for more - he decided he wanted to swim in the sea so a few days later he dive in the sea for the first time - he wasn't nervous at all just really excited - he came up from his dive and by the look on his face you could tell it was the best thing he had ever done - he got 2 certificates to prove to his friends back home what he had achieved ! - this whole experience wet his appetite so much that he has decided he wants to do his open water course when he is old enough - this is all thanks to Simmone. My husband also decided to dive whilst the opportunity was there. He had a briefing with Kev and everything was explained him about what skills he could do whilst diving - he had a brilliant experience-- thanks to the tutoring that he gained. This is just a little note to say how professional they were at Canary Island Divers whilst all the time putting my family at ease and making it fun - they both had a fantastic experience. Nicola Toon

Canary Island Divers S-798110, Puerto del Carmem, Canary Islands

red fish bullet

I really appreciated that 3 day course carried out by Waldemar in a very professional and relaxed atmosphere. He is an outstanding dive instructor with a lot of empathy and experience for his students. He explained me the theory of nitrox diving in a very demonstrative and clear way. We computed the nitroxes dives either using the PADI EANx (32% and 36%) tables and with 2 different nitrox computers (Uwatec Smart Tec Pro and Delta P´s VR3). During the open water dives I have always felt safe and confident in his presence and he conducted very detailed pre- and debriefings.I can highly recommend his way of teaching and diving and it was a great pleasure being graduetad for EANx diving by Waldemar.
Best wishes,
Christine

Waldemar Boczek MSDT-952118, Bonn, Germany

yellow fish bullet

The Course Director and the IDC staff members instructed me in a very friendly and courteous manner. What is a professional? What is an instructor? I think I need to keep on learning all my life, and I learned a lot from them not only as a diving professional and instructor, but also as a person. Besides learning skills and knowledge, I gained a lot of valuable experiences which made me grow as a person. I can’t thank them enough for having guided me through such great experiences. Keep up the fantastic work, and I’ll be counting on you!

Tomonori Irie CD- 806006, Tokyo, Japan

red fish bullet

Mr. Ueda taught me in a very kind and careful manner. Since I was not good at some skills, I was not able to understand everything he said while I was taking the course, but later I ran into a situation that made me realize what he was trying to teach me during the course, and I recalled what he had advised me. He taught me things from my perspective in an easy-to-follow way, so I was comfortable in learning and practicing at my own pace. Above all, I thank him for guiding me to the world of diving which I now love so much.

Masahiko Ueda MI-108438, Osaka, Japan

yellow fish bullet

Ocean Concepts runs one of the tightest, safest operation I have dove with in my short 5 years of diving. Jo organized a pre-dive briefing at the shop before boarding the boat, which included where we were scheduled to seat (all of our gear, rental or personal was already set up on the boat ahead of time). Confirmation of our dive buddies and who our guides were to be. Briefing of what else we might need on the boat and what refreshments we could expect during our two tank dive.The Pre-dive briefing on the boat was text book. After the DMs helped secure the proper weighting adjustments, Jo provided a thorough briefing that included all safety procedures above and below the water. We then had a dive site briefing when we anchored above the Mahi wreck. Clear indication of the decent procedures as well as how we were diving the wreck. My fiancee, Jacqui Baker who is a new diver with 12 dives, is still a little intimidated by this experience. However, she said Jo's dive briefing really put her at ease and made the dive that much more enjoyable.I have dove with many shops and resort operations around the US, Caribbean and South Pacific. Ocean Concepts could be your next video for ideal role modeling .
Edd Conn

Ocean Concepts S-2543, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

red fish bullet

After a few recreational dives with Mark, I liked his approach, from the first moment I could see his real passion for diving and his professionalism demonstrated. His knowledge of all aspects of running a dive operation was the hands on experience I was looking for, and on completion I gained the utmost respect for his work. Mark is a serious diver, but still manages to have fun and have a joke when the time is right. Mostly I appreciated the fact that when discipline is needed in diving Mark is quick to consistently uphold safe diving through demonstration of PADI dive practices and theory. I would definitely recommend anyone to take any of their certifications with Mark or to enjoy a relaxing fun dive with his crew in beautiful Sabah.
Daniel Broadhurst

Mark Hedger MI - 479511 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

yellow fish bullet

I am a 50-year old veterinarian living in Chicago, Illinois. On September 20, 2008 and September 21, 2008 I completed my open water training dives and received my PADI open water diver certification at the Haigh Quarry near Kankakee, Illinois under the supervision of Rami Hatamleh of Elmer’s Watersports, Evanston, Illinois. I did my classroom and pool work with Elmer’s Watersports over the summer of 2008 and became familiar with Rami then. He was my favorite go to guy when I had questions. I was a bit nervous about completing the training dives, but Rami explained what we were going to do thoroughly, and his enthusiasm gave me confidence that I could succeed. When tested on skills his criticisms were always constructive. With the help of Rami and his assistants I not only achieved my certification but had a very fun and rewarding weekend of diving. I highly recommend Rami Hatamleh to anyone looking for scuba diving instruction. I am definitely a very enthused beginning diver because of his influence.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Boin

Rami Hatamleh MSDT-238955, Chicago, Illinois, USA

red fish bullet

I have just completed my Open Water diving course, and I am very proud to be PADI-certified for it (in the process of). My primary motivation in writing this email is to provide feedback on the experience with Monika Radtke, my instructor, and the Achim Tauch-Oase diving school. I am very fortunate to have taken the course with Moni. While she was strict to ensure I learnt the right diving techniques, she was also very patient in teaching me the course at my pace. I have not been very comfortable with water in the past and at times almost lost faith that I would ever complete the course. But Moni would keep her calm, steady me down under water in times of panic, and diligently show me the correct technique. Once I got the hang of it, I would be re-energized to move forward. It was only for her and all the people at the school that I not only completed the course, but feel calm under water and look forward to a rewarding hobby. I only wish that all PADI instructors follow such an example to teach beginners as I. I also thank you and the PADI institution to both offer such training accreditation programs and to train the teaching standards as that exemplified by Moni.

Regards,
Sami

Monika Radtke IDCS-979870 – Kronau, Germany

yellow fish bullet

I would like to give my highest compliments to a world class instructor, Christophe Condé. Christophe guided both my husband and myself through the OWD course in the Seychelles this summer and I would like to make sure he gets credit for the high quality of his tuition. Being a novice, I was nervous before taking the course and he was an outstanding guide. Not only was he thorough, highly experienced and professional, but also incredibly approachable, charismatic, patient and perceptive about people. A natural motivator, he knew how to instil not only confidence, but passion. He was thoughtful at all times and totally committed to our development. As a dive companion, he was always fun to be with and full of good humour. His love for diving, his charisma and understanding of the natural environment were a true inspiration. My first dive was a thrilling and life changing experience and I am proud of having shared it with him. What was initially meant to just be a Discover Scuba Diving experience naturally led to the OWD. My husband and I are now determined to keep diving and are thankful to Christophe for opening this whole new world to us. 

Sophie Renson

Christophe Condé MSDT-968456, Octopus Diving Centre, Seychelles

red fish bullet

I had the pleasure of attending the PADI Advanced Open Water course at Camel Dive in Sharm el Sheikh this year. I would like to praise not just the facility and the instructors / staff in general at Camel which I found to be of a very high standard but also especially my PADI dive instructor, Konstantinos Zampopoulos who did a superb job in instructing me throughout the course. Kostas was a dedicated and very skilled instructor that combined with his pleasant and easy going nature enabled me to get the most out of my course and made my dving experience in Sharm el Sheikh very enjoyable. He definitely has a gift for teaching which together with his valuable experience ensures that not just me, but all diving students will get outstanding training.

Henning Hansen

Konstantinos Zampopoulos IDCS-639469, Camel Dive Club S-2393, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

yellow fish bullet

I just wanted to compliment you on the PADI instructors at Hydrodive in Reading. Roger Gotobed, the owner, and all of his team were so encouraging, kind, patient and helpful that learning was a pleasure. Not being in the first flush of youth it took me a bit longer to learn than it probably does the average diver but knowing how much I really wanted to be able to dive the instructors never gave up on me and now diving is an exciting part of our lives. We are now going to be doping our Dry Suit course at Stoney Cove and are looking forward to many years of happy diving.

Lesley Over

Hydrodive S-32302, Reading, England

red fish bullet

My son (age 12) and I were just certified to Open Water Divers last night & we wanted to write in and let you know about our excellent instructors. For the pool/classroom portion we were taught by Rob Mills & the open water dives were taught by September Mills, both working from The Dive Shop in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We found both instructors to be very knowledgeable and confident in every aspect of the course. They have so much experience under their belts, but were always so encouraging and helpful with any question or problem we had. Equally important, they both made the diving experience a lot of fun (even last night in pelting rain & 12 degrees C). They were both awesome with my son, Cole - encouraging him but treating him as an equal in the class - fully expecting him to master all the skills himself. He came away really pumped about diving & is currently on the PADI site figuring what other courses he can do as a 12 year old. Rob & September are both such professionals & put safety at the forefront of every decision that I would feel confident to have both of us do further training with both of them. We look forward to continuing our dive journeys with PADI (and hopefully doing more courses with Rob & September).

Shannon Lord & Cole Lord-May

September Mills MSDT-209597; Robert Mills CD-209013, Langdon, Canada

yellow fish bullet

I've loved diving since my first experience taking Bubble Blowers at age 8. This summer, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Puerto Aventuras, Q Roo, Mexico. I am now 11 years old and knew it would be the perfect time for me to get my diving certification. At the Aquanauts Dive Shop, Natalie Gibb became my instructor. We spent several days doing class work, pool work and ocean dives. I would highly recommend this instructor. She is a very good diver and is very patient and knowledgeable. Also, the crew at Aquanauts knew the perfect places to go so I could learn my skills and have a great diving experience. My aunt and uncle were even there to watch me make my first official ocean dive. And now I can join with the others in my family who already love diving so much! I just wanted to let PADI know how great of an instructor Natalie is!

Future Dive Master (*in 9 years!),
Makenzie K. Gass

Natalie Gibb OWSI-232377, Santa Ana, CA- USA

red fish bullet

I wanted to take a few moments to let you know my thoughts about an outstanding instructor. Charles was my instructor for my Nitrox Specialty, Rescue Diver rating as well as Divemaster. He is currently my instructor for AI. Charles is a mentor in the truest sense of the word. He has gone out of his way to encourage me to keep moving forward knowing that I was ready for the next step before I did. I have an extremely hectic schedule due to my involvement in Boy Scouts and Charles has always gone out of his way to accommodate me to get my classes completed. In fact there has been numerous times where he worked with me one on one when I just couldn’t fit into the regular class schedule. If I have a question about anything, I have his cell phone number. I can call him at any time and he’s there to help. Something else I noticed while going through the Divemaster class with Charles is that he takes every class with the same seriousness and enthusiasm regardless of what level it is. It is truly impressive to me to see an IDC Staff instructor take an open water class (something I’m sure he’s done hundreds of times) and make it lively and fun for all of the participants. As a Divemaster candidate, I had a number of conversations with his open water students and every single one of them loved him. He’s an excellent role model, a by the book “get it to the standards” instructor, that also makes the classes a blast for all involved. He’s truly unique and most definitely an asset to PADI.

Jeffrey Dodd

Charles Kiss IDCS-179565, Cape Coral, FL-USA

yellow fish bullet

I felt it necessary to contact PADI in regards to a recent experience with a dive center in my area.  I recently attended the first part of my open water dive certification with Float 'n Flag in Burlington, Ontario, Canada and had a fantastic experience!  I was in a group with the lead instructor of the course, another instructor and a divemaster and all three of them were great!  They made it a point to go slow and make sure things were understood and to help touch up on any skills we had problems with.  They were extremely professional as well as very courteous, friendly and kept the course interesting.  Furthermore, attending with another person, who had some minor uncertainty in some of the skills, the instructor was more than willing to work with her and make it an enjoyable experience for her!  The three people that I would like to point out (as I was working with them although the bit of contact I had with the rest of the instructors was positive) are the lead instructor, Mike "Little Mikie" Murray #206 281, Chris (I didn't get his last name but the dive centre would know that) and Dan Smiley.  I look forward to working further with diving and keeping contact with this center for trips and such.  I hope this information gets passed along to the people necessary!

Mike Murray MSDT#206281, Burlington, Ontario Canada

red fish bullet In 1997, I experienced diving for the first time by participating in a PADI Discover Scuba Diving program.  We dove the wreck of the HMS Rhone in the British Virgin Islands .  It had a profound effect on me and I put "Learn to dive" high on my list of things to do!  You could say that it was a life changing experience for me...  In September 2005, Mike Rowe of Sail Caribbean Divers in Tortola, BVI offered an IDC/IE featuring world class dive sites such as the wreck of the Rhone .  At the time, I'd been hunting around for a place to do my IDC so the choice was obvious.  Little did I know that I picked a world class Course Director as well! 

From the first time I emailed him, Mike was helpful, friendly, thorough, funny, approachable, knowledgeable and professional.  He somehow made the grueling course a heck of a lot of fun and we even managed to squeeze in a dive on the Rhone - it was great to return to the site of my very first dive!  After all of his instructor candidates passed I meant to write a letter singing his praises but I was busy teaching and never could quite get around to it.  However, the more I taught, the more I realized how much he taught me - not only by teaching the Instructor Development Course by the book but by being such a great role model.  From the PADI course, I learned how to teach.  From Mike, I learned how to be a teacher...how to pace a class and cover all course requirements but still keep it fun. 

Mike told us that to this day, he learns something new from every course that he teaches.  As a new instructor, I definitely learn something new with each course!  For instance, PADI teaches us how important positive feedback is for our students.  I love to watch this in action when I see how proud my students look when I tell them that they performed a skill just right!  One of my very first Open Water students took the time to write some positive comments about me and PADI passed them on.  It was really nice to get the feedback.  This reminded me that my students aren't the only ones that deserve positive reinforcement!  So I wanted to take the time to say THANKS!!!

Michel Rowe, CD-29992; Cruz Bay Virgin Island

 yellow fish bullet I recently took my Advanced Open Water Diver under the instruction of Vlad Soto at the Unawatuna Diving Centre in Sri Lanka. I thought you should know that I thought Vlad a first class PADI instructor. His technical instruction was clear and thoughtful and he was extremely patient at all times. The course was all the more memorable having him lead it.

Vladimir Soto, MSDT#165157, Miami, Florida - US

red fish bullet I wanted to personally thank you for the Jeff Loflin recommendation.  I literally just crawled out of the swamp of 40 Fathom Grotto from our 240’ certification dive for DSAT Trimix.  What a wonderful experience.  It is not often I am challenged both physically and mentally in a Scuba course anymore, but with Jeff’s course, I most certainly was.  In four very long days, I learned more about not only deep Trimix diving, but also my personal underwater posture, that I feel I have improved as a Tec diver, 100%.  Jeff not only taught the required material as covered in the manual, but we had several late night and early morning discussions on other deep diving philosophies.  I was given many opportunities to ask questions and delve deeper into different types of technical diving.  Although this course was exhausting, 7am to 10pm, or midnight almost every day, I do not believe any information was inappropriate, or unnecessary, with the exception of a few side bar conversations with his assistant.  We discussed several different philosophies about deco procedures, covering many different deco software programs, and dive computers.  We certainly had some good discussions about the dark side.  At first, I was actually a bit intimidated as he mentioned the last Tec Trimix class he taught all the students packed up and went home after day two, of their own accord.  I was like great!  Therefore, I was both nervous and excited to get in the water and prove myself to him, which I haven’t felt I have had to do in a scuba course in quite some time.  After the 1st dive, with some great constructive criticism, mostly from his cave diving side, I had several great ideas to work on for the remaining three days.  By the end of today’s dive, my buoyancy skills, I felt, were much more under control, and by the way, I didn’t think they were bad to begin with, but my 3-foot variance on stops was now down to one and a half feet! 

Again, in summary, a great experience, a great course, I learned a tremendous amount more than I had anticipated or even thought I desired.  I will certainly be taking some continuing education courses from him in the near future, specifically his Trimix Instructor course, and his DPV course.  He seems hell bent on getting me into some cave course, which until this last dive today, I thought was highly unlikely, but I seem rejuvenated and excited about being a student again, and I also look forward to exploring some deep exciting wrecks in the years to come.  Feel free to let Jeff know how much I appreciated his course, and maybe we can all hook up to do some diving together.  He says the Ozark is a great dive, and the Ariskiny is on it way down to 220 mid May! 

Jeff Loflin, CD-18604; Bonifay – Florida – US
yellow fish bullet I can give the highest compliments to my dive instructor James Humphreys.  His approach to instructing a complete novice made the experience of doing the course one the best learning experiences I have ever undertaken. 

His attention to detail and safety was fantastic.  In addition, he was always calm and understood how I, a complete novice, felt.

This was a great course, heaps of fun and made so much better by the great instructor I was lucky to have in James.

James Humphreys, OWSI#633229, Taunton , Somerset - England

 red fish bullet

I'm a firm believer that hard work and excellence should be acknowledged, and so I am emailing your office to give credit to a great PADI Instructor who is a superb role model for your company, and someone who has not only introduced me to the world of SCUBA for the very first time, back in January of this year...but has inspired me to become a PADI professional myself.  I write this email from a PADI CDC in Thailand , where I am well on the way to becoming an Instructor!

The person I wanted to commend is Andrew Lander, and he runs a small dive shop on Canouan Island , in St Vincent and the Grenadines .  I was a little afraid of the concept of diving initially, but he guided me through the PADI framework in a thorough and utterly professional manner, making me work hard when it was important for me to do so, but offering good humour and friendliness to ensure I enjoyed myself along the way!

There should be more instructors out there like him, and fairly new dive shops of this quality should be given the support and encouragement they deserve.  I hope I will be employed in one of those in the near future!

Andrew Lander MSDT#180936, Canouan Island, St Vincent and the Grenadines

 yellow fish bullet

Bien, ahora aquí lo que motiva esta carta: el buceo fué para mí una atracción muy fuerte, pero siempre estuvo fuera de mi alcance, lo que a través del tiempo se transformó en un sueño...pero hace 3 años se convirtió en realidad: certifiqué como OWD, y allí ocurrió uno de los cambios más importantes de mi vida: ingresé al MUNDO SUBACUÁTICO y Uds. saben muy bien lo que ello significa... pero además descubrí una nueva forma de aprender: EL SISTEMA DE EDUCACIÓN CONTINUA DE PADI, y es aquí donde quiero señalar lo siguiente: el método de enseñanza-aprendizaje con el que trabajamos, utilizando los videos y manuales que PADI suministra junto con el desarrrollo propio de este método y me estoy refiriendo a cuestiones puntuales como por ej: las clases académicas, los repasos de conocimientos y las autoevaluaciones como así también el sistema de evaluación final donde el alumno comprende y reafirma los conocimientos, es de una experiencia INVALORABLE en la formación intelectual y profesional de una persona, y esto lo digo con conocimiento de causa a partir de 20 años de experiencia en la función docente que realizo en la FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS VETERINARIAS, y es aquí donde quiero ser muy justo y puntual: ESTO HA SIDO POSIBLE GRACIAS A LA EXTRAORDINARIA ACTITUD PROFESIONAL Y HUMANA DEL MASTER INSTRUCTOR #181680 DIEGO DEGIACOMO, el cual hoy es mi guía, mi confidente, mi consejero, pero por sobre todas las cosas el responsable de haberme hecho ver que no existen fronteras en la vida para aprender y crecer siempre.Quiero que sepan que PADI en la República Argentina está representado y respaldado por una persona que se desempeña al máximo por sus alumnos, que trasmite absolutamente toda su sabiduría pero que fundamentalmente FORMA LOS BUZOS MÁS SEGUROS DEL MUNDO, esto Uds. deben saberlo bien, aquí nuestro Mar Argentino es tan hermoso como agresivo: las condiciones de temperatura (10ºC durante casi todo el año) y visibilidad ( 10 mts.) hacen que la enseñanza y práctica del buceo se realicen cumpliendo en forma estricta todas las normas de seguridad que aprendemos en los cursos PADI y esto es responsabilidad absoluta del INSTRUCTOR, por todo esto quiero AGRADECER INFINITAMENTE A PADI QUE A TRAVES DEL IMPECABLE MASTER INSTRUCTOR #181680 DIEGO DEGIACOMO ha producido la formación de un DIVEMASTER, pero fundamentalmente ha reafirmado mi amor por la vida y la naturaleza.

Diego De Giacomo , MI #181680, Puerto Madryn, Argentina

 red fish bullet My wife and I just finished our OW certification and we had an amazing dive master working with us.  I don't know if you only take feedback on instructors or not but I thought I'd send this along anyway.  We were diving with Wayne Gallinger (211287) in Alberta , Canada.  My wife and I have each been teaching professionally at college and Jr. High for over ten years each and we have a pretty good idea of what it takes to pass on information and skills to others.  We both agree that Wayne has a definite talent for instruction!  He was able to pass on information but more than that, he was encouraging along the way and instilled a sense of security in his students.  Connie and I were both completely relaxed when he was leading us.  His ability to know when a student needs serious consultation and when they just need a light-hearted remark makes all the difference.  He created an environment where it is easy to ask questions and I am thrilled that he is pursuing the professional diver pathway.  He will be an AMAZING instructor and I thought it would be good to let PADI know that how pleased we are with the assistance he provided during out course.

Wayne Gallinger DM#211287 Calgary ,  Alberta , Canada

 yellow fish bullet

My wife and I were certified by a PADI  5 Star facility (272) in  september of '95. Our instructor was Steve Glass (MSDT-30486). We are trying to locate him in order to thank him for his training  methods. We have logged 486 dives since our certification. On may 31 we encountered our first real emergency. My buddy (and  wife) suffered an air embolism at 82', and blacked out. Without Steve's training it could have been much worse. Many of the 
things he taught us are still used by us on every dive.

At the time, we did not fully understand "why", but the training  stayed with us. When it counted most, we were prepared!

If possible, could we contact him directly, or could you forward this message to him? We are very thankful to PADI and instructors like Steve Glass.

Also, (Very Important)  we want to tell you that the dive operators  that we were diving with (DIVI TIARA, Cayman Brac) when this emergency happened, Were extremely competent and well equipped to  handle this situation. PADI has done a wonderful job of training it's facilities around the world! They were Great!

Stephen Glass CD-30486, Whittier, California –US
Divi Dive and Photo Tiara, R-813, Gold Palm, Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands

 red fish bullet

I was pleased to learn from your web site that as well as structured feedback from surveys you also take unsolicited feedback regarding Padi dive centres and professionals. I would like to give you feedback on the experience I had with Perth Scuba and the managing director, Lee Johnson.

In September 2005 I started my Divemaster course with my local Padi dive centre in the UK . In October 2005 my wife was diagnosed with motor neuron disease. This had an enormous impact on both of us and I stopped diving. At the end of November we travelled to Perth, Western Australia to live with my daughter for six months to help come to terms with the diagnosis and our future.

In February of this year my daughter encouraged me to take up the Divemaster course again in Australia . I did not know if I could continue or would complete the Divemaster course for which I had paid the full amount in the UK . I approached a number of dive centres around Perth and asked if in the circumstance if they would take me as a referral and let me pay by module, week or month as I went along as I did not know whether I could continue.

All said I would have to pay for the complete course regardless.

Fortunately one Sunday I came across Perth Scuba, Unit 4, 180 Bannister Rd., Canning Vale, WA 6155.

On making the same enquiry with Lee Johnson the answer was "no problem, let's get you started and we will work out payment as we go along". Lee arranged that I could take the examinations the  following Sunday after I had obtained a doctors certificate to dive which is mandatory in Australia .

On passing the exams Lee himself made out a schedule for me to complete the remaining modules of the course. Although running a very busy dive business and training operation Lee was always availalable, supportive and totally infectious with his positive attitude and dedication to diving and the Padi organisation. Even at times when I found it necessary to cancel pre booked sessions Lee's reply was always "no problem let's see when we can do it".

Over the years I have been in many dive centres and I can assure you Perth Scuba is outstanding. The shop is well stocked and immaculate, the training facilities are excellent and the instructors very professional. However, what makes Perth Scuba outstanding is the attitude and culture evident throughout the team which is the result of Lee Johnson's dedication and professionalism. He not only gave me great support throughout the three months Divemaster course, he helped my wife and I through an extremely difficult period and made our stay in Australia worthwhile.

Because of my wife's illness it is extremely unlikely that we will travel to Australia again, however, Lee Johnson and Perth Scuba will always be a great memory.

I note that you follow up on structured feedback and I trust that you have something in place to reward people and businesses who are exceptional, an enormous asset to Padi and the dive industry in general.

Bob Hodgetts, DM#640605, Ash, Hampshire, England

© PADI. 2007, all rights reserved.