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#92754 10/14/04 02:14 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
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And there's a fine example right in your list of how 5* may not be indicative of anything all that special. There is at least one shop on your list with no star that is superior to at least one of the shops on your list with star.


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

#92755 10/14/04 03:34 PM
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Absolutely. "Superiority" or "customer satisfaction" is not graded by PADI, which is where the subjective comments on sites such as this can be so valuable. I know of one dive center in particular not in the above list which I would be very happy to dive with. But to be 5* does require certain specific conditions to be met.

#92756 10/15/04 08:42 PM
Joined: Oct 2004
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What are the PADI books for Open Water? I am coming to Belize in Dec. for xmas. 7 days. I do not have the time to do a refferal course. I will have a few days in mexico and Belize before coming to SP to study....


Phillip
#92757 10/16/04 05:10 AM
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PADI has an Open Water Diver manual that is available from any PADI dive center worldwide. Look at www.padi.com if you don't know where there is a center. If you arrive having done no preparation expect the course to take 3-4 days. What some people do who don't have the time for a normal referral is to read the manual and do all the exercises in it. You should be able to find a dive center in Belize that will mark the "knowledge reviews" if you fax/ email them, in anticipation of you then doing the course with them.

#92758 10/16/04 05:17 AM
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Seashell - I don't actually understand what you're saying in your first two paragraphs. Can you translate, please?

Yes, perhaps "tcline1" will choose us - the business would be nice. But there are several other excellent options open to him/her.

Incidentally, Roni hasn't taken part in this thread. Probably hasn't even seen it as he's at DEMA in Houston.

#92759 10/16/04 07:10 AM
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Sorry Pedro2 . . .if you weren't up so late, I'd probably have edited my post by now. smile

In any event, I'm not in favor of resort courses, or of people that try to fast track scuba training in any way. So my first reading of Hip2's post, set me off.

Seems to me that if people want to dive, they should want to learn how to do it right and safely. . .I called on Roni, thinking that Protech felt the same way about such things. Sure, a referral is not quite so bad, but for someone to say that they don't have time . . .(to learn to dive), well, heck. I'm a worrier, what else can I say?

(By the way, did Roni hope to go on the Flower Gardens trip after DEMA?)


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

#92760 10/16/04 06:00 PM
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Anonymous
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Seashell - I just wrote you a long reply, then hit the wrong button and lost it! In brief, then, I think you're misinterpreting Hip2's post - as I see it, (s)he doesn't have time at home to do a referral course before coming down to Belize. He (may be she, but I can't write he/she all the time) isn't saying he won't have time once here. I have another student at present who is doing what I suggested.

Roni and I opened the center (I'd rather it isn't named, as I'm not trying to advertise here) with the intention of meeting the highest standards found in the industry, and even going beyond them at times. You may know Roni was appointed to the IANTD Board of Advisors, which both recognises his devotion to high standards of diving and provides a means for developing those standards. We didn't open it primarily as a way of making money, though that obviously has to happen as well.

Roni is staying on after DEMA for a while, though I don't know if he has the Flower Gardens in mind. He may just want a rest, as he's had a long stint recently with a lot of pressure.

#92761 10/17/04 10:26 AM
Joined: Oct 2004
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Sorry...I should have explaned better. I don't have time to do a the PADI referral dives in CA---I am in school and working fulltime. I was thinking about getting the manuals and trying to get some of the classwork done before I come to belize. I am going to Cancun and inland Belize for 4-5 days so I will have additional time for study while riding the buses. I will be on SP for 7 days over xmas. I know sometimes because of the weather, the PADI Open Water can take longer than 3-4 days and its performance based. I may even attend the classroom once on SP.

1. Will taking the tests, save me some time once on SP?
2. Even if you taken the tests can you still attend the classroom setting, to get a better understanding of the material?


Phillip
#92762 10/17/04 03:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4
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All the dive companies on Ambergris Caye are pretty good. Go with Amigos del Mar to the Blue Hole. They have the biggest boat, which makes for a more pleasant trip.

#92763 10/17/04 04:27 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,062
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here's your chance seashell............. wink


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