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Chad needs to be fired ASAP
Our overall experience was good however there were a few bad eggs that turned the whole excursion sour. Mica, the young blonde girl, and Yoshi were all great staff members and added a positive outlook to our experience. However, Chad was a looming storm cloud that would ruin any fun and exuded a negative aura that lasted the whole trip.
After Mica gave us a rundown of the safety procedures, sign language and other diving fundamentals, we were given another debrief of these things by Chad. The experience was night and day. Mica was actually teaching and explaining how and why we do those things while Chad was quizzing us and giving condescending answers that weren't very helpful. When we would ask for clarification he would act like it's a quiz and would be hesitant to give us a straightforward answer. His tone was very condescending and he made us feel stupid despite us being brand new divers. Instead of quizzing us, how about answering our clarifying questions about the loads of safety information that we took in 20 minutes prior?
During the first dive, I was lucky enough to get Mica as my instructor and he was great. However, Chad was not a helpful instructor and ALL the members of my group who had the displeasure of learning from him had a negative experience. These main issues remained constant in all their experiences with Chad: he was not helpful, he was dismissive of your concerns, and he expected you to know what to do already. I witnessed his teaching when I was on the boat and I could see the difference in my experience with Mica versus what Chad offered.
He needs more empathy and consideration for others, especially new divers. It's funny because I mentioned that I wanted to dive with Mica because he is chill but he overheard, got jealous, and said, "What did you say about Mica? I am the best diver". It is his attitude and teaching style that make him a great instructor not simply his skills. Chad needs a reality check to fix his attitude.
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| Packages: | Two Tank Introductory Boat Dive for Beginners | ||
| Attended as: | Couples | ||
| Posted on: | 2024/09/14 | ||
| Activity Date: | 2024/09/09 | ||
Helpful
Hello, Hung Hoang. The review explicitly targets instructor Chad on a personal level. Micah and Chad are combat veterans and passionate instructors, with over 15k safe dive experiences. While many customers understand their dry sense of humor and straightforward military styles, some may interpret it differently. The DSD quiz is a PADI requirement to help the instructors evaluate how much knowledge the diver has absorbed. Instructor Chad did precisely what he is trained to do. The divers were distracted by their phones and ignored Micah's dive briefings. When tested, it was clear that they didn't remember. The instructor had to redo the briefing. All 8 divers completed the skills, but only four went for the second dives. One diver hesitated on the ladder, which is unsafe for lingering. Instructor Chad had to say, "If you don't come now, you may need to stay on the boat." Based on your summary, the Ring footage, and crew feedback, the one-star review doesn't reflect the actual event."