Box Jellyfish

[santelmo]

Uy, I met Gigi (she who is DM to the President of the Philippines ) once, years back in Tubbataha on the Island Explorer (before it sank!). She's a good friend of my group's most regular DM, Jay Ortiz. My NAUI open water instructor is Joel Sayo while my PADI advanced open water instructor is Ian Paredes. Both detailed, exact, and exacting in different ways -- one like that teacher we all used to have who marches around the room, "whapak"-ing his palm with a ruler; the other, practicing more of a soft-spoken motivational style. They were exactly how I needed them to be at the time. I'll always be grateful to both

hahaha...yeah, they tend to be strict talaga. DM lang ba sha kay GMA? i thought Gigi was the one who taught and certified tita glow...

well anyhow , im proud to be a student of both Gigi and Dick. Gigi as the Instructor/DM of GMA and Dick as the instructor of Luli (i think)..... hehehehe sosyal diba?

[PinayDiver]

Malamang, she also certified the President. Sosyal nga. First family-league : )
You know, I’ve always fancied that students are virtual “calling cards” for their instructors.
For example, I was once grouped with this diver who flooded her mask upon entry, stinging her eyes, and unsettling her (she was vocal about it). Continuing with the dive, I saw that her tank came slightly loose off its straps and was soon near-vertical, probably tugging at her reg. I alerted the DM. While he and I were at work on strapping back the tank, her weight belt somehow came loose and dropped to her thighs—quickly retrieved by my dive buddy at the time. It was an interesting exercise (and ok, funny later).
Back at the resort, she was asked the inevitable question: Who is your instructor? Oh dear

[santelmo]

and what was her answer? hahaha i guess you wont advertise the name here on the message board since it would be a big disgrace? hehehe

well, that's why im always cautious especially after my 1st diving incident. im very vocal and proud pa naman of my instructors. mahirap na maka perwisyo. i dont want to put shame on their names...hahaha

the only thing ive noticed is during classroom sessions they're very sweet, soft spoken, happy, smiling, etc but at the resort they may change into monsters...especially if the student is pasaway.

an almost similar incident happen to us. it was a korean student and he forgot to change his tank after the 1st dive. he only noticed it when we were at 60-70 feet at Cathedral rock during our 2nd dive. no choice but to escort that student back to the boat. hahaha he kept on apologizing for ruining my dive even back at the resort. funny.

another Korean had a problem w/ his weights...so my group ended up swimming back to shore. i was about to grab some more weights for him but another Korean stopped me and said to let him get it for himself and then he spoke to his fellow Korean in a scolding tone.... i felt bad for that diver...i bet he got so humiliated that he didnt even stay overnight as what was planned and chose to hitched a ride back to manila.

[seasnake]

Instructors here complain about the high rate of divers who take their basic course but never dive again. I contend that it is because they were so poorly trained in the first place they either don't feel confident enough to dive on their own, or they do dive but have a negative experience right off the bat and that discourages them. That's why I broke away from my local shop. I didn't want my name associated with the poor quality and lack of customer service anymore.

[PinayDiver]

I think we just started a new thread within a thread: I was once buddied up with a diver who…

…during safety stop, desperately held on to the anchor line, head down with fins nearly pointing to the surface. Turned out, she forgot to slip the pocket weights into her BC but didn’t realize it until towards the end of the dive (reason: didn’t auto check-list)

…unknowingly wore fins with floaters (slipped over the heel straps) so her feet tended to fly up, to which she responded with fierce kicking, sending her down, down, down. The next scene involved the instructor chasing after her (reason: poor body awareness/deduction)

…to my horror, started puncturing sea urchins with his reef hook (reason: early trauma?)

…wanting to see more of a lobster retreating in its cranny, ended up pulling an antennae right off (reason: stupidity)

A friend remembers that I was so mad at the fourth guy, I actually said to him: “So what’s your excuse? That the devil made you do it?” (reason: it was either that or kicking him on the butt)

[Sarah]

Lu-Ann, great thread idea! Can you start a new one, and I will let you figure out where best it would go, as I am too tired right now! lol

Again, great idea!

[santelmo]

yes yes...

[santelmo]

A friend remembers that I was so mad at the fourth guy, I actually said to him: “So what’s your excuse? That the devil made you do it?” (reason: it was either that or kicking him on the butt)

you would make a great scuba instructor someday.... any plans?

[santelmo]

well, what can you say about the dive/course director who was caught spear fishing w/ a rich guy in Tubbataha???

[PinayDiver]

Lu-Ann, great thread idea! Can you start a new one, and I will let you figure out where best it would go, as I am too tired right now! lol

Again, great idea!

You? Tired? But, but...you're superwoman: continually troubleshooting, looking into every query, still moderating at 1 a.m., exceeding 500 posts...oh yeah, that would wear anyone down

There, there. The next breather I get from "CubicleLand," I'll start something over at dive discussions