GirlDiver

When I signed up for my open water class at popular local chain of dive shops I really had no idea what to look for in a certification program. It seemed most of the shops in the area offered the same class for the same price and so I chose the class that best fit my work schedule while being close to home. They sent me home with several hundred dollars worth accessories that were required for the class and several weeks later my open water experience began. I was pretty overwhelmed and found the large class size to inhibit my ability to learn and receive enough personal attention to accurately learn and fully master the skills needed for safe diving. To get certified you must complete the skills once in a pool and once in open water which often means you've got the gist of it but you have not had enough practice to really own those skills. While this might be acceptable in something like a cooking or art class the reality of scuba is that many of the skills you practice two or three times for certification are what will prevent an emergency situation from taking place or keep you alive if one does happen. It seems to me you should really own these skills before being certified but often this is not the case. Upon completion of my open water class I felt like diving could be interesting if I got the hang of it but didn't feel like I'd been trained well enough to be a safe diver. For my advanced open water I sought out something different.

Enter Cindy Ross aka GirlDiver.

A former GirlDiver student gave me her information after hearing about my open water experience and promised me Cindy would be different. When I called for class info I found a warm and caring person on the other end who completely understood where I was coming from and explained how her class sizes were always small to make sure each diver she certifies is safe to dive without an instructor at their side. My work scedule at the time was rather unusual and I had a bit of a time crunch because I wanted the option of deeper diving on an upcoming trip to Cozumel. She worked around all of that and created a private class to make sure I had plenty of water time to not only take the advanced open water class but also fill in all the holes from my original open water class.

I really appreciated the fact that she took the time to listen to my concerns and goals and really put the extra effort into making sure my advanced open water experience was a total change of pace. It really made all the difference both on my dive trip and in my fun diving experiences since.

I came to girldiver not knowing anything about scuba. I was worried that I wouldn't get everything right away and I have seen the HUGE classes that the local scuba shops sign up, so didn't know if the instructor would have time for me.

I didn't have anything to worry about. The instructor only teaches 4 people at a time and had divemasters in the water with us. She answered every question I had and made sure that I understood before we moved on. I felt completly comfortable asking her anything without worrying if it would sound stupid.

Her dedication to our safety was unbelievable, I mean she was right next to me the whole time and I couldn't believe how calm I felt with her. I don't know about other instructors but I thought, "how could they keep track of 8-10 students?" The small class size and her unending patience where gold to me.

I now have confidence in the water that I never thought I would have and a whole new world to explore. If you value your time and want only the best, There is no other choice to me, I am going back for more classes this summer.