After retuening from Greece I wanted to complete my PADi Open Water Diver course, after looking around on the internet I found a company called Maidstone Scuba. They answered my questions promptly and also offered me a deal on doing my Advanced open water back to back.
Finally the books and DVD arrived in the post which allowed me to complete the class room stuff, then it was office to what I thought was there offices however this turned out to be in John's living room, not what I was really expecting.
However I was more bothered with getting on with things this never bothered me. John was always trying to sell you something that you would need for the course.
I completed the exams and passed, there was a short break and then off o the pool this is held at Maidstone Lesiure Centre just up the road form there plush Offices (sorry house).
Well the pool session was to complete the confined water dives and to master the 20 skills that PADi set. We was given diving kit and helped to put this together, everything with them just seemed rushed. We went straight round to the small pool and sat on the side all kitted up. There was 6 of us we was helped into the pool and then started with some of the skills, John would demonstrate this first and then we would copy, if anyone had any problem with this he would just move on and say they would catch up later.
After an hour or so we was moved to the deeper pool, again everything seemed rushed, we continued with the reminder of the skills. It was then out of the pool and straight on to do the swim tests first the 200m swim and then a 10min tred water.
Well that was the end of the first day, only to be told we won't be returning tomorrow as we had done all the skills and had met the PADi standard. I was totally knackered and had a drive of around an hour to get home.
On the way home I remember thinking how things had been rushed and there were a couple of skills some people didn't catch up on.
Open Water at Wraysbury:
I'd emailed John aweek before asking if anyone from my neck of the woods was also driving upto Wraysbury, however never got an answer, on arriving there I was interduced to all the other people on the course, and yes there was someone who was local to me he was called George. When we was talking he said he'd asked the same question and didn't get a reply.
We kitted up, with the help from John and Mary (his wife), it was into the water for Open Water dive 1, mary stayed by the van and John came in with the 4 of us. THERE WASN'T ANY ADDITIONAL DIVEMASTERS OR INSTRUSTORS WITH US.
We completed all the dives we needed to that day, George and myself decided to car share for the remaining days of the course.
Day 2 at Wraysbury, we was met with some other Instructors from Maidstone scuba, this time there was surface support and also additional divemasters to help out. We only had one dive to complete and then we would be open water divers, it was the last skill the CESA. We went out to a platform around 6m deep and then one by one we ascended to the surface, job done I was an Open Water Diver..
