Dive Review of Aloha Dive in
The Continental USA/Woodland Hills, California

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Aloha Dive, Nov, 2007, by James Isaacs, CA, United States ( 1 report). Report 4045.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I am an experienced diver with over 20 years of diving both locally and on far away trips. My two children have long wanted to go diving with me, and I enrolled them both in a certification course at the local dive shop to get their training prior to our trip to Bonaire in October. The owner of Aloha Dive promised me he would personally train the kids, and that he had many years of teaching experience with youngsters. I had to pay $1,000 for the course, which included no equipment or discount on equipment. The course was to include two boat dives. When I brought my children to the first class, I was told that another instructor had been brought in because the store owner was too busy. The switch was disarming, but we went forward, as we were on a very tight schedule to get the course done and get some practice diving in before going to Bonaire for a week. The instructor was good, although newly certified in teaching, and he was very patient but firm with the kids. Both kids passed their written exams. My youngest, my son, became frightened on the first boat dive because the water was very murky at the surface, and he wanted to come up after just a few minutes. It wasn't the boat we were promised, which was a boat operated by the shop, and I think the crowded boat with lots of strangers contributed to his anxiety. My daughter did just fine, and did her dive without any problems. In spite of promises to get another boat dive, my phone calls and e-mails went unheeded, and finally, it was determined that my daughter would have to do a beach dive, and that my son would not be able to finish his certification before we left. I wasn't pleased, but we were leaving in short time, and there was no instructor and no boat available to finish his training. I was promised they would finish him up upon our return from Bonaire. The trip was nice, but we felt sorry for Jaymus, as he was relegated to snorkling only while his sister went diving with me. Upon our return, I called the shop many times to schedule the rest of Jaymus' training, and these calls and messages were ignored. Finally, I sent a letter stating that I wanted to get the training done and to also enroll Jenna into Openwater II. No response. Jaymus was asking me constantly when he could get back into class, and more and more time was going by without him having any continuity of training. I placed a stop payment on my credit card for half of the tuition, $500, and the owner of Aloha Dive disputed this, providing the credit card company copies of Jaymus' written tests. The credit card people obviously had no idea that the in-thde-water part of training was never completed. The owner refuses to give a refund, and I will have to enroll Jaymus in a separate course. He has lost enthusiasm for diving because he feels he somehow failed. What recourse do I have? This is not only a loss of money paid for certification that never happened, in spite of many promises that they would "finish him up", and, worse, a loss of my son's enthusiasm for diving.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	[Unspecified]
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	67-69°F / 19-21°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	25-30 Ft/ 8-9 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Aloha Dive in The Continental USA/Woodland Hills, California

Aloha Dive, Nov, 2007,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Aloha Dive in
The Continental USA/Woodland Hills, California