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The PADI 5 Star Scam

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PADI 5 Star Scam
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10 Ways A Good Dive Center is REALLY 5 Stars!

5 Star Scuba Diving Center! Luxury! Service! Actually, it doesn’t mean that at all. I’m breaking down the PADI requirements for being one of their 5-Star Centers and giving you the lowdown on what they really mean, AND giving you 10 suggestions for what an actual 5-Star Dive Operation should look like!

Keep watching to the end for another secret PADI scam hiding in plain sight!

The PADI 5 Star designation, awarded to certified PADI Resorts, Dive Centers and Instructor Development Centers does not promise any kind of improvement in the quality of service or facilities over a regular diver centre or scuba resort. It is a cheap and meaningless marketing ploy aimed to pressure dive centres into limiting the services and courses they offer their Guests and committing to PADI only.

It’s basically the reason we have Antitrust laws in the U.S.A and a Monopolies Commission in the U.K.

When I ran a PADI Dive Center in the Caribbean, our regional PADI rep was constantly pressuring us to go for the PADI 5 Star accolade. We met all the prerequisites, except one. We refused to teach ONLY the PADI way of diving and ran courses by other agencies. This meant our Dive Instructors didn’t have to do cross over courses, and our Guests got a greater range of course choices.

When I think of the term 5 Stars, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I hear a promise of better products or services, and I think most of you scuba divers watching would agree. A 5-star hotel is the best, the highest luxury, the most deluxe amenities. I worked for years on one of the World’s most exclusive private mega yachts and it gave me a thorough understanding of what luxury service – 5 stars – should be. To PADI, all it means is: you have drank PADI Kool-Aid, you should only drink PADI Kool-Aid!

Pretty sure the PADI-philes are going to get riled up over this. Let me know what you think!

Thanks so much for watching!

James

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