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I booked my freediving certification (generally a two-day course plus online learning completed beforehand) with Julie almost two months before my trip in February 2023.
The day of the course, I found out through voice mail when I arrived at Cabana Beach (20 minutes out of town) that it was canceled because the instructor/Julie was refused entry on the premises. She didn’t have the required permits to teach there and the new management refused to let her in. The course couldn’t be rescheduled while I was still in Cozumel and when I asked to get my deposit money back (150 USD), she got mad at me saying it was the PADI fee. Eventually, she said she could give me back $50 USD but that the rest was for the online learning portion, which I had still access to. She seemed to think I could just rebook my practical course with her and come back anytime from Canada. She had also started by saying she was keeping the $50 because I had changed the date previously agreed on for the course, while she was the one that offered that I joined a different class because I was not feeling well. I never asked to change the date and was going to go on the original date. She simply used this excuse to her advantage to avoid refunding me.
I’d like to mention also that the day before the course, I was the one that messaged her at 5 pm asking about the next day, as I hadn’t heard anything from her. I didn’t know what the schedule was or what I needed to bring. None of the gear is supplied by the way and all the information I got was when I asked, she was never proactive about it. The course I had booked was the Freediving certification that was supposed to last 2 days (after doing the online required learning). The day before, she said I was doing Freediving Basics and that it was 1 day. She said I still owed $125 for the course; I had sent a $150 deposit when I booked the course and she had never asked for the rest until then. I didn’t make the transfer right away as I was out. The next morning at 7 am (the day of the course), I had a message saying I would not be welcomed to join if I didn’t pay the rest. The wording seemed hostile, but I let it go and made the transfer right away. The next message I got was 2 hours later (about 20 minutes before the course was supposed to start); it was a voice mail saying the course was canceled.
My whole vacation was booked around this course and it was most unpleasant. She also hung up on me when she agreed to reimburse me $50 USD; like I was the one that canceled!
It might be useful to know that the courses she offers seemed to easily happen if you are staying at a resort and she can teach on their premises because you are staying there (she even said that); otherwise, until she gets the right permits, I would say her courses are not guaranteed to take place. You might end up paying to do the online portion of the PADI course only.
I always regarded PADI as a trustworthy and reliable organization. This woman is NOT a good representation of the well-established PADI standards.
Refund and cancelation arrangements should have been clearer. There was a clear lack of communication before and leading up to the course, regarding the preparation (online course), the gear needed, schedule, the location, things needed, etc. - via 