The most horrible experience I had in my entire life!
I tried posting my review several times, but it never gets published, so I’m trying to let people know about how these people do business!
I booked a 1-week package ($890) after seeing their website advertising SSI training, accommodation, activities, and a Filipino instructor, which was the main reason I chose this academy.
From arrival, things already felt off. I was picked up in a car full of animal hair. At check-in, I wasn’t properly informed about anything and was placed in a bungalow next to the social area even though quieter ones were free but “not ready”
The next day, I was shocked to find out my instructor was Italian, not Filipino. When I asked about the SSI course and the Filipino instructor, I was told it was actually AIDA and that only foreign instructors were teaching. Staff themselves seemed to not know what to tell me.
Over the next two days, the training felt rushed. On my third day, I was told to go anyway to “stick with the schedule” even if I said I wanted to rest and continue another day.
After training, I was told: “You didn’t pass the requirements. If you want to try again, you need to book more sessions.”
When I asked again about the SSI training, the owner lady yelled from the sofa “This is AIDA, not SSI! You need to book more sessions!”
After all these I requested a partial refund for the unused days of my package because I felt what I received did not match what had been advertised. My request was refused. I was offered extra sessions if I gave up my tours instead.
The atmosphere became extremely uncomfortable and I decided to leave early, at my own expense. Only then was I told that I should have requested a Filipino instructor and SSI training before arriving. Why would I need to request something that was already advertised and I paid for?
The owner later tried to blame me personally instead of addressing my concerns and told me I could call whoever I wanted, but nothing would change.
Overall, the experience was completely different from what was shown online and it ended up ruining my entire trip.
Please do your own research before booking and be mindful of tricks, they don’t do bank transfers only wise, so you have no power in making any complaints to anyone except the owner itself that refuses anything because they strictly do this for getting money. What you pay is not worth it , their prices are almost triple than what you normally find on this island and what they are offering is not worth the price in a million years!
For reply to the response: I didn’t receive any aida documents before, I had no idea about what u claim u sent, and I asked about ssi and Filipino right away the Italian aida instructor came in. And our emails are proof of how things went, freedive academy owner just responded highly unprofessional each time!
Reply from Freedive Academy Panglao
Dear Stefan Florentina, this is ridiculous… Blaming us for not teaching SSI and not having a Filipino instructor - and then coming up with a bunch of lies and threats… In the over 20 emails we sent back-and-forth, not once did you mention that you wanted SSI. You didn’t mention anything about SSI when we sent you the AIDA study materials 16 days prior to the course, and you didn’t say anything when you filled in the AIDA medical and waiver before the course started. Also, changing to a Filipino instructor would not have been a problem at all. This happens regularly when guests prefer locals or are not comfortable with English. We have great Filipino SSI Instructors…. No, instead, you remained silent and only brought it up after the course and on the fourth day with us. And then threatening that if we didn’t give you $500 back, you would write a bad review or go to the police - you are a scammer and a liar - we should have called the police…. The only thing that is true is the dog hairs in the car - very true, and we apologize for that… We had to bring the dive center dog to the veterinarian, and the driver didn’t clean the car - our bad, we will do better next time. I hope karma is easy on you. Enjoy your life.
