A few months back when Paul was helping me get the new website up and running we were talking about what content we wanted to have and where it  should be located. Paul was adamant about including a section on what made us stand out from other dive operations. I can still hear him saying “you should tell them about how our certification trips include 7  dives instead of the usual 4, and more experience  makes  better divers. Let them know how our trips are all inclusive so you know what your spending up front. That it includes private lodging at the Inn At St. Thomas Square which is in easy walking distance to an amusement park and several well known clubs in Panama City Beach, Florida.” He also wanted me to mention his favorite part of the trip, besides the diving, which was dinner at Captain Anderson’s restaurant and a Churrasco steak cooked rare with a baked potato and salad. These are all great and our trips along with all the great people that come and dive with us are special and uniquely Coral Reef.

I believe what truly sets us apart from others is that we care about the quality of the divers we certify. Our motto is “not just certified, qualified” and I believe that says it all. I really don’t want to get into the details of how some facilities and instructors are little more then factories for handing out certification cards. We make sure that every diver masters each and every required skill, not just does it once after several tries, but truly masters the skill so they can repeat it at any time when called upon to do so. This takes more time and requires more flexibility on the part of the store and instructor. Some students may require another pool session, some two but the point is that at Coral Reef we take the time to get the students comfortable with the required skills no matter how long that takes. Yes it’s a business but we refuse to compromise on turning out safe qualified divers.

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