Yes, and No.
Happy to have family and friends assisting or providing moral support to a student during the Open Water Course. However, guests are not welcome into the water to participate or assist in any part of the PADI Open Water Diver Course. Come to the pool, come to the beach and hangout but don’t get in the water. Guests are not licensed or insured to teach the PADI Open Water Course.
By assisting they place themselves and the instructor in an unfavorable litigious position. It is also a clear violation of agency standards to have non professionally licensed assistance in class, pool or ocean sessions. Again, this places the instructor and dive school into an unfavorable legal position and may jeopardize their teaching credentials. The Scuba Fusion Dive Center AND its instructors reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.
Exception: A guest can dive by purchasing a refresher program so they can participate in pool dives and or they can purchase the ocean dives program and then be paired with their friend while in Monterey. This way the instructor and guest/student are in a safe and legal umbrella.
Instructor’s opinion: “Thank you but we do not need your help. Help by cheering them on from the pool deck and beach.”