A YOUNG woman was allegedly harassed by a male diving instructor while taking part in a course to obtain her diving license.
The woman had taken to Instagram to share the awful experience she endured to obtain her license at a diving centre located in a beach cottage at Tioman Island.
The young woman was not the male instructor’s only victim, as many other women have called out the instructor’s inappropriate behaviour on the beach cottage’s Google reviews.
“It’s a bit of an uncomfortable topic, but this is not just a “story time” of this thing that happened to me, it’s about this happening to several girls, which means it’s a repeated pattern.
“This man is not going to stop sexually harassing girls, especially lone female travellers,” she said in her video caption.
She clarified that she went to get her diving license in August 2022 at Tioman Island alone and posted a video blog of her experience on YouTube.
“I posted the vlog on YouTube and then also mentioned that this guy was acting very inappropriately and that’s why I had to leave the place without finishing my diving license.
“Recently, someone commented on my video saying that they saw some reviews on Google that this place is not safe for women,” she recounted in her video on Instagram.
The review online said that it started off as “harmless but inappropriate comments” however, the diving instructor had allegedly crossed physical boundaries, which scared the young woman.
The woman’s review added that two other women learning there simultaneously had endured the same treatment as her.
“Together, she and I had to escape the location and the island to feel safe,” the female diver said in her review.
She had reported the instructor’s harassment to the center’s management but instead had admitted to acknowledging his improper conduct toward other female divers.
The woman also alleged that the instructor does not have a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) license after reporting the incident to the association.
“I also reported this to PADI and it turns out he is not an eligible PADI instructor or even a PADI member. The dive number he is using now is not his own,” she explained.
Meanwhile, the young woman who posted the video on Instagram said that before leaving, she relayed to the diving centre staff of the man’s behaviour.
“I was hoping that they can watch out for other female travellers going there.
“Turns out it did nothing. It’s still happening to other girls,” she claimed in the video.
