I don't know PNW training rates and assume Pau Hana does. Those who charge premium training rates are often more skilled at it.
In South Florida, I know many captains who will train for daily rates of $500 or so. However, training is not their specialty and others may be better at it.
There are a lot of Coast Guard licensed captains out there. Very few teach and few are good at it.
It takes a certain type of individual to be able to teach boat handling in an easy to understand manner. There are so many things that a new boater has to learn prior to docking for the first time; wind, current, prop walk, momentum, pivot point, line handling, fender placement etc etc etc.
The captain also needs a calming demeanor to counteract the clients nervousness. The trainer getting excited, yelling or grabbing control away from the client in near misses during manuvering will certainly not gain the clients confidence. Don't laugh, those things have happened during training with training captains. And near misses will occur during training but a good captain will calmly tell you what to do with the gear levers to back out of trouble.
I don't know when the rules changed for obtaining a Coast Guard license but the CG changed the rules making it a lot easier to get a CG license 20 or so years ago. They are allowing the "License Schools" to give the test at their facility instead of at the CG examination facility. I've heard from too many Captains earning their license at these schools bragging about taking cheat sheets into the exam for the closed book "Rules of The Road" portion of the test and no one monitored them. They also bragged about being able to take the test multiple times until they passed. They also were able to take the other exams, one per day, or in any schedule.
When I took the test, it was at the Coast Guard station. For the closed book "Rules of the Road", they put me in an exam room. They took everything away from me and a CG person sat across the table from me during the test doing paperwork. If I did not pass, I had to reapply for the test and wait 30 days before I could take the test again. I signed up for three tests, a month apart, in case I did not pass the first time. I passed on the first try but it seemed like I forfeited whatever advance testing fees I paid. I also remember having to take all the exam modules in two days.
The schools also teach students how to "manufacturer" sea time according to a few sources.
I'm not accusing all the CG license schools for cheating. There were a few bad actors in the early years after the rule change when there were so many of these schools popping up. Most of the questionable schools have disappeared but the captains who earned their licenses at these schools still posses their license.