I think you're right. I don't recall the specific equipment, we were visiting and only did a short training before. Now I've read more on it and I do feel (sheepishly) misinformed. The light may have been way less damaging than we were told. Thinking on it, I wouldn't have put it past the divemaster to troll us that way.

First, the kind of diving is more commonly referred to fluorescent diving and it doesn't use UV light, its blue (440-480nm) light. Second the filters were yellow light filters to remove the remaining light so that it didn't overwhelm the blue and you could see the fluorescence.