Absolute divers ?

[RennieRae]

Hello everyone,

Can anyone give me a review of the 'Absolute Divers' dive op in GC? We are taking a cruise next month (have one day to dive) so I have sent some e-mail inquiries out in order to book someone for the day...

My first response was from AD, and it seems like a pretty good deal. Just wanted to check with you experienced GC divers first.

Thanks for any and all information that can provide.

Cheers. Bob

 

[scubadada]

Hi Bob,

I've been on GC 8 times in the last dozen years, last in 2008, with 142 dives. I've not heard of Absolute Divers but the private charter sure seems like a good way for a small group to get in quality dive time without having to deal with the rest of the cruise crowd. If you can swing it, seems like a good option.

If I were you, I would PM one of the knowledgable locals who actively participates on SB such as Drew Sailbum. His posts genereally seem right on.

Good luck, good diving, Craig

 

[RennieRae]

Thanks Craig. Mark Sahagian is the name of the owner/operator of Absolute Divers, LTD.

I checked some references and had some good responses, so we went ahead and booked with him for that day.

I'll give a report after we get back. Thanks for your interest and response. Cheers.

Bob

 

[RennieRae]

Hi all,

Just wanted to give a quick report of our day diving GC with Mark Sahagian of Absolute Divers…..

Mark asked me to call him as soon as we got off the ship so he could let us know where to meet him. We did, and he met us at the Lobster Pot Restaurant about 600 yards north of the cruise port (right on time). He checked all of our C cards first, and then we loaded all of our gear and were off.

We had 3 divers and 1 snorkeler in our group and Mark’s boat was plenty roomy and comfortable for all of us. We ran towards the north to dive the wall at a place he called “Pinnacle rock”. He was unable to dive with us due to an ear infection but gave us an excellent description of the dive site and we decided on a profile during the pre-dive discussion. My wife had been having some problems clearing lately and Mark took extra time with her and gave her some methods to use that worked great (I was very appreciative).

The dive was fantastic with nearly unlimited visibility (or so it seemed) and we saw lots of beautiful tropicals out along the wall. The dive profile was 80 feet maximum for 25 minutes and the three of us were right on it when we surfaced together.

Our next dive was the wreck of the Oro Verde in about 40 feet. Mark gave us a great description and history lesson of the wreck during our surface interval and pre-dive discussion. Once again his description was perfect and we followed his suggestions and had a super dive. We saw lots of big horse eye jacks, big mutton snapper, hog fish, lots of angels, grouper and even a couple of turtles!! Very nice.

All in all, we had a fantastic dive trip with Mark and I would suggest his charter service to anyone interested. The price was very reasonable, he was right on time, and had a lengthy discussion with us to learn our experience level and ensure our safety. He is a nice person as well.

Hope this report helps someone. Cheers.

Bob