Bad dive trip in puerto vallarta

[ScubaSteve]

Well nothing cruel or mean spirited has been said so hopefully they will return. There have been issues raised wiht the story as written......who knows what will be added for clarification. Sometimes :turd: happens but the discussion can raise good issues. Ya never know.

The OP may also be a and never return. Nobody likes a so hopefully they are not one.

 

[KBeck]

Looking at their website, I don't see a boat featured anywhere. There are some photos of the operators ON a fishing boat, but that is specifically under the "Fishing" link. I wouldn't have made any presumptions of what the dive boat was going to be like based on their website.

La Ola Ocean

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

I've had the occasion when the dive op doesn't have the boat that was promoted. It happens. One time the boat was taken into the shop for a rewiring job and it took longer than expected. The replacement boat was smaller than what was needed for the group and we were cramped. The dm apologized and we had the shop's original boat back the next day.

If there were fish hooks all over the place, just ask the crew to pick them up.

Viz is viz. You can't control it. Not the dive ops fault.

Snack are snacks. Not a big deal. But no lunch....well that could be a big deal if it was promised. Particularly if the clients have some kinds of medical conditions. Or just didn't have time to eat much of a breakfast. Still not a huge offense.

You should be responsible for you own gear. Setting up a new reg set is not difficult and is not the DM's responsibility.

You were responsible for paying and tipping for the service. Don't get upset with the DM because you didn't think through the different payment scenarios.

Bottom line. None of the things listed here are worth trashing the dive ops reputation on a public diving forum. This is their bread and butter and how they obtain many clients. I would have attempted to discuss this with the owner directly and not vent through the internet.

PH

 

[Climbergirl33]

Wow! Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. You are so right. There are always lessons to be learned. So to address some of the questions and comments.....
While I have been diving for over ten years we have always rented BCD's and regulators and never made the investment in personal gear. Also we get to go on about two trips a year so we still consider ourselves novices at diving. Recently I had the opportunity to borrow someone's women specific gear along with their dive computer and regulator. It was fantastic. I realized that the difference was like diving in men's 22 shoes when I wore a 7. We have a cousin who is a dive instructor at Florida Keys Dive Center - Joe McQuirk. We had some awesome dives with this dive center and with Joey. Midway thru the vacation my husband asked Joey to help me select gear for my birthday present. I purchsed a Libra BCD, a Titan LX Regulator (NEW MODEL - which was an issue on the dive trip as NEW MODEL does not mean easily interchangeable with other regulators!), Gekko 2 gauge computer and a compass. I did dive with PART of the above equipment but not all of it. The computer had to be ordered. When it came in Joey assembled the Regulator/Gekko/compass into one integral unit and mailed it to me. I needed the tool to assemble this and DID NOT KNOW until in the plane carefully reading the Gekko manual on the way to Puerto Vallarta. Which is why I contacted Alex several days ahead of time and asked if he could help me hook this up. He told me he had all the tools and this would be no problem. I also asked if he could give me special attention as this was new gear and I was unfamiliar with it and knew I would want some help. I WILL be buying the tools I need and going thru the gear with a local dive instructor BEFORE attempting to dive with this again. The discrepancy in my original email saying that Alex was good at hooking up equipment was because Alex was hooking up the rental gear and tanks for us - which I appreciate. Especially since we had no idea where anything was stored on the boat. Unlike our normal experiences where we have all our gear in a row so to speak and are in charge of said gear. The reason they had gear on the boat that fit me was because the other two divers that were to come in on the cruise ship did not show up. They were to pick up these two divers at the marina by the cruise ships and picked us up at a dock closer to our hotel. The fishing boat that picked us up was a surprise. My husband thought they were taking us to the dive boat. The dive boat was broken not the fishing boat. The hooks did not begin to fall off the lines they were hanging onto until they were bumped with dive gear. We were still hoping for the best. As one of you pointed out this is a third world country and we were trying to go with the flow.
While on the phone with Alex the day before the trip I asked if they would indeed be providing snacks, lunch and drinks as it stated on the internet. He said of course - de nada! We still came with our own water and snacks which was good planning and paid off.
As for the money situation - we should have come with more small bills. We did have extra money with us but not enough to make change. We did not come planning on having these difficulties. We came optimistic - excited for a glorious time beneath the seas.
I have been reading Scubaboard for some time. Looking for advice, learning from all the experiences you share and getting leads for dive places. I did just sign up - I don't want anyone to have to experience what we did if they can help it.
Hope I answered all the replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinions
Thanks again

 

[Jax]

Wow! Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. You are so right. There are always lessons to be learned.
<snipped>
I have been reading Scubaboard for some time. Looking for advice, learning from all the experiences you share and getting leads for dive places. I did just sign up - I don't want anyone to have to experience what we did if they can help it.
Hope I answered all the replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinions
Thanks again

Too cool of you, ClimberGirl, to come back on board. Thanks for elaborating, and for coming back!

 

[ScubaSteve]

Thanks for clarifying Climbergirl. It does sound like perhaps some promises were made that were not lived up to. This is definitely not a good thing. How much communication was there before the boat left? Did you attempt to address the issue of the equipment and the condition of the boat and the snacks before you actually boarded the boat. Once you are out on the water it becomes exponentially more difficutl if not impossible to correct some problems (such as no snacks) however it might have been corrected if addressed politely up front.

The bottom line is, you went expecting a great dive, you had a dive (and I personally love the sport enough that it is tough for me to ever call a dive a bad dive) which hopefully was absolutely memorable even if not classified as great. I am certain you have learned something from thsi experiecne which you can now take with you and prevent it from happening again hopefully.

 

[Torontonian]

Thanks for coming back to clarify a few things, Climbergirl33. You still didn't clarify about Oct. 15 which is not a Wed, but maybe you just got the dates mixed up.

So the dive boat was broken and they came with a fishing boat having fishing hooks that fell off. That probably explains why he didn't have the tools to help assemble your gears (the tools were on the dive boat). You were not asked to sign waivers or given a T-shirt, they were probably on the dive boat. If the dive boat just broke down and he scrambled to get a fish boat out, that may account for not ordering lunch -- which he then should offer a discount. If the dive boat just broke, that explains some of the issues. If the dive boat broke for a few days, they should've improved and overcomed some of the issues already. It'd be interesting to hear from the dive shop on their side of the story.

You had some good diving in Key Largo with your DM cousin. I'll be going to Key Largo to dive next March, and found that most dive shops (except Rainbow) doesn't provide a DM guide unless you pay extra. But your cousin DM probably set up the gears for you, so that you didn't learn as much about gear assembly, and guided you in the dives. That kind of very helpful DM is not the norm there unless you pay extra.

I'm also a vacation diver like you (it's too cold to dive near Toronto), going 1-2 trips a year. I had a couple of poor experiences with rental gear, then decided to take the plunge and bought a X-mas special of Golem BP/W package from FL, then also bought a used wireless computer. I assembled what I can myself, then took it to a local dive shop for the rest and have them check everything out. From then on, I usually do the hook up to tanks myself even in Caribbeans where the DMs usually do everything. That's how I really began to learn about gears.

Not sure if they offered to take a discount off such a trip, or if you asked. But if he agreed (which he should, at least considering no lunch/T-shirt), then you could've ask for change -- then decide on tips accordingly. But that's over now. You learned a few things, and now have your own gears which you can enjoy for many years to come.


Oh, it'd help if you write in paragraphs. Easier to read.

 

[ItsBruce]

1. I have no problem with someone's first post being to complain about something. Having a complaint is often the impetus for becoming involved. And, if there is something legitimate about which to complain, I can see no good reason to wait to post it until you've been around for a while. (Of course, for me, complaints by veterans who I know and respect from prior posts carry more weight than those by people I don't know.)

2. After carefully considering the original post, I can certainly understand the OP being disappointed and dismayed. I cannot, however, say that that alone would cause me not to use the particular operator. (Most everything can be explained by a sudden, unexpected failure of the "usual" dive boat.) Now, if I saw repeated complaints about the dive operator, I would avoid that operator.

3. When in PV, I generally dive with Villarta Adventures. In the past, the divers were on a boat with snorkelers and kayakers, but the dives were always pretty good and the entire operation was well run and very enjoyable. My last dive was on a dedicated, high performance dive boat and the entire operation was still very well run, though the entertainment was not quite as entertaining. One thing I learned about Villarta Adventures is that during whale season, they have a plane out looking for whales and it can direct their boats to the best viewing spots.

 

[Climbergirl33]

I only have a few minutes before dashing off to work to post this reply. I have to say that after reading the first 9 posts I was caught off-guard by the comments and responses. I work long hours and only get to the computer every few days or so. I did feel attacked but decided that I was dealing with a variety of personality types and we all have our personal style of response so I needed to let it go. I appreciate those that defended me. I have never been called a troll or been put down quite so vehemently since , well, never. I thought a troll was a long haired doll I played with in childhood.
My only reason to post the experience I had was to help others to avoid a similar experience. I only get to dive a few times a year and I rely on sites like this to help guide me into making the best choice of dive shops. If I read a post such as mine I would simply choose to use another shop because I wouldn't have the time, money or inclination to find out if the poster was right or wrong.
To clarify, I was diving with one of the two owners of the shop. I emailed them as well but never received an answer negative or positive. I am a small business owner as well and know how important it is to keep your clients happy - one negative response hurts you more than one hundred positive responses.
I sincerely do appreciate all the well meaning advice. We are never to old to learn! Thank God!

 

[Jupiter31]

Glad it all worked out, and truly, welcome to the board.

Now, so long as you are in an accepting mode, assuming you will be posting in the future - paragraphs and spacing between them are your friend -

If you are going to post a long response, its much easier to read if its not in one large block.

I thought your 1st post was fine - it was your perception and experience, and I figured it was written by a novice diver, who may see things different (differently??) than those more experienced. Posting on a public forum, you are likely to get responses, and you did!

Again, welcome to Scubaboard!