Beware Fantasea Dive

[dcubedsw]

We booked with FantaSea Divers after reading good reviews of their outfit, but sadly, we ended up being pretty disappointed with them.

We had originally booked three days of diving with the option of a fourth day. Immediately after our final dive on the third day (Wednesday), we arranged with the owner/dive-master, Jason, to return the following morning to Cozumel. However, early on Thursday morning Jason called to cancel the trip for that day - he told us that he and his diving second were "in no condition to dive." When we called later that day to follow up on Jason's suggestion that he take us Friday instead, he told us that he (now?) had other customers and so would arrange for us to go with Blue Angel Divers in Cozumel (see separate review) on his account. Jason arranged to meet us when the 3PM ferry docked so that we could reimburse him for the day in Cozumel. Although we waited 20 minutes after the ferry docked, Jason failed to show or even call. We ended up having to organize our schedule on our final morning in Playa so that we could go to the dive shop to deliver the payment. Bottom line was that the lack of professionalism was very disappointing. There wasn't an apology for either no-show, and no explanation for the second - and, of course, there should not have been any no-shows.

Subsequent to posting the above review (plus positive aspects I haven't included) on a couple of other dive review sites, we've received "Management Responses" and e-mails that have contained lame excuses, and - worst of all - statements that we (the clients) were too drunk and that Jason made a "professional call." Good grief!! A defamatory response says it all really.

 

[beth_castroll]

Sorry to hear you had such frustrations.
My question is how were the original 3 days of diving? Were you happy untill the unfortunate events of the last day?

 

[scubawife]

Subsequent to posting the above review (plus positive aspects I haven't included) on a couple of other dive review sites...

Why not post the complete review here too instead of making your first post a rip on a popular Playa dive operator and regular board contributor? A bit of poor form on your part I think.

There are always two sides to a story. Maybe there was some reason the dive op didn't want you back on their boat? A dive op doesn't have to take you just because you're willing to pay.

I've never used Fantasea Divers, but I've also not seen any bad reviews or outright complaints about them.

 

[deeper thoughts]

I have never heard of any bad reviews either.

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

In response to this review I would like to say that the people who have dove with me know that I am a one man show, professional, courtesous and when I have other groups I may not get to dive or meet you. I do own all my own equipment and do lease boats like every other non-Mexican running a dive op here. These three girls originally booked for three days (Mon., Tues., Wed.) and we dove three days with out a problem. One in there group was sick (did not dive third day in Coz) and was not able to go on Thursday which was the fourth day they talked about booking. I felt they should have waited til Friday to go back and dive Cozumel so the sick member of there party may would have been better and could join them. I had 2 O/W students sign up on Wednesday but had not confirmed. So me and these customers went out drinking Wednesday night. As far as I knew, none of us would be diving Thursday. So Thursday morning when they called and said that sick member of their party was not going to Cozumel but they wanted to go...I told them that I thought it would be unhealthy to dive today considering how much we had drank together and Friday would be better. I also told them that I had students on Friday and that I may or may not be able to guide them to Cozumel for their second day of diving there. I did send them to Cozumel Friday to meet up with Norm from Blue Angel whom they had already met. Moreover, these girls are very good divers and did not need constant supervision like beginners...so I knew they would be fine going across and meeting up with Norm the Dm in Cozumel while I dove with students who were scared in Playa. As far as the video goes, I did film each day which for the first three days they did not even mention they wanted the video. When I downloaded the film, it was not in good condition (the film was flickering throughout the whole video, camera needed pro cleaning and probably a new tape). They told me last minute they wanted it which is not really the time. Making U/W water videos is not always an exact science and unless you can see what you're filming with your housing, which I can't, then you never know if things are being recorded properly. All in all, they (we) had alot of fun diving. And considering how drunk those girls were Wednesday night and then they wanted to make deep dives on Cozumel's walls the next day...somebody had to make a professional call about diving the next morning and that was me. No one should be diving the next day after drinking all afternoon and all night. If I have to apolgize for something it would be for going out with them Wednesday night and entertaining them. Sorry ladies!

 

[scubawife]

Jason, I don't know you other then seeing your posts here and reading reports from your divers. Your side of this all sounds very reasonable. Good on ya for choosing safety (for you and the customers) and not diving the day after a night of lots of drinking. Diving when tired, hungover and dehydrated is just stacking the deck against you. There's always tomorrow or the next dive trip.

As I said, I think it was bad form for them to come on here and make their one and only post a slam to a dive op, especially when they say there were "positive aspects" but they choose not to include them or any other trip details.

Constructive criticism in the context of a well-rounded trip report is good. Overall, this is just another "post and run" that comes across as having a personal grudge or someone who didn't get their way. It's something that most will read and not take too seriously.

 

[Byte Me]

Always wary of first posts when they slam a location, dive shop, op or LDS. Managing expectations is difficult - they clearly didn't like your call but with all the stuff I've read lately on the boards and in magazines about dehydration and ties to getting bent it's just not worth it.

I do know you and have dove with you 4 times in the last two years. You've told me stories before about clients who'd show up for a dive clearly still under the influence of the previous nights partying that you've refused to take them. Tough to do when you make your living with these folks.

I think people get a romantic impression of running a dive shop, making a living taking people diving, living in a place others come for vacation. Unfortunately it's not all sunshine, sand and umbrella drinks! You've basically got peoples lives in your hands and have all levels of experience and expectations in these divers. When you try to do the right thing someone comes here and slams you and your business. The good thing is there are many many more positive reviews of your professionalism, personal touch and service.

I'm glad you do what you do and can't wait to see you again in December with my parents for their first ocean dives!!

 

[dcubedsw]

Below is the full review. Scubawife I take your point that I should have put the whole post up, but after reading the out and out lies that Jason posted on another board (and below), I was extremely angry. This is not a case of not getting our own way; heck we went out of our way to go to his shop to make a payment he was supposed to come and collect. Jason agreed to take us diving on Thursday straight after the dive on Wednesday - Blue Angel even had our booking on Wednesday night - and his last words to us on Wednesdnay night (as we left he and his dive second in the bar at approx. 11PM) were "see you tomorrow." He called us the next morning to cancel the dive. Finally, there is no WAY we were drunk on Wednesday night as safety is incredibly important to us, not least because we are both in the medical profession. Enough said - people can draw their own conclusions as "he says, they say" never works.

--Full Review--
We are a group of three ladies (30+ to 50+ dives) that has been diving at least a couple of times each year for the last three years. We dove Playa del Carmen/Cozumel/cenotes in late August 2009.

We booked with FantaSea Divers after reading good reviews of their outfit, but sadly, we ended up being pretty disappointed with them.

We'll start with the bad aspect as that is most relevant to anyone considering a trip with Fantasea. We had originally booked three days of diving with the option of a fourth day. Immediately after our final dive on the third day (Wednesday), we arranged with the owner/dive-master, Jason, to return the following morning to Cozumel. However, early on Thursday morning Jason called to cancel the trip for that day - he told us that he and his diving second had enjoyed too much partying the previous evening. When we called later that day to follow up on Jason's suggestion that he take us Friday instead, he told us that he (now?) had other customers and so would arrange for us to go with Blue Angel Divers in Cozumel on his account. Jason arranged to meet us when the 3PM ferry docked so that we could reimburse him for the day in Cozumel. Although we waited 20 minutes after the ferry docked, Jason failed to show or even call. We ended up having to organize our schedule on our final morning in Playa so that we could go to the dive shop to deliver the payment.

Bottom line was that the lack of professionalism was very disappointing. There wasn't an apology for either no-show, and no explanation for the second - and, of course, there should not have been any no-shows. We do NOT recommend Fantasea Divers. This is not something we write lightly (our first negative review!) as Jason is a nice enough guy and a very competent dive-master. However, when you're spending time and money to travel somewhere to dive, you need to go with an outfit that is 1) reliable and 2) respectful of your time. We did not get either with Fantasea Divers.

A minor issue, which was also indicative of a lack of professionalism, was that Jason had been filming us under-water, and had promised to bring the finished DVDs to us on Thursday. As noted, he failed to show-up and the DVDs were apparently not available when we dropped the dive payment at the shop on Friday (we had left a voice-mail to say we were coming by that morning). This was a minor nuisance compared to missing a day of diving, but being able to get film of our dives was one of the selling points when we selected FantaSea Divers.

Now - to be fair - a review of the good aspects of Fantasea. Fantasea rents or sub-contracts its (small) boat and gear. It was all very basic, but in good condition. The set-up was basically the dive-master, the boat skipper and a diving second who came at the back of the group. Dive-master Jason is clearly an experienced and competent diver, and he looked after us well under water, making an effort to find creatures to show us and giving us good tips about diving in general.

Our first dive was on "Jason's Secret Reef," but the site was pretty bare of fish that day. The second dive (not one of us can remember the name of the site) was a finger-reef, and was better in terms of corals and wild-life. However, it wasn't comparable, we thought, to the vast majority of the sites we have dived in Cozumel, Aruba and Curacao. It may be just that we got unlucky on this particular day, though. We were assured by several other divers that there is good diving in Playa.

Fantasea sent us off with another operator (Playa Scuba) to dive the cenotes on the second day. Klaus, the sole guide, was very knowledgeable and very thorough in his safety briefings and history of the cenotes - he was one of the party that discovered the Dos Ojones system. Diving the cenotes was an enjoyable experience, and the Bat Cave was spectacular. Purely a personal preference, but we three thought that the cenotes were a bit monotonous compared to the sea and all its colors and wild-life.

On the third day the Fantasea team took us across to Cozumel and we dived with Blue Angel Divers, which we gave top marks for efficiency, professionalism and enjoyment.

 

[robint]

dcubedsw - the fact that your post title is BEWARE Fantasea divers immediately signals everyone that you are slamming the dive op. It doesn't sound like you had a good time except for the last day missunderstanding, it is an out-and-out attack on Fantasea Divers. Maybe it was just a missunderstanding on your part, maybe it was a missunderstanding on his part, or maybe somewhere in the middle BUT the fact is your post is trying to hurt his business. It is hard for any of us here to take your side, since you are brand new here and Jason has been here for years and many of the SB members have used him for years with zero complaints.
I am sorry your trip ended with a bad note, but I don't think you handled any of this well.

Just my 2 cents.
I don't know Jason, never dove with him, but from all his posts and posts of others I have read over the years, I would definitely consider diving with him any day.

Jason - I think it is time you upgraded to HD and an Ikelite housing where you can see what you are recording.

robin

 

[scubawife]

It's too bad your trip to Playa didn't go completely as planned and that you had a couple down points. Sounds like most of it was good and that you enjoyed the diving you did do off Playa, in the cenotes and in Cozumel. Where did you stay? Any favorite restaurants, beach clubs, bars, etc.? Just a suggestion - negative comments will be better received and have more credibility if you include them as constructive criticism in a well-rounded trip report. With the exception of gross negligence to safety that results in injury or worse to a diver, IMO, there's really nothing that warrants signing up on various scuba forums for the sole purpose of making one or a few posts to slam a dive operator.

I have a couple favorite dive destinations that I get to 2-3 times a year. My dive ops of choice there are small operations - the owner is the reservationist, manager and DM. I like their personal service and hands-on approach to business. I also prefer to be in a small group of 4-8 divers rather then on a boat with 12-20 or more. Most of the times my trips with these small shops are fantastic, however, I have had trips where they don't have their minimum required number booked, or a last-minute mechanical or staffing issue has cancelled a dive. In these cases they've always offered to set me up with another dive operator (as it sounds like FantaSea did for you). Sometimes I take the offer. Other times I've chosen to make my own arrangements or just find something else to do that day.

Frankly, in a destination like Playa or Cozumel, even if the shop you're booked with does have some sort of major screw up prior to your morning dive, there are no shortage of other options and no reason you have to miss a day of diving unless you choose to not make other arrangements (if your original shop hasn't offered or can't do take care of that for you).

Short of weather issues, if you want assurance that you won't miss a day of diving on a vacation, choose a larger, multi-boat shop. Even better if it's one affiliated with one of more area resorts. They tend to always have enough divers to take out a trip, and with multiple boats, captains and DM's, if for whatever reason someone can't show up for work, you diving will still happen.