Costa Rica Divers BEWARE of Rich Coast Diving

[peterbj7]

Come on, Sunnybuns, the dive operator said "We learned from this experience to always take an extra cell phone with us". Doesn't sound very diffident to me. Sounds to me, and I've never even been to the country let alone dived with Rich Coast, that there were wrongs on both sides. If it's true the boat left on its auxillary engine and the primary engine was already disabled, that's not good. The battery running down so the radio won't work doesn't really hold water for me - short of a catastrophic failure a battery doen't discharge that quickly. Maybe the charge was low at the start of the trip? - if so, again not good. And not having a cell phone in an area where they work is to my mind unforgiveable. Here in Belize we rely on them for local dives as radios seldom survive long in this extremely corrosive environment. It is a problem when the cellular network goes down, which thankfully isn't very often.

On the other hand, did the guests go back to Rich Coast after the event and calmly discuss the perceived shortcomings? From this thread it sounds as if the first "discussion" was a public post slating the operator. I've had that done to me and it's not a nice thing to do - there are always two sides, and publicly damning someone before you've had it out with them in private is, IMHO, unacceptable.

Still, no-one was hurt and you're all able to discuss it now. Things do go wrong at sea and the first thing for a customer to realise is that isn't always someone to blame. Be prepared for things to go wrong and take responsibility, just as a skier must accept responsibility for his own safety when out on the hills. I'm British and often see the attitude "someone else must be responsible for what happened to me" when all the time that person is you. Chalk it down to experience and move on - don't try to destroy someone's business when you haven't given them a fair chance.

 

[Kaos]

I have been diving for 20 years now and have my share of boat and weather stories to tell. While they are not always fun to go through, they are an unpredictable part of diving and one you can't control, so you either live with it or don't leave land. While I disagree with original poster on the issue of the backup motor issue (a bit much to ask, even for operators in the "rich" countries like US and Canada), the lack of a backup communications device is not really acceptable as it is not expensive to run and maintain and can make such a huge difference... especially when boats go at sea almost 365 days a year (I'm assuming here, don't know how busy or quiet it is in the low season), you can be sure you will have to use them as some time or another.

I'm surprised though that nobody commented on the misinformation about the wetsuits! I dove in Cuba with a 3-mm in 73 F water and froze my ***** off!! Needed to borrow a buddy's 5 mm to finish off my week. The lack of information on the part of the charter operator on this issue is very problematic in my opinion, they should prepare their customers for worst case scenarios: choppy water, cold water, bad viz, if it's better than expected, great, if not, well at least wou've been warned and are prepared for it.

I dove with a Shop in Playa del Carmen last November and while I found them very professional and safe during the dives, I felt were not very honest when I first approached them about a package, and during the scheduling of our week. I'm not going to go in the details nor give the name of that shop on this forum, but needless to say I will never deal with them again and told numerous friends back home about my feelings toward that operation. Just a little bit more good faith and proactivity on their part and my opinion of them would have been so much better!

Anyway, my 0.02 in this issue

Safe diving

Jean

Trip Report February 15, 2006

about wetsuits. We had our own 3mm full wetsuits and she said that is what all of the dive masters wear and that would be fine.

The visibility was poor--10-15 feet--and the water was cold. Our DM said his computer read 20 C at the coldest, that's 68 F. The DMs were nice and we did see
Mari

 

[peterbj7]

I was surprised when a diver turned up today to register to dive and for an Advanced Open Water course. When I looked at her OW cert card I saw she was certified at Rich Coast just 2 or 3 months ago, so I asked her about them. Now she's not an experienced diver so maybe didn't know what to expect, but she is a full teaching professor at a university so she's no fool. She was full of praise for their professionalism and encouragement, and her answers to a few specifics I asked her were all what they should have been.

One person's experience clearly doesn't negate another's, but it does sound as if someone had a bad day when the complainant dived with Rich Coast and that it wasn't typical. Reinforces my feeling that it's inappropriate to rush to print when something goes wrong without first discussing it in full with the operator concerned.

 

[SMLost]

Regarding water temperature, Rich Coast advised me of water temp and I brought a 5mil full suit and a 2.5 mil shorty. Wore the 5 mil first dive and was roasting....switched to shorty for my remaining 19 dives. This was late February 2006.

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

I am surprised how long a discussion can last, It's been almost a year ago. At least we are in the publicity, makes me wonder if a bad comment is really bad?! Well divers, what happened, happened, and nothing can be done to change it. But we have certainly learned from it. We never leave the shop without a cell phone for back up, but even better, our boat has been out for 3 weeks last October and is totally up to date with the radio system and new batteries, but even better.......we have 2 brand new 30hp engines as of last week. (and still the 15hp as a back up) yes you are reading it right 3 engines available. So no more left incidents or problems (hopefully)
I would like to thank all the divers who do have faith in us and I must say this thread has actually brought us customers who were curious and left as very happy divers.
Just remember May 2007 is the big month for Playas del Coco. In the first week it will all be dedicated to sand and diving! Come join us!

 

[peterbj7]

My word - 30hp main engines. Here in Belize we have to have two 200hp motors to go anywhere. Needless to say they cost a bit more to buy, to maintain and to fuel! Why bother with a 15hp backup? - you could use a set of oars!

 

[marigodiva]

I, too, thought it was interesting that this thread was still active. In response to peterbj7, we did discuss the incident with the owners as soon as our gear was off the boat, and she said we had been lucky and nothing happened, so don't worry about it. They seemed very apathetic about the whole thing.

I am glad to hear they have improved their engines (although apparently 30hp is still very slow) and communication capabilities, likely in response to this incident.

Anyway, we intend to dive again and hope to have a better experiece next time, more like the amazing ones we had in Thailand and Belize (with Amigos del Mar).

Mari

 

[Missdirected]

Threads do get revisited/resurrected. Good or bad, it shows members are reading and/or doing homework for their own trip. That is why these reports are so beneficial to SB members.

This thread in particular is exceptional as it has the OP, the dive charter, and another separate party that was on the boat that day. It would be brilliant if we could have that type of perspective every time.

I am actually traveling to CR on the 10th of February. This is not my first trip and I will be using Diving Safari's again. Because of this thread, I had thought of doing at least a day with Rich Coast; however, I am not so sure, due to the slow boat thing. Then again, the sites aren't all that far anyway. I will at least check out their place.

 

[julie60]

Our family just completed a 2 1/2 week vacation in beautiful Costa Rica and just wanted to recommend Rich Coast Diving in Playa del Coco to anyone thinking of learning how to dive. I'm sure Martin, owner and instructor extraordinaire, had some serious doubts about our abilities those first few days of our Open Water Referral, but after some rigorous training and much attention to safety, I'm proud to say we looked pretty competent at the end of the week. Bit of a miracle worker that Martin fellow.

We caught the diving bug in a big way due to the fun attitude of Martin, Brenda, Suze and the staff. Diving is supposed to be fun but no one told us it was magical. We developed permanent smiles, made fantastic friends, and conquered fears we thought were indomitable. The kids were thriving and couldn't learn enough. They responded beautifully to Martin's training and believe it or not, my two teenagers opted to learn more skills and committed to reading two chapters a night in order to complete their Advanced Open Water Certification. Wish I could have fit him in the suitcase to get them through highschool!

Brenda, Martin's wife is the heart of the operation. Had it not been for her in the beginning, I doubt we would have given Rich Coast a second look. She is as concerned about your experience, and getting you good value for your money as you are during the vacation planning process. Emails were answered within the day (sometimes within minutes) and always provided many choices. I looked forward to meeting her as much as I did diving. Her easygoing manner, devilish sense of humour and quick smile made the experiences all the more satisfying. She was always waiting at the shop to see how good a time everyone had, or on the boat watching out for us. It was just like having our own personal cheerleader.

Every person on the boat whether experienced or not, was given personal attention. We did 12 dives over 6 days, and we were able to see the customer service on a prolonged basis and it was commendable. I saw them nurture a diver down the line that had a previous bad experience, give those experienced the freedom and respect their skills commended, but they were not above hand holding when some people lost their courage.

As far as the speed of the boat, well, I am on vacation, I never noticed the boat going too slow, or too fast, so I guess you could put me in the "baby bear" category. It was just right. I may be new to the sport, but I found I had just enough time to get my gear off, sit back and let the sun do its magic, marvel at what I saw, interact with a few new friends and still found we were at shore much too quickly. Some moments are meant to savour.

Many thanks to Brenda, Martin and the gang!

PS: Suze, divemaster in training, was a constant source of support. Her quiet, knowing ways had a calming effect on my knocking knees those first days and we were so grateful to be there at the same time as her. Good Luck Suze!

 

[k4man]

Our family just completed a 2 1/2 week vacation in beautiful Costa Rica and just wanted to recommend Rich Coast Diving in Playa del Coco to anyone thinking of learning how to dive.

Julie60,
thanks for the review. I will be going to Costa Rica this summer (mainly on Pacific side...Guanacaste, etc.) and will be looking for a nice place to get at least a few dives in.

Kevin