Costa Rica Divers BEWARE of Rich Coast Diving

[julie60]

Thanks Kevin,
Perhaps we'll see you there. The boys are talking about heading back for more of Martin's training and are feverishly researching becoming a Master Diver. How nice to have something so magical to be passionate about as teenagers.

Even when viz wasn't that great we still saw so many varieties of fish, white tips, rays and this grandaddy of a turtle that was tolerant of the tourists. Made you feel like you were on a treasure hunt. I'm sure you'll have a great time.
j

 

[saracara]

On the saturday 10 of this month (february) i was in playas del coco and wanted to finish my advanced course. I checked with the different dive shops of this town (summer salt, deep blue and rich coast), and it turned out everybody had the same prices. One thing I was surprised about was that Rich Coast openly criticized Summer Salt`s professionalism and quality of service in an effort to win my business. While these are naturally things that concern me, I found it very unprofessional to slander a fellow PADI dive shop and was obviously very skeptical of Rich Coast as a result. Neither of the other two dive shops stooped to this level and attempted to win my business in an objective and friendly manner. In the end I was swayed by the wonderfully kind and helpful staff at Summer Salt, and completed my advanced certification under incredibly professional supervision and care. Summer Salt is the epitome of what a small, friendly and well run dive shop can be and they are an excellent representation of the dive community. Shops like Rich Coast take away from this sense of community between divers.
Sincerely,
A New PADI Advanced Diver

 

[Missdirected]

Hrmmm, I am here now. Just debating if I should chance trying them... So incredibly thrilled with Diving Safari right now.

 

[daniel f aleman]

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!

A little bad press goes a long way in snapping certain dive operations awake, glad to see that Rich Coast took the time and effort to rectify the way they did business.

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

I just got back from a dive show in Holland and must say we had a good show. When I got back on the board I found the note and I will investigate with my team what happened. I am sure there must have been a misunderstanding because here in Playas del Coco we are very happy about the way the 3 shops work together, just an example is the dive fest we are organizing at the end of April. I hope you can see that we are very responsive to all comments on our operation, be they good or bad, and we will obviously respond to this one in the same way.

 

[Missdirected]

I just got back from a dive show in Holland and must say we had a good show. When I got back on the board I found the note and I will investigate with my team what happened. I am sure there must have been a misunderstanding because here in Playas del Coco we are very happy about the way the 3 shops work together, just an example is the dive fest we are organizing at the end of April. I hope you can see that we are very responsive to all comments on our operation, be they good or bad, and we will obviously respond to this one in the same way.

Ah, perhaps this is why that when I phoned the shop to book diving no one answered the telephone? There was also no way to leave a message. I did see your boat out on the water a couple of times.

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

We are back again on the forum and I have positive news. We organized a meeting and now all the dive centers here in the area have formed an organization called CRDP( costa rica dive professionals) We are working on a website and it will be on line hopefully by the end of this week. If you are diving with an operation here on the papagayo golf send us your comments. We are hoping to achieve great diving with good quality. We will take every comment serious and complaints will be investigated. Together we are hoping to make Costa Rica diving one of your best trips ever!

 

[Missdirected]

We are back again on the forum and I have positive news. We organized a meeting and now all the dive centers here in the area have formed an organization called CRDP( costa rica dive professionals) We are working on a website and it will be on line hopefully by the end of this week. If you are diving with an operation here on the papagayo golf send us your comments. We are hoping to achieve great diving with good quality. We will take every comment serious and complaints will be investigated. Together we are hoping to make Costa Rica diving one of your best trips ever!

That is awesome - all of you working together - very nice