I just felt I needed to comment on the diving that I did at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba.
I was in Cuba at the end of February and booked 2 dives with Baracuda Diving. When I initially got picked up (50 minutes late) I was to go diving on the Atlantic reef front but at the last minute I was told I would no longer be able to dive in the Atlantic and would have to go to the Bay of Pigs which was a 2hr bus ride. I had said fine and went along with it.
I had brought my own gear but from what I've seen, the gear they provided looked decent. We sat at the shop for about an hour and half before leaving and didn't end up arriving at dive site until mid-day. The dive masters divided up groups of beginners and "advanced" and quickly prepped us to "follow his yellow fins". He did not bother buddying up anybody (I was on my own and not travelling with anyone).
Many people from the "advanced" group had no idea how to hook up the regulators to the tank. Many of the tanks were leaking and they had taken divers with these leaking tanks 80 feet down.
Biggest problem with Baracuda Diving...
They do not promote responsible diving. While on the dive there was a diver in our group who was dragging his fins on the beautiful sponges and corals as he was casually taking pictures then turning around to destroy it. I had gotten the dive masters attention only to be shrugged off. VERY destructive diving practice as I'm sure most of you know.
The icing on the cake was when we were on the reef front at about 75 feet down and the dive master told the divers to grab onto the reef front to take pictures. Two people decided to do it and their tanks were just smashing against the reef front breaking bits of the corals and anemones that were once living there so that this guy could take a picture.... Decades of growth smashed to bits so that guy could make a buck.... disgusting.
The overall dive and abundance of marine life was ok. It was hard to enjoy when many in the group were destructive to the organisms. I was in the "advanced" group. I can only imagine what damage the "beginners" had done.
This could easily have been prevented if Baracuda had given the time to educate the divers about marine life and precautions etc etc.... We were in the bus for 3 hours!!!! Plenty of time to be productive!!!!
Would I dive again with Baracuda? Answer- No, I could not enjoy myself when a diving operation is not promoting responsible diving.
Interesting to hear if others had similar experiences.
I was in Cuba at the end of February and booked 2 dives with Baracuda Diving. When I initially got picked up (50 minutes late) I was to go diving on the Atlantic reef front but at the last minute I was told I would no longer be able to dive in the Atlantic and would have to go to the Bay of Pigs which was a 2hr bus ride. I had said fine and went along with it.
I had brought my own gear but from what I've seen, the gear they provided looked decent. We sat at the shop for about an hour and half before leaving and didn't end up arriving at dive site until mid-day. The dive masters divided up groups of beginners and "advanced" and quickly prepped us to "follow his yellow fins". He did not bother buddying up anybody (I was on my own and not travelling with anyone).
Many people from the "advanced" group had no idea how to hook up the regulators to the tank. Many of the tanks were leaking and they had taken divers with these leaking tanks 80 feet down.
Biggest problem with Baracuda Diving...
They do not promote responsible diving. While on the dive there was a diver in our group who was dragging his fins on the beautiful sponges and corals as he was casually taking pictures then turning around to destroy it. I had gotten the dive masters attention only to be shrugged off. VERY destructive diving practice as I'm sure most of you know.
The icing on the cake was when we were on the reef front at about 75 feet down and the dive master told the divers to grab onto the reef front to take pictures. Two people decided to do it and their tanks were just smashing against the reef front breaking bits of the corals and anemones that were once living there so that this guy could take a picture.... Decades of growth smashed to bits so that guy could make a buck.... disgusting.
The overall dive and abundance of marine life was ok. It was hard to enjoy when many in the group were destructive to the organisms. I was in the "advanced" group. I can only imagine what damage the "beginners" had done.
This could easily have been prevented if Baracuda had given the time to educate the divers about marine life and precautions etc etc.... We were in the bus for 3 hours!!!! Plenty of time to be productive!!!!
Would I dive again with Baracuda? Answer- No, I could not enjoy myself when a diving operation is not promoting responsible diving.
Interesting to hear if others had similar experiences.
