- Messages
- 268
- Reaction score
- 6
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
Resort: Iberostar Paraiso Maya Will post another report on the hotel, as it will be mostly non-dive related.
Dives - Will post another report as this one is too long already.
I stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Maya in Mexico from December 8th 2006 through December 16th 2006. I used Dressel Divers, as they were the only dive operation that was available by walking distance. After reading some of the bad posts on this board about Dressel I used them with eyes wide open looking for problems with their operation. I even considered renting a car to hit some of the other dive operations recommended by this board but did not want the hassle of driving around to find shops. My hotel was about 20 minutes from Playa Del Carmen so the trip could really be a hassle.
Due to poor weather I did not book a dive package as they are non-refundable and must be completed within three years. I paid on a dive per dive basis loosing out on the opportunity to get one or two free dives with a prepaid amount. The cost was $50 per dive and $45 per dive if paid in US dollars. US dollars gives a 10% discount.
I noticed immediately Dressel runs a tight business with many employees and dive operations all over Mexico and other countries. All the dives had a maximum instructor to diver ratio of 1 to 4. When we had 8 divers we had 2 instructors regardless of the divers expertise. Each boat left with a captain and a mate to help the divers board and un-board the boat.
The instructors I had the pleasure of diving with were Chris from the US, Jenny from the US and Marcel from Holland. On the various days each instructor gave a dive briefing on land, laid out the plan and dove the plan. Each instructor spent 5 to 8 minutes discussing on land the following: safety which they were extremely concerned about, pre-dive gear checks, hand signals, polling divers for experience, budding divers, contingency plans for lost divers, determining how to ascend/descend, if anyone needs a decent/ascent line and ect. For the experienced divers it was mundane but it was encouraging to see all of the instructors providing the consistent information day after day.
We had to don our gear on land (no tanks) and walk out the to the boat mooring in the surf. Not the best setup, as I prefer to board boats from a dock. I realized after the first day to keep my boots off until I get on the boat. I had a boot full of sand, which can be annoying while fining.
All of the instructors deployed SMBs when the dive was over, we did the 3-minute safety stop and headed back to land to do our surface interval and grab some food.
I was also surprised to see how good the rental gear looked. I noticed all of the wetsuits professionally marked with the Dressel Divers logo and in good condition. Tons of BCs hanging but did not notice the condition of the regulators. I always dive with my own gear but would feel confident using theirs should something of mine failed. They had two large fresh water rinse tanks to clean equipment with hoses to rinse the inside of the BCs. The have lockers to store your equipment at the dive building so you dont have schlep it back to the hotel room. This is extremely helpful when your room could be ¼ mile from the dive bldg.
Now for the cons.
Once back to the shore they toss the tanks that we used into the surf for the other workers to pick them up and send them back to get refilled. Maybe its just me but I am always concerned they dont purge that little bit of water that could be sitting in the valve prior to filling.
During one dive with 4 divers (3 Experienced divers + Instructor) the instructor stopped dive after 45 minutes as originally stated on the pre-dive plan. I finned over to the instructor and showed her my gage with 1,100 psi remaining. She looked at her computer that showed 45 min bottom time. We all surfaced after the safety stop and I questioned her why did we stop with plenty of air and bottom time remaining. She looked at her watch and stated we only stay 45 minutes on the dive because she has to go back and do other dives, show free scuba in the pool and etc. but stated we were running ahead of her schedule so we could have stayed. I did not appreciate a shorter dive because 45 min was the magic number.
An entire day was taken by doing the Cenotes. There were several stops the van had to take to pick up divers from other resorts, drop off divers at the ferry, pick up equipment from a different Dressel location and watch a video filmed of us in the Cenotes. The videographer was a real pain in the neck with the bright lights in our eyes throughout various phases of the dive. For a two tank dive I left at 8:00 am from my hotel and did not get back until 4:30 pm. Plenty of wasted time attributed to them running a business and getting the most out of everyone.
At the end of the week I was pleasantly surprised how well things went with Dressel and would dive with them in the future.
Dives - Will post another report as this one is too long already.
I stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Maya in Mexico from December 8th 2006 through December 16th 2006. I used Dressel Divers, as they were the only dive operation that was available by walking distance. After reading some of the bad posts on this board about Dressel I used them with eyes wide open looking for problems with their operation. I even considered renting a car to hit some of the other dive operations recommended by this board but did not want the hassle of driving around to find shops. My hotel was about 20 minutes from Playa Del Carmen so the trip could really be a hassle.
Due to poor weather I did not book a dive package as they are non-refundable and must be completed within three years. I paid on a dive per dive basis loosing out on the opportunity to get one or two free dives with a prepaid amount. The cost was $50 per dive and $45 per dive if paid in US dollars. US dollars gives a 10% discount.
I noticed immediately Dressel runs a tight business with many employees and dive operations all over Mexico and other countries. All the dives had a maximum instructor to diver ratio of 1 to 4. When we had 8 divers we had 2 instructors regardless of the divers expertise. Each boat left with a captain and a mate to help the divers board and un-board the boat.
The instructors I had the pleasure of diving with were Chris from the US, Jenny from the US and Marcel from Holland. On the various days each instructor gave a dive briefing on land, laid out the plan and dove the plan. Each instructor spent 5 to 8 minutes discussing on land the following: safety which they were extremely concerned about, pre-dive gear checks, hand signals, polling divers for experience, budding divers, contingency plans for lost divers, determining how to ascend/descend, if anyone needs a decent/ascent line and ect. For the experienced divers it was mundane but it was encouraging to see all of the instructors providing the consistent information day after day.
We had to don our gear on land (no tanks) and walk out the to the boat mooring in the surf. Not the best setup, as I prefer to board boats from a dock. I realized after the first day to keep my boots off until I get on the boat. I had a boot full of sand, which can be annoying while fining.
All of the instructors deployed SMBs when the dive was over, we did the 3-minute safety stop and headed back to land to do our surface interval and grab some food.
I was also surprised to see how good the rental gear looked. I noticed all of the wetsuits professionally marked with the Dressel Divers logo and in good condition. Tons of BCs hanging but did not notice the condition of the regulators. I always dive with my own gear but would feel confident using theirs should something of mine failed. They had two large fresh water rinse tanks to clean equipment with hoses to rinse the inside of the BCs. The have lockers to store your equipment at the dive building so you dont have schlep it back to the hotel room. This is extremely helpful when your room could be ¼ mile from the dive bldg.
Now for the cons.
Once back to the shore they toss the tanks that we used into the surf for the other workers to pick them up and send them back to get refilled. Maybe its just me but I am always concerned they dont purge that little bit of water that could be sitting in the valve prior to filling.
During one dive with 4 divers (3 Experienced divers + Instructor) the instructor stopped dive after 45 minutes as originally stated on the pre-dive plan. I finned over to the instructor and showed her my gage with 1,100 psi remaining. She looked at her computer that showed 45 min bottom time. We all surfaced after the safety stop and I questioned her why did we stop with plenty of air and bottom time remaining. She looked at her watch and stated we only stay 45 minutes on the dive because she has to go back and do other dives, show free scuba in the pool and etc. but stated we were running ahead of her schedule so we could have stayed. I did not appreciate a shorter dive because 45 min was the magic number.
An entire day was taken by doing the Cenotes. There were several stops the van had to take to pick up divers from other resorts, drop off divers at the ferry, pick up equipment from a different Dressel location and watch a video filmed of us in the Cenotes. The videographer was a real pain in the neck with the bright lights in our eyes throughout various phases of the dive. For a two tank dive I left at 8:00 am from my hotel and did not get back until 4:30 pm. Plenty of wasted time attributed to them running a business and getting the most out of everyone.
At the end of the week I was pleasantly surprised how well things went with Dressel and would dive with them in the future.
