Dressel Divers, Should I Avoid?

[ggunn]

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go with the known quality of Blue Angel.

Great op; I just got back from 2 weeks diving with them. Tell Jorge and Mateo that Gordon says hi. Jeanie, too.

I would advise you (if you haven't already done so) to get in touch with Jeanie and tell her what you want to do; if there is any problem with BA picking you up at Iberostar and/or going to some of the more northern dive sites from there, you'll want to work that out ahead of time.

 

[Cherokee180c]

Thanks ggun,

I have been emailing Jeanie at Blue Angel, but am just waiting now for details on the logistics. She said worst case they will come pick us up by car if necessary, although I do not want to do that each day. Does anybody know if that is a full 20 min drive each way? I guess they must have worked something out for boat pick up as she said that sometimes the Iberostar charges them for pickup there, but she didn't tell me how much. Somebody else posted $2/person/day or pickup. I don't care about a small fee if it is reasonable. Do you know if Ramon is still a dive master at BA? My wife really liked him last year. She needed some help initially as she had some problems equalizing her ears. He worked extremely well with her and she was diving like a champ by the end of the week. Personally I think she just found him to be a stud and was faking the ear problem all along, lol.

 

[ggunn]

Thanks ggun,

I have been emailing Jeanie at Blue Angel, but am just waiting now for details on the logistics. She said worst case they will come pick us up by car if necessary, although I do not want to do that each day. Does anybody know if that is a full 20 min drive each way? I guess they must have worked something out for boat pick up as she said that sometimes the Iberostar charges them for pickup there, but she didn't tell me how much. Somebody else posted $2/person/day or pickup. I don't care about a small fee if it is reasonable. Do you know if Ramon is still a dive master at BA? My wife really liked him last year. She needed some help initially as she had some problems equalizing her ears. He worked extremely well with her and she was diving like a champ by the end of the week. Personally I think she just found him to be a stud and was faking the ear problem all along, lol.

I don't think that Ramon is with them any more. I didn't see him at all there, and I stayed at Caribe Blu and dove nearly every day May 6 - 20. It is a long way from Caribe Blu to Iberostar; 20 minutes sounds about right in a fast taxi.

 

[Christi]

This smacks of being a rip off arrangement between the dive company and the hotel company.

Dressel Divers is owned by Iberostar, regardless of what they may have told you.

Dressel Divers runs the pre-booking operation out of Spain, not Cozumel. They are an international dive operator. I also suspect that part of their high prices might be due to the fact that the profits need to be converted into the Euro at the end of the day and do not stay in Pesos.

That has nothing to do with it. The Cozumel property and all properties they have in Mexico are a Mexican Corporation...it has to be for legal and tax purposes.

I guess they must have worked something out for boat pick up as she said that sometimes the Iberostar charges them for pickup there, but she didn't tell me how much.

It's not as simple as just paying a small fee per diver. They require you to REGISTER with them and bill you for it. They require ridiculous documentation for the "privledge" to pick up THEIR hotel guests.

However, for what it's worth, they ahven't given us any grief the few times we've picked up there recently. I still don't encourage people to stay there...it's way too far south and a diver at Iberostar actually limits dive site selections for everyone on the boat.

 

[Cherokee180c]

Dressel Divers is owned by Iberostar, regardless of what they may have told you.

That has nothing to do with it. The Cozumel property and all properties they have in Mexico are a Mexican Corporation...it has to be for legal and tax purposes.

That may be true, but the profits still flow to the parent company and they set the policies and pricing and the parent company is in Europe. I know I work for an international company with plants on 4 continents. Our profits suffer greatly sometimes due to exchange rates! In each region the company is a incorporated as a separate entity.

It's not as simple as just paying a small fee per diver. They require you to REGISTER with them and bill you for it. They require ridiculous documentation for the "privledge" to pick up THEIR hotel guests..

They require me to pay the entire bill through them? What a pain in the butt. I wonder if I lose my cash discount with BA. I certainly won't be staying there again if this is not an enjoyable process!!!

However, for what it's worth, they ahven't given us any grief the few times we've picked up there recently. I still don't encourage people to stay there...it's way too far south and a diver at Iberostar actually limits dive site selections for everyone on the boat.

I will probably only get picked up there half the time then and will try to get them to pick me up at the hotel by car the other times.

 

[Christi]

They require me to pay the entire bill through them? What a pain in the butt. I wonder if I lose my cash discount with BA. I certainly won't be staying there again if this is not an enjoyable process!!!


I will probably only get picked up there half the time then and will try to get them to pick me up at the hotel by car the other times.

No, no no...the Iberostar bills the dive ops. You won't be affected unless the dive shop passes the charges on to you on your dive bill. I don't know if BA does or not.

 

[MMM]

I asked about him when I was there in February. Was told he was working somewhere in the south Pacific - Australia comes to mind but I wasn't paying much attention beyond the general geographic area!

Thanks ggun,

Do you know if Ramon is still a dive master at BA? My wife really liked him last year.

 

[MMM]

Good choice. I like them too. I was very puzzeled when you posted their equipment rental policies and just assumed you had it wrong. What a stupid policy! I always haul my own crap on dives just because I like having my own stuff that I know. Even if it does take up most of my suitcase!

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go with the known quality of Blue Angel. I have nothing but great things to say about them from our vacation last year.

 

[ronrosa]

Are beach pickups/dropoffs a big problem ? I would think the 1st and last day is a pain with the gear, but as long as the dive operator stores your gear, it doesn't sound that bad.

 

[jcole]

I'm glad to have found this topic.

I'll be staying at the Iberostar in September and plan to do as much diving as possible during my trip. I've dove with Dressel there before (two years ago) and didn't have any issues except for an occassionally crowded boat.

Still though, I find their prices too high when doing a lot of dives and I'm considering going to an outside operator where I might find better service at more reasonable rates. Yet, all of this talk about pick up restrictions has me a bit concerned. Has there been any resolution on this? Is there a near by beach, pier, or other pick up spot for outside dive boats?

Thanks,
John