Fiesta Americana vs Hotel Cozumel All Inclusive

[rick00001967]

There is a shore diving opportunity from HC and you get rent takes for $10/tank at the on-site shop. This is the reason I'm going to HC in a couple of weeks because I'm bringing a family of 5 with me to do their certification dives and that house reef is an easy introduction to ocean diving before you go on the boat.

10/tank now eh. was 6 when i was there last (insert sad face here) lol
i assume you have cleared the idea of doing training on site with wyndam and the dive op (i assume it is still dive paradise?)?
i contacted them about doing this once and was told absolutely not. it was not allowed.
there has been many discussions about why some shops/resorts allow it and some don't and whether it is legal, so i wont get into it here.

 

[ggunn]

10/tank now eh. was 6 when i was there last (insert sad face here) lol
i assume you have cleared the idea of doing training on site with wyndam and the dive op (i assume it is still dive paradise?)?
i contacted them about doing this once and was told absolutely not. it was not allowed.
there has been many discussions about why some shops/resorts allow it and some don't and whether it is legal, so i wont get into it here.

I am pretty sure that doing dive training in Mexico if one is not licensed to do so is illegal. Whether a resort/hotel/dive op is willing to look the other way is another issue.

 

[kmarks]

10/tank now eh. was 6 when i was there last (insert sad face here) lol
i assume you have cleared the idea of doing training on site with wyndam and the dive op (i assume it is still dive paradise?)?
i contacted them about doing this once and was told absolutely not. it was not allowed.
there has been many discussions about why some shops/resorts allow it and some don't and whether it is legal, so i wont get into it here.

My shop sends a group to HC every month to do training dives. This is the third time I'm doing it personally.

 

[rick00001967]

well it is mexico so i guess it is not what you know, but who you know. lol must be nice to be able to send a group each month. our shop goes once a year.

 

[Shawn C]

Big FA fan here. We've stayed at most of the AIs from Cozumel Palace down to the Iberostar. Wouldn't go to Occidental again. Food wasn't good.

We also use to dive with Walter and David when they were with DWM. Heard about them opening their own shop and switched to Sharky's on our dive trip a couple of weeks ago. Loved everything about their op - especially how well they looked after my 13 year old daughter discover diver. Cannot say enough great things about them, how professional, calm, patient they are and how they let my kid dive and learn at her pace. She had the best time and has declared herself as a diver for life (RIP my wallet). They also put out a nice spread on the beach during the SI as a bonus. We're Sharky's divers from now on.

 

[ReefHound]

well it is mexico so i guess it is not what you know, but who you know. lol must be nice to be able to send a group each month. our shop goes once a year.

If 4 divers go into the water for a shore dive, how exactly is the onsite shop going to know that one of them is teaching something to the other three? To them, it's 4 guests doing a shore dive.

 

[kmarks]

well it is mexico so i guess it is not what you know, but who you know. lol must be nice to be able to send a group each month. our shop goes once a year.

One of the advantages to working with the biggest shop in the US. It's all about the insurance agreement.

If 4 divers go into the water for a shore dive, how exactly is the onsite shop going to know that one of them is teaching something to the other three? To them, it's 4 guests doing a shore dive.

When you're doing open water training dives, they definitely know. We have to have a special arrangement with Dive Paradise when we fill out the paperwork because one of the things they want to know is your certification level and number. I have to vouch for the students and have them put my pro number on the form. DP gets a little antsy sometimes and wants me to issue their certifications immediately after dive 4 and then redo the paperwork.

 

[rick00001967]

If 4 divers go into the water for a shore dive, how exactly is the onsite shop going to know that one of them is teaching something to the other three? To them, it's 4 guests doing a shore dive.

first, it would be pretty obvious to anyone that has spent anytime working in the scuba industry that the divers were students.
and B, i would hope any proffessional instructor would disclose their intentions to the local shop whether they thought they could "get away with it" or not.
last, even if the local shop has an agreement with the instructor to allow them to teach using their tanks, their pier, their entry point, maybe even rental gear etc, that does not necessarily make it legal under mexican law.
just because it is a regular occurrance does not mean it is legit. maybe in this case it is, maybe it isn't.
but as i stated previously, this topic has been discussed elsewhere so no need to get too far off track.

 

[ReefHound]

One of the advantages to working with the biggest shop in the US. It's all about the insurance agreement.

When you're doing open water training dives, they definitely know. We have to have a special arrangement with Dive Paradise when we fill out the paperwork because one of the things they want to know is your certification level and number. I have to vouch for the students and have them put my pro number on the form. DP gets a little antsy sometimes and wants me to issue their certifications immediately after dive 4 and then redo the paperwork.

Be more specific. HOW do they know? Other than you approaching the desk and introducing yourself as an instructor teaching students. And, of course, you trying to rent 6 tanks at once. Open water is a bit difficult since the students don't have a c-card to rent their own tank. There are ways around it though, other places to get tanks, other sites to shore dive if HC is too intrusive. I can't imagine how they would know about AOW or specialty training though.

I have taken groups to Cozumel, and as a DM and trip leader, conducted an orientation dive with plenty of divers doing their first Cozumel dives and sometimes first salt water dives. From afar, it might well look like "instructing". No one has ever approached and yelled hey what are you doing?

 

[kmarks]

Be more specific. HOW do they know? Other than you approaching the desk and introducing yourself as an instructor teaching students. And, of course, you trying to rent 6 tanks at once. Open water is a bit difficult since the students don't have a c-card to rent their own tank. There are ways around it though, other places to get tanks, other sites to shore dive if HC is too intrusive. I can't imagine how they would know about AOW or specialty training though.

I have taken groups to Cozumel, and as a DM and trip leader, conducted an orientation dive with plenty of divers doing their first Cozumel dives and sometimes first salt water dives. From afar, it might well look like "instructing". No one has ever approached and yelled hey what are you doing?

If you want to dive with DP on their boats or the house reef, you have to do paperwork. Some of the questions are your certification number, highest level of certification, dive count, number of drift dives, number of ocean dives, date of last dive, etc. An OWD student's answers to those questions are going to be none, not, 0, 0, 0, and never, respectively.