Iberostar Dive Shop feedback

[VanillaDiver]

Hi fellow divers! Will be at Iberostar Paraiso this coming saturday for a week. I'd like to do a few dives (Advanced OW diver) and perhaps have my mom do a discover scuba dive. I am considering signing up with Tank Ha to go to Cozumel but it's a bit far and am considering going with the resort Dive shop for local Playa dives. Does anyone have any feedback or experience diving with the Iberostar crew?

Also, anybody know if the whale sharks are by any miracle still around?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Mahidoodi]

VanillaDiver;

Dressel Divers is the name of the dive operator in all Iberostar resorts. I just came back from a week in Cozumel and diving with them as I have for the past few years. Although I don't know their operation at Paraiso, my experience with Dressel has always been good. I know that their dive masters work between various locations on both sides of the water. I believe Scott has recently moved to Paraiso and I had great dives with him when he was at Cozumel. Check their website for more information. They have a great program in terms of getting a discount if you book your dives ahead of time. You can use their package in any of the resorts they serve and if you don't use all the dives in your package you have up to 5 years to use them. In Cozumel talk to Fernando or Jake, the managers, and tell them Mo sent you.
Last week I was told that the whale sharks were still out there and my wife was contemplating in doing the snorkeling trip.

 

[dfx]

We dove with them twice (i.e. two separate weeks) at Paraiso and enjoyed it. They get a lot of occasional resort divers and newbies and they try to cater to these types of divers. The diving is quite good there, with most sites being shallow drift dives with lots of marine life. My only complaints would be that in the low season when there's not enough people, they only do one dive in the morning and one in the afternoon (as opposed to a 2-tank dive in the morning, which we prefer), and that they tend to repeat dive sites throughout the week, because most people they get only do a dive or two during their stay or so. Although that's not a big problem, because even then you discover new stuff every time you dive a particular site.

 

[VanillaDiver]

Thanks guys! Super helpful and appreciate Divemaster references! Also thanks for tip on booking ahead of time for savings. It's a bit weird that they dont have a priceliste on their website but I wrote to them so hopefully they answer.

 

[stuartv]

Great timing on this thread. We just booked to go down there in December so I am also figuring out who to book some diving with.

We booked a Mystery Resort package. We won't find out which resort we're staying at until 7 days before we leave. But, we do know it will be one of 4 specific ones and Iberostar is one of the options. They are all fairly close together between PDC and Puerto Morelos.

So, can you tell me if booking with the crew at Iberostar is feasible, even if we end up at a different resort down the road? Or do we need to be staying at Iberostar in order to book with the Dressel crew there?

 

[dfx]

Great timing on this thread. We just booked to go down there in December so I am also figuring out who to book some diving with.

We booked a Mystery Resort package. We won't find out which resort we're staying at until 7 days before we leave. But, we do know it will be one of 4 specific ones and Iberostar is one of the options. They are all fairly close together between PDC and Puerto Morelos.

So, can you tell me if booking with the crew at Iberostar is feasible, even if we end up at a different resort down the road? Or do we need to be staying at Iberostar in order to book with the Dressel crew there?

Your best bet is to send them an email and ask, but I'm pretty sure I've seen "outsiders", i.e. people from other resorts joining the Dressel dive trips when we were there. There's a side road that runs down from the main road alongside the resort straight to the beach right where the dive shop is, but I'm not sure whether it's open to the public (e.g. for cabs or on foot). It should always be possible to just walk through the resort to the dive shop even if you're not staying there, but keep in mind that the resort is quite large, so prepare for a bit of a hike if you go on foot from the main road to the dive shop lol.

 

[stuartv]

Thanks, dfx.

 

[VanillaDiver]

I just got back so I thought I would spread the word and the love. I had an AMAZING experiene with the Dressel Divers team at Playa Paraiso. Really outstanding crew. All DMs, Instructors and sales staff were not only VERY competent and safe but also genuinely kind people. I had my mom do her discover suba for her 60th bday and they gave here a very personal experience, 1 on 1 dive with the instructor. They wew just incredibly kind and experienced and I cant say enough. I did 2 dives in in Cozumel. If you go, try to request Noe as your DM, he is outstanding and a real good time! I also did cenote diving with Julian and he was very safety concious. Honestly, I have nthing bad t say, no tips for imprving. They were perfect. The equipment was real good too (I didnt travel with my gear). As for booking ahead to get your 20% (which is really worth it, thanks for the tip everyone), try to write them and give them the specifics of your situation. They were very helpful with me and I booked 2 days before leaving and everything was fine. Honestly, they make things so easy for you! Enjoy! I'm really jealous, wish I was going back!