Iberostar & Dressel Divers

[ScubaJoy65]

Turning 60 in style!

I'm planning a celebratory all-inclusive dive trip for my 60th birthday in January. Knowing winter seas can be tricky, I researched locations and stumbled upon Dressel Divers, a new outfit for us. We have a quote for Dressel Divers with Iberostar in Bayahibe, Dominican Republic, and it's looking promising.

Veteran Diver Seeking Insight

My concern is the dive experience itself. In the past, resorts boasting amazing diving ended up catering to infrequent divers, which isn't ideal for us. With over 1,000 dives under our belts and my passion for underwater photography, being herded around isn't our idea of fun.

Hoping for Fellow Adventurers' Input

Have any seasoned divers experienced Dressel Divers? I'd love to hear about your experience, particularly regarding the dive groups and their suitability for experienced divers.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ben_3]

I dove with Dressel in Mexico and had a good experience. I don’t know about the one in the Dominican Republic though.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Have been looking at Bayahibe, ScubaFun website says dives are 45-50 minutes which is a nogo for us. How long were your dives generally?
The beaches look crowded with boats and tourists(cruisers maybe).
Was the Cantlina or Sanoa dive days worth the $$?

Depending on the depth, my dives are usually around an hour. The public beach in the village of Bayahibe can get crowded with people & boats. Bayahibe beach just west of the village is fine. We stay at Dreams Dominicus which is just east of Bayahibe on Dominicus beach and it is not crowed and no boats except one or two tied up at the resort docks.
We have done both Saona & Catalina island tours. We did the dive & snorkel tour (my wife doesn't dive) with Scuba Fun and really enjoyed it. Diving in Bayahibe - ScubaFun
We did the Saona island tour with another company and I didn't dive and we enjoyed the trip. We want to do Scuba Fun's Saona Dive & snorkel tour though. Catalina has better diving & snorkeling and is a lot closer than Saona.
We are actually leaving tomorrow to head back down to Bayahibe (6th visit) and will be diving with John again.

 

[Bookworm11]

I have extensive diving with Dressel, although only with Mexico. The FT DMs are all excellent. The stringers they get vary. They try to group by ability, it does not always happen. Some will let you dive your tank, some will not. It also depends if you are in the busy season and if there are groups diving with them since they take the best DMs. I dove with them for 4 trips for 14 dives or more a trip until my last trip in April when I kept getting stuck with the part timers for more than half my dives and stuck with beginners many times. Then I switched.

 

[Altamira]

If you don’t want a dive guide, and Bonaire sounds appealing (@tursiops), you would also like Curacao, working with The Dive Bus.

 

[CathyE]

Well under 1000 dives! Stayed at Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus last Dec and dove with Dressel.
It was not horrible, but it was timed and back on the boat. Very regimented.
If you want any flexibility go with an offsite shop. Scuba fun was not perfect but they did separate us from the others and each dive was an hour or so.