Is it safe to rent gear in Mexico?

[halocline]

Regs function without free flow, no cracked hoses, diaphragm good working order etc. Same with BC, tanks, etc. Well maintained, hold air, no leaks, etc.

Basically, it will function through the whole dive without mishap or malfunction.

It's a bit of a crapshoot, but remember that with the more popular dive ops the rental gear gets used constantly, so typically if there's a problem it gets fixed. Regs that work on the surface will usually work fine for a dive, so probably the best thing you could do would be to connect the reg to a tank, try a vacuum test before pressurizing, then pressurize and check for leaks in the rinse tank. Just a general inspection, if you got really anal you could bring a small IP gauge and check that for stability. For the BC you could just inflate a bit and toss it in the rinse tank.

The usual suspects for small leaks are tank o-rings, SPG spools, and LP inflators, so you could pay some attention to those spots.

Come to think of it, it's more-or-less the same thing a responsible diver would do with his/her own equipment, pre dive.

 

[Jorge Loria]

Yes, usually must shops take care of their gear, and have good quality brands. However, allways remember it is really important to check the gear before diving!



Buceo en Playa del Carmen - Phantom Divers
info@phantomdivers.com

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

I always book and recommend Solo Buceo in Cancun. Probably one of the oldest family run dive shops in Cancun and best service around.

Solo buceo - Diving Cancun, buceo en Cancun, Snorkeling Cancun, PADI certification

 

[Lorenzoid]

The rattiest gear I ever rented was on one of the smaller islands in Belize, back when I was on a serious budget and even had to rent a wetsuit. The suit had holes in it and was pretty threadbare. The BC was threadbare, too, but apparently didn't have holes--at least not through the bladder. The regulator made wheezing noises. The tank o-rings left a trail of bubbles. I'm glad I now own all my own gear and maintain it well, but using that gear in Belize gave me more of an appreciation for just how robust and reliable scuba gear really is. I wouldn't want to press my luck again, but in hindsight I value the experience of having done so. Newer, well-maintained gear is no doubt preferable, but scuba gear can take a surprising (to me) amount of wear and abuse.

 

[ccannon707]

I would recommend bringing your own wetsuit, mask and fins. Fit is important on all 3. I used to rent everything after those, but now bring my own reg and computer. I gave up hauling down a BC and always rent that. Heavy, bulky and a pain to clean vs renting. Shops I go with almost always add it in no charge as I book multiple dives.
Dive ops are in business and it behooves them to keep their equipment in good working shape and replace/upgrade often.

 

[freewillie]

Thanks for all posting so far.

I have my own wetsuit, fin, mask, computer, and BC. Hopefully by the time we go down I will have my regs too. My daughter has her own wetsuit, fins, mask, and now has a brand new travel BC.

I have been in the habit of taking a dive bag as well. It is good for the fins, and then we put the younger kids beach toys buckets, shovels, water toys in as well. I use zip ties on the zippers to keep the thieves out.

The expensive gear especially BC's will go in a rolling duffel with special compartment at bottom. Computer always goes in carry on bag. It's worked well for us so far.

 

[dive pro]

I would assume the answer is yes, but you always hear these horror stories about malfunctioning or poorly working rental gear. Any good stories, or bad stories?

We are planning a vacation to Cancun in August and will include at least a few dives. Any recommendations for a dive shop? I see Always Diving and Scorpio divers posted a lot. My daughter will likely be needing regs and possibly a BC.

Thanks.

Hello Freewillie,
I know for a fact that Erik in Playa del Carmen has brand new gear, and I can speak for myself we use brand new (1 month old) MARES gear.
Regs are checked and maintained, I do not agree about the post mentioning it depends on the price of the dive, we provide PRIVATE service to our divers if booked with enough time, we may have other divers on board but service is to your party even if 1 diver for cheaper than regular price for group of 4 to 6 divers per guide. Also the post that says if a dive center is popular the gear is used more, is totally wrong when a dive center becomes popular, and depending of management I know the dive center would invest on gear every year or two since it became popular, but this is just my opinion.
If interested click on the website and shoot us an email
Happy diving. I do recommend anyone to have their own or bring it but I do know the expenses rise on airfares for this.

 

[Mike]

Also the post that says if a dive center is popular the gear is used more, is totally wrong when a dive center becomes popular, and depending of management I know the dive center would invest on gear every year or two since it became popular, .

Your statement contradicts itself. Maybe you mean to say a 'popular' (not really even sure what that means) dive operations equipment gets replaced more often. Saying it gear is used less doesn't make sense. A busy dive operator might buy equipment more often, but the gear they have gets used often, that would be the nature of a busy dive operation wouldn't it?

The main gist of the statement you are referring to was in regard to keeping expectations realistic. A dive operations equipment generally could be seeing huge use compared to a divers personal gear. A vacation divers gear might get wet once a year, while a dive ops equipment could be seeing the water just about every single day. So be realistic, even well maintained equipment is going to have it's problems no matter how well it's maintained, just based on the continuous use it sees.

 

[dive pro]

Your statement contradicts itself. Maybe you mean to say a 'popular' (not really even sure what that means) dive operations equipment gets replaced more often. Saying it gear is used less doesn't make sense. A busy dive operator might buy equipment more often, but the gear they have gets used often, that would be the nature of a busy dive operation wouldn't it?

The main gist of the statement you are referring to was in regard to keeping expectations realistic. A dive operations equipment generally could be seeing huge use compared to a divers personal gear. A vacation divers gear might get wet once a year, while a dive ops equipment could be seeing the water just about every single day. So be realistic, even well maintained equipment is going to have it's problems no matter how well it's maintained, just based on the continuous use it sees.

Not really sure what you meant, I addressed a comment on this thread that mentioned and I quote "but remember that with the more popular dive ops the rental gear gets used constantly, so typically if there's a problem it gets fixed" and what I said is pretty clear (maybe wrong, English is a second language although I was educated in an American University) what that comment says is wrong about equipment, and I stand on what I said, I meant that this is not necessarily true. Everyone has a right to an opinion, I stated my own, and my own is an opinion of a PADI, SSI, SDI, NAUI (NOT PAY DUES TO NAUI ANYMORE) Instructor that started diving in 1986 Instructor 1999, and after this years in the business specifically in Cancun luckily doing what I love for a living I feel maybe I can give a realistic opinion since the post is about Cancun. Still maybe all divers know very well that own gear is always better than renting, there are divers that have thousands of dives and have not bought gear, others that before they get certified they have own gear. So it is a matter of opinion, I do not know all the dive shops in Cancun, I can say we use brand new 1 month old MARES GEAR and that is basically it, brand new gear is better than older worn out gear. Still it is of course known that even brand new gear is not like having your own.
But anyway, I guess I love diving and to increase the number of dives than to post just to post. I tried to answer a diver asking a question, and I do know my gear so that is what I answered.

Happy diving to all....

 

[Mike]

I think you 're trying to make the distinction of frequency of replacing dive gear at a dive shop. The more 'popular' a dive shop, meaning a successful, quality operation is going to replace rental equipment on a more frequent basis. That may be true but it doesn't change the point you are referring to in regard to frequency of use.

There is a distinction between equipment that doesn't get replaced often and that that does, but replacement is usually based on a time frame based on use which equates to wear and tear. Most dive operators replace equipment based on the condition not a time frame, for example they don't just choose an arbitrary time frame to always do replacements. They choose a time frame based on the frequency of use. For instance a busy dive operation like you said, would replace equipment with more frequency, but that's based on use.

To just jump to the point - if a dive shop is busy and they replace gear more frequently using a number as an example they might replace their gear every 2 years based on figuring in 2 years their gear sees 500 dives. A slow dive shop might replace their gear less frequently and using numbers for the example maybe it''s every 5 or 6 years, but that could easily be based on the same 500 dives, they just take place over a longer period of time.