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I just returned from a trip to Playa with my wife where the dive operator we used was based almost solely on trip advisor reviews. There were so many positive reviews that I decided to not dive with other shops even though they could have provided the services we wanted at a better price. The main reason I was so concerned with finding a good dive operator is that this would be my wife's first experience with scuba and I really wanted it to be the most pleasant experience possible. I don't want to get into the details but they really screwed the pooch on her DSD. For awhile after her dives I thought there is no way she is going to want to ever get near a regulator again. Luckily she is still showing some interest which I am thankful for. All I know is that trip advisor reviews are garbage and I will never make a travel decision based on reviews there again.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience in Playa Six2Life! Hopefully she will still try again. Most of the cases the companies take too many students or the instructors are missing experience. This location has a lot companies that are breaking the standards and everything is about money in the end. We worked here with other companies before our own operation and we get tired about the diving industry and big companies asking instructors to break the standards and if not you will be kicked out. Easy, theres a line of instructors waiting for a job. Just in Playa del Carmen theres about 4-5 instructor courses a year and all courses make at least 5-10 instructors or even more. Just to give you an idea why the quality can be poor some places.

You can find probably 50-100 Dive companies online in the area. How you will be able to know who works good for your needs?Thats the real question, what are you looking for?
Trust only trip advisor? please do not make your decision based only on that.

People use trip advisor like a bible wich is kind of scary because trip advisor is a just a open forum that everyone can give an opinion. This we learn when we where trying to get our review away from our own account. Took us 2 weeks and in the meanwhile people canceled because of one opinion, wich in this case was a fraude. There can be misleading both ways, good and bad. Trip advisor answered to us that everybody has a right to give their opinion if they get a customer service. Problem with that is that there is not a trustful way to make sure that all the writers really use the service or get customer service from that company. Thats why they have a link to report if you think your competitor write your review.

You can find different diving services for everyone depending what kind of diver you are. You need to know a little bit what kind of company works the best for you. if you just want to make one fun dive on your vacation pick up the dive center from your Hotel or town down. Easy and they will give you good dives.
Prices are not telling anything about the service anymore. Big companies has more expenses so more prices and in the other hand the small companies make more privat dives so expenses are high because they are not moving mass of people. Who can give you the best service, best price and will trip advisor help you to find the best one?
It can give you a source to look more information but you will always have the chance to choose wrong.

If you have girlfriend diving first time, children or youngster, we would recommend to look for a smaller company who will give you more time and you are not diving with a big
group. Sometimes its better to invest time on searching your dives and make sure you dont have to feel bad about your dives later. If you love to take photos and take your time on your dives, choose small company. They can be more flexible.

Planning training, courses or first time dive?
Helps if you can talk/contact with your instructor before your dives and make sure that they know what are they doing and you can trust your love ones on their hands.
People behind computers/reservation are not the people who you will dive with.

Trusting that you will get a best training from a dive center who has all the stars and a lot of good comment is not guarantee anymore. Most of the big companies hire young fresh instructors and they will do their job as they can. Do you know who you will dive with? Do they have the experience and knowledge? Nothing against the new instructors, been there. A little questioning still isn't bad idea.

This is for people who are looking for diving services and what they need to think when looking information from the trip advisor or online.
Details helps and contacting the review writer never hurts either.

Good luck with trip advisor and safe dives! :D :D :D

Anns and Gerardo - divexplor.com
 
Consider the possibility that the person posting the comment WAS, in fact, a customer... but they use another identity to post. People have been sued for leaving negative feedback, so its not a half-bad idea if you wish to protect yourself against litigation. You may not recognize the name, but if you think back it may be obvious who the customer was based on their feedback...
 
Everything I have posted on T/A is my experience of what happened with me. Just like SB my reviews are what actually happened,be it good or bad. I have learned to 'weed out' the B/S which has help me in my ten years of travel. Just recently I have had the pleasure of meeting someone from SB & T/A that has helped me find lodging & giving me expert advise on how to get to where I am going safely. A great big thanks to both!

"living life without a hard bottom"
KT
 
When I'm doing research, I look for recent reviews on forums like this where you can clarify things with the person and often judge their history here.
 
I tried to search Divexplor in TA but it didn't bring anything up, is there a link to the review please.

Many months ago, there was a report in the news where guests were "holding" hoteliers to "ransom" over reviews and wanting discounts for positive reviews.
 
I tried to search Divexplor in TA but it didn't bring anything up, is there a link to the review please.

Many months ago, there was a report in the news where guests were "holding" hoteliers to "ransom" over reviews and wanting discounts for positive reviews.


The user was posting other shops also false reviews so TA finally take them out.Thank you.
 
Consider the possibility that the person posting the comment WAS, in fact, a customer... but they use another identity to post. People have been sued for leaving negative feedback, so its not a half-bad idea if you wish to protect yourself against litigation. You may not recognize the name, but if you think back it may be obvious who the customer was based on their feedback...

We know already that it was false and TA took it away finally... :)
 

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