DevilEyeDog
Contributor
This is a good average Dive Shop. Spectacular, no. I came off a cruise ship and wanted to sneak in one dive before hanging out with non-diving friends that day.
The taxi new where the shop was. The team at the shop were very friendly and immediately got me geared up as I was renting. Costa Maya (Mahahaul) has decent diving, no epic by any means, but still fun.
Here's why they aren't a 5 star operator:
-The equipment looks very beat up. Did it perform well? Mine did, but another diver's regulator kept free flowing from time to time.
-We had two dive guides with us for 6 people (GREAT). I turned on my own tank and checked my gear on the boat. The one guide came over 15 minutes later and checked my tank was on and announced it was "stuck". She was turning the handle the wrong way and thought it was off. I had to demonstrate air was on, tank was full and she had over-cranked it even more on resulting in it being a difficult off now.
-Not the best briefing. The briefing was "go down quickly and we'll meet up at the bottom". Literally that was the briefing.
-No safety checks. At no point did the guides ask anyone to check their equipment or even air amounts.
-When a new diver's rented regulator was free flowing it was one of my fellow divers that came to her aid, not a guide.
-There was never a check on anyone's air when diving. I guess the guides trusted that we'd alert them if we were low.
-The safety stop was a hot mess for some and the guides didn't seem to care. Sure, it's suggestive in sport diving limits, but most dive operators adhere to them. There was a stop, but some divers did the stop and others did not and the guides didn't seem to care.
I'm all about safety first. If you're a comfortable diver and secure in your dive ability great. I was lucky that as I was exiting the cruise ship I overhead another passenger state he had booked outside of the cruise lines. He also had booked with Mar Adentro and was doing a two tank dive. We both promised to be each other's buddy and I was grateful for that. When we got to the bottom we both checked in by giving each other the okay sign, not that our dive guides did.
But if you want super nice staff, good prices, decent boat and some Costa Maya diving then yes dive with Mar Adentro. But if you're a stickler for safety then maybe not.
The taxi new where the shop was. The team at the shop were very friendly and immediately got me geared up as I was renting. Costa Maya (Mahahaul) has decent diving, no epic by any means, but still fun.
Here's why they aren't a 5 star operator:
-The equipment looks very beat up. Did it perform well? Mine did, but another diver's regulator kept free flowing from time to time.
-We had two dive guides with us for 6 people (GREAT). I turned on my own tank and checked my gear on the boat. The one guide came over 15 minutes later and checked my tank was on and announced it was "stuck". She was turning the handle the wrong way and thought it was off. I had to demonstrate air was on, tank was full and she had over-cranked it even more on resulting in it being a difficult off now.
-Not the best briefing. The briefing was "go down quickly and we'll meet up at the bottom". Literally that was the briefing.
-No safety checks. At no point did the guides ask anyone to check their equipment or even air amounts.
-When a new diver's rented regulator was free flowing it was one of my fellow divers that came to her aid, not a guide.
-There was never a check on anyone's air when diving. I guess the guides trusted that we'd alert them if we were low.
-The safety stop was a hot mess for some and the guides didn't seem to care. Sure, it's suggestive in sport diving limits, but most dive operators adhere to them. There was a stop, but some divers did the stop and others did not and the guides didn't seem to care.
I'm all about safety first. If you're a comfortable diver and secure in your dive ability great. I was lucky that as I was exiting the cruise ship I overhead another passenger state he had booked outside of the cruise lines. He also had booked with Mar Adentro and was doing a two tank dive. We both promised to be each other's buddy and I was grateful for that. When we got to the bottom we both checked in by giving each other the okay sign, not that our dive guides did.
But if you want super nice staff, good prices, decent boat and some Costa Maya diving then yes dive with Mar Adentro. But if you're a stickler for safety then maybe not.
