Mahidoodi
Registered
Warning: This is a long report in 2 parts.
Part 1:
My wife and I just spent a week in PDC and here is my trip report. But first let me pre-qualify my report by stating that I am a recreational diver to the true sense. I consider diving to be a relaxing activity and I am willing to put up with certain conditions in order to enjoy it. Anything short of laborious and out of ordinary is OK by me and safety is paramount in my list of criterion. I realize my views and my judgment may be different than others and by no means my comments are meant to be derogatory and should only be viewed as just one opinion.
Having said that, before my trip I looked around, including on this board, for a reputable dive operation in PDC. It seemed that the general consensus was to dive with Jason. So I contacted him via Email before my trip and told him that I would be interested in having 2 dives per day for 4 or 5 days plus a checkout shallow dive on the first day. He was very responsive and after exchanging a few Emails we set the first dive to be on Monday the day after I arrived at PDC. Just to have a backup plan I also contacted Scuba Caribe, the onsite dive operation at RIU Palace Rivera Maya where I was staying. At Scuba Caribe, Paula was my contact and she was also as responsive in returning my Emails and giving as much information as she could.
Jason had asked for a 25% deposit and when I told him that I didnt have a Paypal account, we agreed that I would settle whatever charges there is when I make my dives.
As luck would have it I caught the tail end of the last hurricane (tropical storm by the time I got there). So there was no diving activity on that Sunday or Monday when I was supposed to have my checkout dive. Each of those days I would call Jason and he would inform me as to the condition and whether there was any diving activity or not.
On Tuesday morning I called him again and he said the pool was open. So my wife and I took out all of our equipment and got on a taxi ($5 ride) to Cali 2 and Beach where Jason said he would be. Sure enough when we got there, Jason was waiting for us. At first we were kind of surprised since Jasons operation consists of a no bigger than a 10X10 shack on the street. Since we had arrived in our street cloths (I normally dont wear my 3 mm in taxis) we had to change to our diving suit right there on the street. But we decided that surely diving with Jason would compensate for lack of a place to change. Another minor technicality was that we either had to use the facilities in the restaurant across the street or the vast waters of PDC on our climb up the boat. We chose the Waters of PDC after one look at the facilities at the restaurant. While we were changing, standing on the street corner, Jason introduced Martin, our dive master. Martin was a hired hand from another dive operation at PDC. Jason at that point informed us that he had a head cold and he wasnt going to dive for a few days. Also, the first word out of Martins mouth was I dont speak very good English. Well that didnt bother us because we were there to dive and not to carry a conversation. But the fact that Jason couldnt dive was disappointing since we were looking forward to benefiting from his expertise. We presented our C cards to Jason and he didnt ask us to fill out any papers or waiver of liability documents. I know the inherent risks of diving but it was interesting that Jason would let us dive without us acknowledging these risks.
At this point another group that had just come back from a Cenote trip was back and the dive master in that group asked Jason to take a member of that group and send him with us (me and my wife and Martin). Jason told me that this new member was not certified and he wouldnt make the first dive with us which would have been beyond the resort certification diving limit of 30-40 feet. It wasnt like we had a choice, so we agreed and headed toward the beach to get on the boat.
Much to my dismay the boat was not what I had expected and it turned out to be a small boat with room for about 4-6 divers. A short climb into the boat using a 3 step ladder after getting in about waist deep water and we were off to the famous Tortuga. Needless to say the ride was very rough. The waves and swells were still rough and this small boat was not very comfortable to say the least. To be honest I dont think this boat had any first aid kit and you can forget about the oxygen tank. At least we were not told that it was equipped with it.
The instructions given by Martin as you might imagine was short, but what we got out of it was that at 1000 psi we would call it the end of the dive. My wife and I were expecting to dive our computer limits. Much to our surprise the third diver suited too and got ready to dive with us. A back flip and off we went. The dive site was nice and we got to see 6 turtles and a school of at least 50 tarpons while we were at the safety stop. But before that we watched the third diver go up and down and up and down and sure enough after about 20 minutes we came to the famous pre-agreed 1000 psi. At that point both my wife and I had about 1800 each. But that was the end of the dive for us. So, in the rough waters we climbed back into the boat and it was then that I had the worst nightmare of my life by throwing up everything I had consumed for the past 2 years. All along the boat is heading for the second dive site while my head was hanging from the side of the boat and at every wave there would be a jump of a few feet up in the air and the landing that my bottom will remember for years.
I decided to halt my diving activity for the day and call it quits. But Martin was very surprised of my decision he wanted to go on. He asked if I could sit in the boat while they completed their second dive, to which I emphatically replied no. He asked if my wife wanted to go on, to which she also emphatically replied no. So Martin brought us back to the beach where we started this adventure.
Back at the shack, Jason was concerned about my condition and showed genuine interest and for that instead of charging me $150 for 2 people for 2 dives he gave me a $30 discount and just charged me $120. While we were changing, we got to talk to him again and I asked him about the third diver who was not supposed to dive the first dive and he said he had to ask Martin about that. We got to talking more and Jason told us about his big dreams and how he intends to do more at PDC. Good luck to Jason and his plans.
While we were talking I looked around looking for a rinse tank to rinse my equipment, since in our Emails we had discussed that there was one. At this point Jasons partner brought what looked like a 10 gallon bucket and started filling it with water and that was supposed to be our rinse tank. I decided to forgo that function and rinse my stuff when I get back to the hotel. So, without the benefit of diving with Jason, we were left very disappointed with the rest of what happened. This concludes part 1 of my trip report. In part 2 I will go over my experience with Scuba Caribe, the dive operation at RIU Rivera Maya.
Part 2:
When we got back to the hotel I went to the onsite dive operation. I talked to the manager; a nice guy named Joel, and presented my Email trail with Paula. Joel honored the price that Paula had set for us and I thought that it was a good deal. We paid $586 for 4 days of 2 tank diving for 2 people. We got that price because we agreed to dive 4 days as we had planned.
But before signing the paperwork I asked to see the dive operation including the rinse tank, the storage (they promised to keep our equipment there everyday), even a picture of the boat. Joel not only showed us the picture but also pointed to the boat which happened to be there to pick up couple of divers. The boats (2 of them while we were there) were big enough and sturdy to withstand the rough conditions and had all the required safety kits and even fresh water (at this point I was salivating).
We filled out the paperwork and started our dives with Scuba-Caribe on Wednesday AM. During the next 4 days we had different dive masters, namely, Fernando, G.J, Karen (a young Brit. Who was very meticulous about safety instructions) and Silvio. They were all excellent. On 4 dives we had the dive master all to ourselves and we never had more than 4 people to a dive master. At 2 occasions there were more than 10 people on the boat, but they had 2 other dive masters to go with them. This allowed us to experience maximum bottom time and enjoy our dives to the fullest.
Of course except once when we picked up a diver from another group and another boat all together. He was lost and he tagged along for about 5 minutes before we found his group in a distance. Although we motioned for him to join his group, but he wouldnt commit and partly it was because of the current. At one point around 40-45 feet and about 30 minutes into our dive, Silvio asked him to show his pressure gauge. It was around 600 psi, came to find out later. Well being responsible divers we all ended our dive at that point. The lost diver had problem staying at 15 feet for his safety stop. At one point he approached my wife and grabbed her computer and pressure hose. My guess was that he didnt have a computer or a time piece. I swam toward him and took the hose out of his hand. That could have been potentially dangerous, what he did and what my reaction was, but at that point he surfaced. He immediately swam toward a fishing boat and got a ride with them back to his resort. We got picked up by our boat and that was our adventure for the day.
Our experience with Scuba-Caribe was very positive. We got to meet a young lady from Canada named Mary. She was part of the operation and very pleasant and helpful. She tried to sell us a snorkeling with the whale shark package that she claimed nobody else offers, but we were not interested.
Everyday the young hands at the dive operation would take our equipment, rinse and dry them for the next day. A little gratuity would go a long way toward a nice dive experience. We never waited more than a few minutes on the surface to be picked up and the deck hand was very helpful in getting the tanks setup. I recommend this dive operation and I will dive with them again.
Part 1:
My wife and I just spent a week in PDC and here is my trip report. But first let me pre-qualify my report by stating that I am a recreational diver to the true sense. I consider diving to be a relaxing activity and I am willing to put up with certain conditions in order to enjoy it. Anything short of laborious and out of ordinary is OK by me and safety is paramount in my list of criterion. I realize my views and my judgment may be different than others and by no means my comments are meant to be derogatory and should only be viewed as just one opinion.
Having said that, before my trip I looked around, including on this board, for a reputable dive operation in PDC. It seemed that the general consensus was to dive with Jason. So I contacted him via Email before my trip and told him that I would be interested in having 2 dives per day for 4 or 5 days plus a checkout shallow dive on the first day. He was very responsive and after exchanging a few Emails we set the first dive to be on Monday the day after I arrived at PDC. Just to have a backup plan I also contacted Scuba Caribe, the onsite dive operation at RIU Palace Rivera Maya where I was staying. At Scuba Caribe, Paula was my contact and she was also as responsive in returning my Emails and giving as much information as she could.
Jason had asked for a 25% deposit and when I told him that I didnt have a Paypal account, we agreed that I would settle whatever charges there is when I make my dives.
As luck would have it I caught the tail end of the last hurricane (tropical storm by the time I got there). So there was no diving activity on that Sunday or Monday when I was supposed to have my checkout dive. Each of those days I would call Jason and he would inform me as to the condition and whether there was any diving activity or not.
On Tuesday morning I called him again and he said the pool was open. So my wife and I took out all of our equipment and got on a taxi ($5 ride) to Cali 2 and Beach where Jason said he would be. Sure enough when we got there, Jason was waiting for us. At first we were kind of surprised since Jasons operation consists of a no bigger than a 10X10 shack on the street. Since we had arrived in our street cloths (I normally dont wear my 3 mm in taxis) we had to change to our diving suit right there on the street. But we decided that surely diving with Jason would compensate for lack of a place to change. Another minor technicality was that we either had to use the facilities in the restaurant across the street or the vast waters of PDC on our climb up the boat. We chose the Waters of PDC after one look at the facilities at the restaurant. While we were changing, standing on the street corner, Jason introduced Martin, our dive master. Martin was a hired hand from another dive operation at PDC. Jason at that point informed us that he had a head cold and he wasnt going to dive for a few days. Also, the first word out of Martins mouth was I dont speak very good English. Well that didnt bother us because we were there to dive and not to carry a conversation. But the fact that Jason couldnt dive was disappointing since we were looking forward to benefiting from his expertise. We presented our C cards to Jason and he didnt ask us to fill out any papers or waiver of liability documents. I know the inherent risks of diving but it was interesting that Jason would let us dive without us acknowledging these risks.
At this point another group that had just come back from a Cenote trip was back and the dive master in that group asked Jason to take a member of that group and send him with us (me and my wife and Martin). Jason told me that this new member was not certified and he wouldnt make the first dive with us which would have been beyond the resort certification diving limit of 30-40 feet. It wasnt like we had a choice, so we agreed and headed toward the beach to get on the boat.
Much to my dismay the boat was not what I had expected and it turned out to be a small boat with room for about 4-6 divers. A short climb into the boat using a 3 step ladder after getting in about waist deep water and we were off to the famous Tortuga. Needless to say the ride was very rough. The waves and swells were still rough and this small boat was not very comfortable to say the least. To be honest I dont think this boat had any first aid kit and you can forget about the oxygen tank. At least we were not told that it was equipped with it.
The instructions given by Martin as you might imagine was short, but what we got out of it was that at 1000 psi we would call it the end of the dive. My wife and I were expecting to dive our computer limits. Much to our surprise the third diver suited too and got ready to dive with us. A back flip and off we went. The dive site was nice and we got to see 6 turtles and a school of at least 50 tarpons while we were at the safety stop. But before that we watched the third diver go up and down and up and down and sure enough after about 20 minutes we came to the famous pre-agreed 1000 psi. At that point both my wife and I had about 1800 each. But that was the end of the dive for us. So, in the rough waters we climbed back into the boat and it was then that I had the worst nightmare of my life by throwing up everything I had consumed for the past 2 years. All along the boat is heading for the second dive site while my head was hanging from the side of the boat and at every wave there would be a jump of a few feet up in the air and the landing that my bottom will remember for years.
I decided to halt my diving activity for the day and call it quits. But Martin was very surprised of my decision he wanted to go on. He asked if I could sit in the boat while they completed their second dive, to which I emphatically replied no. He asked if my wife wanted to go on, to which she also emphatically replied no. So Martin brought us back to the beach where we started this adventure.
Back at the shack, Jason was concerned about my condition and showed genuine interest and for that instead of charging me $150 for 2 people for 2 dives he gave me a $30 discount and just charged me $120. While we were changing, we got to talk to him again and I asked him about the third diver who was not supposed to dive the first dive and he said he had to ask Martin about that. We got to talking more and Jason told us about his big dreams and how he intends to do more at PDC. Good luck to Jason and his plans.
While we were talking I looked around looking for a rinse tank to rinse my equipment, since in our Emails we had discussed that there was one. At this point Jasons partner brought what looked like a 10 gallon bucket and started filling it with water and that was supposed to be our rinse tank. I decided to forgo that function and rinse my stuff when I get back to the hotel. So, without the benefit of diving with Jason, we were left very disappointed with the rest of what happened. This concludes part 1 of my trip report. In part 2 I will go over my experience with Scuba Caribe, the dive operation at RIU Rivera Maya.
Part 2:
When we got back to the hotel I went to the onsite dive operation. I talked to the manager; a nice guy named Joel, and presented my Email trail with Paula. Joel honored the price that Paula had set for us and I thought that it was a good deal. We paid $586 for 4 days of 2 tank diving for 2 people. We got that price because we agreed to dive 4 days as we had planned.
But before signing the paperwork I asked to see the dive operation including the rinse tank, the storage (they promised to keep our equipment there everyday), even a picture of the boat. Joel not only showed us the picture but also pointed to the boat which happened to be there to pick up couple of divers. The boats (2 of them while we were there) were big enough and sturdy to withstand the rough conditions and had all the required safety kits and even fresh water (at this point I was salivating).
We filled out the paperwork and started our dives with Scuba-Caribe on Wednesday AM. During the next 4 days we had different dive masters, namely, Fernando, G.J, Karen (a young Brit. Who was very meticulous about safety instructions) and Silvio. They were all excellent. On 4 dives we had the dive master all to ourselves and we never had more than 4 people to a dive master. At 2 occasions there were more than 10 people on the boat, but they had 2 other dive masters to go with them. This allowed us to experience maximum bottom time and enjoy our dives to the fullest.
Of course except once when we picked up a diver from another group and another boat all together. He was lost and he tagged along for about 5 minutes before we found his group in a distance. Although we motioned for him to join his group, but he wouldnt commit and partly it was because of the current. At one point around 40-45 feet and about 30 minutes into our dive, Silvio asked him to show his pressure gauge. It was around 600 psi, came to find out later. Well being responsible divers we all ended our dive at that point. The lost diver had problem staying at 15 feet for his safety stop. At one point he approached my wife and grabbed her computer and pressure hose. My guess was that he didnt have a computer or a time piece. I swam toward him and took the hose out of his hand. That could have been potentially dangerous, what he did and what my reaction was, but at that point he surfaced. He immediately swam toward a fishing boat and got a ride with them back to his resort. We got picked up by our boat and that was our adventure for the day.
Our experience with Scuba-Caribe was very positive. We got to meet a young lady from Canada named Mary. She was part of the operation and very pleasant and helpful. She tried to sell us a snorkeling with the whale shark package that she claimed nobody else offers, but we were not interested.
Everyday the young hands at the dive operation would take our equipment, rinse and dry them for the next day. A little gratuity would go a long way toward a nice dive experience. We never waited more than a few minutes on the surface to be picked up and the deck hand was very helpful in getting the tanks setup. I recommend this dive operation and I will dive with them again.
