PADi Cert. Isla Mujeres Question

[joemoberly]

Hello,
my wife and I are on Isla Mujeres for another week and want to try the Discover Scuba program. I found quite a few shops that advertise as PADI certified but when I do a search on the PADI website the shops don't show up. I don't doubt the shops abilities, but I want to start off on the right foot with proper training.
can anyone shed some light on the correlation between the two?
Also, if you know of a shop geared more towards beginneers, recommendations are always welcome!
Thank you for your time and input!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

There may be none at all. Just because a shop does not show up doesn't mean they are not ok. The shop may not be affiliated but the instructors may be. WHat you should do is go in and ask questions. Ask to see the agency's written standards for the discover program and then make sure the shop follows them. IF they do not have them there or say they can't show them to you, go somewhere else. There is no reason for you not to know what you should be getting.

And read the stickies in this forum on "How to find a Good Scuba Class" and the thread titled "Who is Responsible for What?"

 

[diversteve]

The only two I found on the Padi website - both offer the Discover Dive/Resort Course option:

Scuba Dive Isla Mujeres - Courses
Dive isla Mujeres with Squaloadventures :

Maybe someone can comment on either of them. I think I'd go with the first one as they seem to offer a 2nd o/w dive as part of it.

 

[Mike]

Hello,
my wife and I are on Isla Mujeres for another week and want to try the Discover Scuba program. I found quite a few shops that advertise as PADI certified but when I do a search on the PADI website the shops don't show up. I don't doubt the shops abilities, but I want to start off on the right foot with proper training.
can anyone shed some light on the correlation between the two?
Also, if you know of a shop geared more towards beginneers, recommendations are always welcome!
Thank you for your time and input!

This is what has been going on there for a long time. It's like a dive shop shell game. Take a close look at those shops signage, I think their padi signs have been passed down or resold over and over again, some of them are so old they are held together with duct tape. Those Padi signs are like treasured family heirlooms that they can't get another one. Those Padi signs are about as legit as a lot of stuff in Mexico take them with an huge grain of salt.

Aqua Adventures is a Padi shop, they are definitely geared toward beginners. They have a store front on Hildago (the main street down the middle of town with all the restaurants on it, not the street by the water) and their dive shop is down on the coast on the side facing Cancun.