Pier Fees

[smichels]

I had to pick up a snorkel group yesterday that was staying at the Park Royal. The Park Royal doesn't have a pier of their own, so they use AquaWorld's pier. I was used to their $2 per person pier fee they used to charge (they also had a weekly fee, but I forget what it was). However, yesterday my snorkelers were charged $8 per person to get on our boat. I was told that the fee is $8 per person for one day or a week. Be advised that it would be cheaper, especially for a decent sized group, to grab a cab to the marina if you're only going to be using their pier for a day. Crazy. $56 just for the group to use the pier for one day.

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

Piers cost a lot of money to build and maintain. Eight dollars seems fair for a week, but not for a day. Aqua World offers a full line of aquatic activities and I can see how they wouldn't be excited about their competitors using their property.

That said, they are the "in house" water activity vendor at the PR. They have advertising in every room and on every table in the hotel. PR staff pushes their services. For that privilege (along with a constant flow of customers), PR should have negotiated free use of the pier for their guests. My issue is with PR not Aqua World.

 

[Brules]

That sucks....I use the AW pier when I stay at the PR - never heard of the $8 per day. I woulda handed the guy a $20 and said call the cops if you disagree lol.

 

[Christi]

Piers cost a lot of money to build and maintain. Eight dollars seems fair for a week, but not for a day. Aqua World offers a full line of aquatic activities and I can see how they wouldn't be excited about their competitors using their property.

That said, they are the "in house" water activity vendor at the PR. They have advertising in every room and on every table in the hotel. PR staff pushes their services. For that privilege (along with a constant flow of customers), PR should have negotiated free use of the pier for their guests. My issue is with PR not Aqua World.

Excellent point and one I have argued time and time again for the hotels who do not offer complimentary pier usage to their guests.

 

[cvchief]

The worst is still Iberostar. The charge the op and the method hurts smaller ops more than larger. I won't repeat it, but you should be able to search my rant. Email them and tell them that is why you won't stay there!!

 

[ronscuba]

As a consumer, but also a small business owner, I am kind of torn on the issue of pier fees.

Costs to build and maintain, supporting the onsite business, diving with whatever operator your want, etc.. While the resort is not a small business, my business experience makes me aware of costs that many consumers totally ignore.

For me it comes down to what is my priority and options. Do I have a strong preference for a particular hotel/resort or dive operator ? If so, I'll choose accordingly.

If the dive operator is my priority, I will inquire with them before I choose my hotel/resort.

 

[cvchief]

I can swim off the pier at Ibero who I am paying for the use of the facilities but I can't step onto a boat? BS And they charge on subscription basis, so that hurts the little op. AND that could eventual change the face of coz diving if it caught on.

Of course if i was using a pier that wasn't part of my hotel OR even if they charged a per use fee, that is different.

 

[ronscuba]

The whole hotel and resort industry has changed with added "resort fees". Extra charges for stuff that used to be included. The internet and pricing comparison shopping is to blame for that.

You search online for hotels and sorting by price is frequently done for comparisons. To stay competitive, many hotels and resorts lowered their room rates, but added a "resort fee" to use what I consider normal hotel facilities.

Cozumel has many many diver operators. Some have created a little niche catering to divers who want certain unique things that the standard operators don't offer. Kind of along the lines of a "boutique" hotel. I think these operators will be fine as evidenced by their loyal following here on scubaboard.

 

[cvchief]

I think these operators will be fine as evidenced by their loyal following here on scubaboard.

I think if every hotel required the dive op to pay say $100 a week subscription and a dive op had to pick up at 4 hotels, that would be an additional 400 in cost. If there were only 4 divers, then the op would have to increase their fee by $100 to those each of those divers or increase the overall cost per diving spreading the cost among all the divers. Of course if you we DP or someone larger, your volume would spread the cost further. This would result in an even larger price difference between larger economy ops and the boutiques, which assuredly would drive more business to the big ops.

That is the way I see it, unless you think economics won't enter into it. Thankfully, the Ibero model seem to have not caught on. The charge per diver method for dock use is much more straight forward and can be passed directly to the diver. Ibero's method is to not *look* like they are screwing over their guest, but rather hide it in the subscription model making the op figure out what to do about the additional cost.


Last I heard, Dave at Aldora refused to pay Iberostar and has divers there wade out to the boat. Good for him!!

 

[ronscuba]

My preference is to stay in town and dive with a boutique operator. If for some reason I had to stay at one of of the southern all inclusives because let's say I was part of a group trip, I would consider diving with the house operator, just out of convenience and social aspects.

Theoretically, the law of supply and demand should even things out. Boutique operators will cater to the consumer who is willing to pay and the bar for satisfactory service from the standard operators will rise to meet the demands of customers. If prices rise to the point that divers object, a cheaper operator will arise to meet that demand.

Might sound idealistic, but for Cozumel, there is no shortage of dive operators and consumers have several choices of operators that will meet their needs.

From what I read, the house operators at resorts are now offering dives/groups intended for more experienced divers. That did not happen by coincidence.

So what are consumers to do ? Prioritize. What is most important to you ? Boutique operator because they meet your needs, support the smaller operators, standard operator because they are good enough ? I like boutique operators because of their unique services, but I also like supporting a smaller operation.