Secrets Pier Fee

[Shawn C]

Resorts built the dock for their guests and their businesses to use. If an outside dive ops wants to use the dock, even if the guests are staying there what is wrong with paying a "docking" fee given one of the businesses is a dive op?

If the resort did not have its own in house dive op then the griping would be justified but that is not case. So again the griping reeks of entitlement at worst or failing to understanding a business investment at best.

A dock is required part of doing business for a large beach resort. They would lose half, or more, of their bookings without one. A good business model builds hard costs into the plan and charges AI fees accordingly. Charging dock fees for non guests is one thing but I was one of their guests. I paid to use the dock as part of my all inclusive fees. To then to be asked to pay a fee, per person per day if I choose to board any other vessel other than the in house dive op (what if I want to go sailing?) and that my fee would be the same as someone who wasn't a guest.... Well, I hope you start to see the obvious problem. No matter for us, we chose not to return and enjoy our stays far more at FA/Explorean with no dock fees.

 

[Kimela]

Resorts built the dock for their guests and their businesses to use. If an outside dive ops wants to use the dock, even if the guests are staying there what is wrong with paying a "docking" fee given one of the businesses is a dive op?

If the resort did not have its own in house dive op then the griping would be justified but that is not case. So again the griping reeks of entitlement at worst or failing to understanding a business investment at best.

EDIT: Removed my comments. I’d had a heck of a day. I should know better than to respond when I’m already irritated and have no filter. I’m sorry.

 

[Scared Silly]

They aren't charging the other ops, they are charging the guests if they use another op.

Same thing ... if they charged the dive op they would just pass the cost on to the diver.

"We can pickup you at dock XYZ , but there is a dock charge of $ABC, so there is an addition charge to you of $ABC."

I paid to use the dock as part of my all inclusive fees. To then to be asked to pay a fee, per person per day if I choose to board any other vessel other than the in house dive op (what if I want to go sailing?) and that my fee would be the same as someone who wasn't a guest.... Well, I hope you start to see the obvious problem. No matter for us, we chose not to return and enjoy our stays far more at FA/Explorean with no dock fees.

If the resort did not offer sailing and charged you for the sailboat to come to their dock I would complain. That would be an obvious problem. But that is not the case with diving. The resort offers diving so they charge a fee so to encourage you to use their business. That is not an obvious problem.

Regardless, and as you note - don't like it vote with your feet and money. More over let the management know why you will be stay elsewhere the next visit. Further, let the management know why you did not want to use their in house diving facility.

Note: we once stayed at a place that had in house diving. But only morning dives. We wanted to do afternoon dives too. So we used the all inclusive dive op up the road. We did not want to stay at the all inclusive place because it was all inclusive. Both used the same dock and the cost was basically the same. We explained that to the in house folks, which they fully understood our reasoning.

 

[CajunDiva]

Other people have different reasoning from you. Does that make it fair for everyone?

 

[FLturtle]

You could take a cab for about the same amount. It really stinks. The advantage of getting picked up at the pier is that you can take time for a leisurely breakfast before the boat arrives. I’m really irritated about this.

We are booked with them for an upcoming trip and I’m seriously considering trying to change it. Not that they will care. There will be someone behind me, ready to take our room. But they make SO much money on us. We don’t drink alcohol, we eat lunch on the dive boat, and we don’t eat much anyway. We’re the ‘cheapest dates’ around!!! Grrrrrrr.

Kimela another option is to walk up to the concrete pier that is just north of Dreams & have your dive op pick you up there. That is Dive Palancar’s pier & I believe they charge $3 pp to use their pier. There is a walkable path along the shore just North of Dreams lobby. Not sure if you are staying at Dreams or Secrets but it’s not a bad walk even from Secrets.

 

[Kimela]

Kimela another option is to walk up to the concrete pier that is just north of Dreams & have your dive op pick you up there. That is Dive Palancar’s pier & I believe they charge $3 pp to use their pier. There is a walkable path along the shore just North of Dreams lobby. Not sure if you are staying at Dreams or Secrets but it’s not a bad walk even from Secrets.

Thanks! I looked at the map and it’s not obvious where the path is. I guess we’ll take a walk down that way on the day we arrive. This is a wonderful alternative. We rented a house for two weeks in the centro area that was about a mile walk from Cozumel Palace and dove with AquaSafari at the Palace - in August. If we could do that we can walk up to the Palancar Pier.

Thank you so much!

 

[ggunn]

If the resort did not offer sailing and charged you for the sailboat to come to their dock I would complain. That would be an obvious problem.

That is exactly what some of them are doing. I have never stayed at Secrets and I have no plan to, so I cannot speak specifically to their policy details.

 

[Shawn C]

If the resort did not offer sailing and charged you for the sailboat to come to their dock I would complain.

This is exactly what they do, as I said in the post you replied to. It doesn't matter what activity you are using the dock for (fishing included) that the in house dive op doesn't offer any service for - you pay the fee regardless and, to make it even worse, as guest of Sabor/Dreams/Secrets you pay the exact same fee as someone, who is not staying, does.