staying in iberostar : using onsite op vs other boutique op ?

[ggunn]

The other complaint about Iberostar was that they served shark in Tunisia.

Attention Shark Lovers – Why You Should Boycott Iberostar Hotels and Resorts.

If a ftype of fish is not endangered from overfishing, why should serving them up as food trigger a boycott?

 

[lionfish-eater]

I didn't say it should, just reporting what is in the news.
Also, lots of businesses employ foreign labor.

 

[AZjohn]

....And if you drift near the realm of DIR, forget it. Thou shalt wear thy bungee-mounted computer on thy left wrist, thou shalt use a bare spg on a 24" hose, a backplate/wing, and paddle fins. Your gear can be any color you want, as long as it's black.

Damn, you caught me off guard with that one and made me spit diet pepsi all over my monitor from laughing spontaneously (lol).

Honestly, always enjoy talking to them as they explain what and why they have specific gear set up. Don't have proof but would think they all take safety very serious which I can appreciate. Learned the same from my dive master.

They for sure look much more professional then me getting ready to jump into the pool. I'm wearing my integrated bcd strapped on my bare skin wearing just a aloha swimming suit and pinching my noise ready to do a back flip

They might have a thought or two about me at first but, likely accept me as I accept them, just divers enjoying life but not doing anything crazy (except my swimsuit color choice).

 

[jonhall]

I will remind readers of the main complaint against them is that they don't use local DM's as has been the tradition in Cozumel and the law in Mexico. I read in the news that the "agency/union" (i don't remember which) that regulates and licences the DM's had a complaint against three operators that use foreign labor. Dressel is one of the three, I don't remember the other two. Maybe someone else does.

First time I have heard of a complaint like this. Must just come from the locals and not the tourists??

I could probably name one of the other two. It seems to me that the dive ops that are the in-house ops for a larger chain of resorts (such as the Iberostar/Dressel Divers) found elsewhere, not just in Mexico, like the Caribbean and around the world are the ones that use foreign labor. The few I've been to employ DM's from many countries who are usually in training or gaining experience before moving on.

 

[kelemvor]

Hi all,

As for an accommodation this time I was looking for a beach resort rather than a hotel in town for hassle-free relaxation, so initially I thought staying in iberostar and diving with dressel (onsite dive op) could be a good combination for me. the best thing about the resort / op I think is that it is very close to interesting dive sites such as Palancar, Columbia, Cedral etc., which are easily accessible just within 5-10 mins boat ride from the resort.

however I have also read a few (a very few!) negative comments regarding dressel ; 1) although they try to keep 8 people max as a group, the op is likely to put lots of divers from affiliated resorts or cruises into a big boat aka a cattle boat 2) so sometimes they might not be able to divide diver groups by level of experience 3) since they come back to the resort after every dive, diving time is limited to 45-50mins. I actually don't like +60mins dive much unlike many divers, so the fact they dive a schedule wouldn't be a problem for me. the other comments on the other hand get me to have a second thought of using the onsite op.

then I have also thought of diving with other boutique operators that keep diver groups small and take care of each diver more thoroughly. but I am not sure how the transportation would be like and how much time it would take from iberostar... would they pick me up from the resort dock and drop me off at marina where a boat departs to dive sites ? or just pick me up on the way out to dive sites ?

does anyone have experience of diving with Dressel cozumel OR staying in iberostar but diving with other operators? I'd appreciate any advice or comments !!

I would stay at a different resort. The Iberostar chain has recently been caught selling tourists tainted alcohol and having other serious problems that could affect customer health. The Iberostar on cozumel so far has not been specifically implicated but more than one Iberostar in Mexico has. Search for information about it on google. Here's a link from time magazine to get you started. When I say "recent" I mean less than one month ago.

10,000 Gallons of Tainted Alcohol Were Seized From Mexican Resorts

 

[Mahidoodi]

I have been staying at Iberostar and diving with Dressel for the past 7 years and I am going there again in October. I also stayed at other resorts in Cozumel before for several years. From my experience during the last stay I had reservations about staying there again but I decided to go back because of Dressel divers. I have always enjoyed diving with them especially back when they had Jake managing the shop and Sofi as the dive master and captain Black running the boat. Things have changed , but their level of service is still great, although I miss Jake and recently Allen, But Scott is still there and that's good. I am hoping to get a better service at Iberostar this time, so we'll see. If you are there during Oct. 11-18 look me up (Mo).