Ken abucs
Contributor
We just got back from Jamaica last week. I wanted to post sooner, but I was so upset I needed to cool down a little first. The boat is great, it can carry 34 divers for a 2 tank trip, after that its all down hill.
We did manage to have some good dives, but due to the bad weather we only got in 6 dives in an 9 day stay. The problem is all the dive sites are close to land, so when it rains, the silt from the rivers drops the visibility to zero. There are very few fish left, I assume this is because of all the fish traps we saw while diving.
o The brochure highlights unlimited scuba. It also states that everyone can dive twice daily. The limits to scuba are numerous:
- There is no diving on Sunday.
- Divers who take the resort course can only dive once a day.
- They only take 15 divers at the 9:00 dive and 8 divers for the 11:00 dive.
- The 11:00 dive is primarily a training dive for the resort course students, it barely counts as a dive for certified divers.
o When I asked about better dive sites I was told you had to purchase a private dive to get there.
o Scheduling golf and scuba was a major hassle. The water sports schedule is not compatible with the golf bus schedule You need to be at water sports at 8:30 to sign up for scuba the next day, but the last early morning bus for golf leaves at 8:00 so if you want to golf today, and dive tomorrow, you are SOL.
o The regulators are not in acceptable condition.
- Some had evidence of salt water in the 1st stage.
- Most of the hoses had cracks on the outer covering. While this in and of itself does not indicate imminent failure, it exposes the core to sea water. If it were my gear the hoses would be replaced.
- The seats on some of the regulators were so beat up that some couldnt make a leak free seal with the tank.
o Some of the tank valves leaked, again indicating poor maintenance.
o The tanks were improperly filled from 2800 to 3500 PSI. At least 1 tank only had 1500 PSI this could create an out of air situation for an inattentive diver.
o The dive staff didnt use a sign in/out system, just a very informal head count.
o The dive staff didnt enforce or even encourage dive buddies, They said were all diving as a group, so every one is your buddy!?!?
We did manage to have some good dives, but due to the bad weather we only got in 6 dives in an 9 day stay. The problem is all the dive sites are close to land, so when it rains, the silt from the rivers drops the visibility to zero. There are very few fish left, I assume this is because of all the fish traps we saw while diving.
o The brochure highlights unlimited scuba. It also states that everyone can dive twice daily. The limits to scuba are numerous:
- There is no diving on Sunday.
- Divers who take the resort course can only dive once a day.
- They only take 15 divers at the 9:00 dive and 8 divers for the 11:00 dive.
- The 11:00 dive is primarily a training dive for the resort course students, it barely counts as a dive for certified divers.
o When I asked about better dive sites I was told you had to purchase a private dive to get there.
o Scheduling golf and scuba was a major hassle. The water sports schedule is not compatible with the golf bus schedule You need to be at water sports at 8:30 to sign up for scuba the next day, but the last early morning bus for golf leaves at 8:00 so if you want to golf today, and dive tomorrow, you are SOL.
o The regulators are not in acceptable condition.
- Some had evidence of salt water in the 1st stage.
- Most of the hoses had cracks on the outer covering. While this in and of itself does not indicate imminent failure, it exposes the core to sea water. If it were my gear the hoses would be replaced.
- The seats on some of the regulators were so beat up that some couldnt make a leak free seal with the tank.
o Some of the tank valves leaked, again indicating poor maintenance.
o The tanks were improperly filled from 2800 to 3500 PSI. At least 1 tank only had 1500 PSI this could create an out of air situation for an inattentive diver.
o The dive staff didnt use a sign in/out system, just a very informal head count.
o The dive staff didnt enforce or even encourage dive buddies, They said were all diving as a group, so every one is your buddy!?!?