Trip Review: Tres Pelicanos (3Ps) & Casa Mexicana

[Snoweman]

Nice review and great pics. My DM choices are Julio and Edgar. I'll chime in as well that Julio can find stuff.

I've gotten the impression that Jorge likes to take people deep to get them to blow through their air faster.

 

[AdivingBel]

I've gotten the impression that Jorge likes to take people deep to get them to blow through their air faster.

Sorry to come off rude, but that's nonsense. Jorge is usually on the boat with the most experienced divers, so he doesn't worry to much about depth or gas usage (That doesn't mean he's not safe. He just "dives" the dive). With Jorge I get long dives and am always able to dive my tank. He's not a "nanny DM," but is always available if you need something. He generally let's you do your own thing which I and those I dive with prefer. 3P usually does a good job sorting "like" divers on their boats. Maybe you would do better on a different boat which I'm sure they would have been happy to arrange for you. Nice thing about Coz is there are a lot of choices and you can usually find what works best for you. You're welcome to your opinions, but please don't cast negative aspersions without actual facts (or situational knowledge/experience). Safe diving .

 

[Snoweman]

Sorry to come off rude, but that's nonsense. Jorge is usually on the boat with the most experienced divers, so he doesn't worry to much about depth or gas usage (That doesn't mean he's not safe. He just "dives" the dive). With Jorge I get long dives and am always able to dive my tank. He's not a "nanny DM," but is always available if you need something. He generally let's you do your own thing which I and those I dive with prefer. 3P usually does a good job sorting "like" divers on their boats. Maybe you would do better on a different boat which I'm sure they would have been happy to arrange for you. Nice thing about Coz is there are a lot of choices and you can usually find what works best for you. You're welcome to your opinions, but please don't cast negative aspersions without actual facts.

Here's an actual fact: I told Jorge that I didn't want to go below 80' He took me to a swim through that had me coming out at 107'. When I talked to him about it on the boat, his response was, "That's my fault?!"

 

[AdivingBel]

Was he hired as your private DM? If not, don't go through the swim through and/or don't dive below your comfort depth. Follow the group bubbles. Experienced divers know this. If he was hired as your private DM then 3Ps/Jorge messed up. He should have done as you requested. Jorge is generally going to show you what he thinks is the best part of the dive and he does like swim throughs. That doesn't mean he was intentionally trying to shorten your dive (i.e. rip you off).

 

[ggunn]

Here's an actual fact: I told Jorge that I didn't want to go below 80' He took me to a swim through that had me coming out at 107'. When I talked to him about it on the boat, his response was, "That's my fault?!"

Were you the only diver on the boat? That sounds like it might have been Punta Sur Cathedral; if it was, that swimthrough is pretty much the point of that dive. You always have the option to go around/over swimthroughs.

 

[Snoweman]

Were you the only diver on the boat? That sounds like it might have been Punta Sur Cathedral; if it was, that swimthrough is pretty much the point of that dive. You always have the option to go around/over swimthroughs.

If I remember correctly, there were six of us on the boat. Two regular customers that went and did their own thing. The other three were a family with OW certification only - maybe the son had just gotten his AOW, but the folks were recently certified. So, he was already taking these people below their cert limits (don't worry...., I know this is common in Coz). He motioned for us to follow him. I have already posted in another thread that I take responsibility for my actions. After I got through, I went up to 60' and hung out there. He stayed deep with the family. I just got the feeling that he didn't want to be in the water for an afternoon dive any longer than he had to be. I don't consider it to be "ripping off" anyone. I prefer Julio and Edgar. I think they are much more interested in finding cool stuff to look at during the dive. I didn't see Jorge pointing out anything to the family, but I could have missed some during their deep swim-throughs. I also thought his response to me on the surface was a bit cavalier.

 

[gopbroek]

Having dove with Jorge many times (maybe 400 dives) I heard his standard briefing for Punta Sir Cathedral many times. Normally the drop will be below and inboard of the first coral head and he warns people to stay shallow as we cross over to conserve air since there is nothing but deep sand intially. He also typically warns people that many of the swim throughs are deep and to stay higher if you are not comfortable with the deeper depth. Finally he always warns people to 'not follow Gary, he is an idiot'.
I typically get about 55 - 60 minutes out of the dive.

 

[ggunn]

... I just got the feeling that he didn't want to be in the water for an afternoon dive any longer than he had to be.

Two things about that. One, the fact that you "just got the feeling" isn't really indicatory of anything, and two, If he dove in the morning his dive profile on an afternoon dive might be affected. I dove with Jorge many times when he was with Blue Angel and I never knew him to short change me on a dive in any way. Your description of the dive makes my point, though; if the rest of his customers wanted to go through the Cathedral (that swimthrough for which the dive is named, if that's where you were), that's where he would go.

 

[AdivingBel]

@Snoweman, after reading your post, if Jorge wasn't your private DM, then you were on the wrong boat. If you made your special request known at the shop, then Pony messed up or there was a scheduling issue. If you didn't make your request until you were on the water, then Jorge's hands were pretty much tied as he had the rest of the boat to consider. At that point it was on you not to exceed your personal limits or comfort. LOL...I can pretty much see Jorge's face during your post dive conversation and quite frankly I agree with him and don't find it cavalier at all given the circumstances. Accusing him of shortening your dive on purpose comes off as pretty "entitled," IMHO. I don't intend to be mean, but I don't appreciate those kinds of public accusations. That said you are certainly welcome to your opinions. Also, I agree with you that Edgar and Julio are fine DMs.

BTW, in this part of the world there is no cert limit for OW beyond staying above established recreational depth. Those are training dive limits you're referring to. The fact that you quoted those in your post tells me you don't seem to pay much attention while posting on SB or well...I'm not going there. Anyway, dive safely and have fun. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[Snoweman]

@Snoweman, after reading your post, if Jorge wasn't your private DM, then you were on the wrong boat. If you made your special request known at the shop, then Pony messed up or there was a scheduling issue. If you didn't make your request until you were on the water, then Jorge's hands were pretty much tied as he had the rest of the boat to consider. At that point it was on you not to exceed your personal limits or comfort. LOL...I can pretty much see Jorge's face during your post dive conversation and quite frankly I agree with him and don't find it cavalier at all given the circumstances. Accusing him of shortening your dive on purpose comes off as pretty "entitled," IMHO. I don't intend to be mean, but I don't appreciate those kinds of public accusations. That said you are certainly welcome to your opinions.

BTW, in this part of the world there is no cert limit for OW beyond staying above established recreational depth. Those are training dive limits you're referring to. The fact that you quoted those in your post tells me you don't seem to pay much attention while posting on SB or well...I'm not going there. Anyway, dive safely and have fun. All IMHO, YMMV.

You have read a lot into my posts that I didn't say or imply. First, in my last post, I said it was an afternoon dive. There was no messing up, as there was only one boat going out. I also mentioned that the others were less experienced than me and really didn't have the cert to go as deep as he was encouraging everyone to go. Second, I never said his intention was to "rip us off". That is your interpretation. I don't look at it that way. Taking people deep is just a different experience. Third, I did not accuse him of ripping me off or trying to shorten the dive in my confrontation. I simply told him I didn't appreciate being motioned to go through a deep swim-through when I told him before the dive I didn't want to go below 80'.

Like I said in my first reply, I said it was my impression. You replied that I shouldn't cast aspersions without personal experience. I have it.

PADI states that OW divers should limit their dives to 60'. It's part of the training in AOW to go below that depth. I'm not a lawyer, but my rescue diver instructor was a little annoyed when I told him my OW cert dive and subsequent dive went to around 89'. He told me the shop (and instructor) was lucky that nothing happened, as they would have been liable for any injuries that could have occurred. I don't know if this would be the case in Mexico.