Used to be one of the best dive centers in Playa del Carmen

[pegecam]

For over 12 years, I'd been diving with Tank-Ha Dive Center in Playa del Carmen because of their focus on fun and safe diving, their attitude toward respecting the underwater environment and their knowledgeable staff.

Since the original owners sold the shop a few years ago and the resulting departure of the core instructor staff, I've noticed changes in Tank-Ha's attitude toward safety, responsibility, and respect for the environment. When the new owners took over, it was minor stuff that I could live with. However, things I've seen during the last few trips have changed my mind about diving with them in the future.

I was not impressed by the following...
* on a 70 ft. dive, a young diver (about 12 y.o.) and his father both ran out of air at depth. It is the responsibility of each diver to monitor his air supply, but usually guides take more care when kids are in the group. On this dive, the guide did not pay any attention to the group, even to check to see how everyone was.
* on a shallow dive of 50 ft., a diver indicated to the guide that she was low on air and was ignored by the guide to whom she had shown her pressure gauge. The diver was inexperienced and very unhappy that the guide did not respond to her in any way. He just continued the dive until she approached him again a few minutes later. A complaint was made to an instructor, but not sure what happened as a result.
* Guides pushing the sales of afternoon shark dives at 80-90 ft. to divers who had done cenote (shallow) dives in the morning. Selling took place during the cenote trip so divers could dive the deeper dive on their return from these shallow dives. I realize that diving a reverse profile does not necessarily cause DCS; however I've never seen dive professionals advocating such dives.
* while planning a return trip to Playa del Carmen, a fellow diver recently came across a disturbing photo on the facebook page of a Tank-Ha employee (see below). It is disheartening to know that dive professionals who are supposed to be guardians for the underwater world are choosing to act in such a disgraceful and disrespectful manner. Even I know as an open water diver that one NEVER touches anything in the cenotes, never mind spelling out words or names with stalactite/stalagmite pieces.

I have some very fond memories of diving with the "original" Tank-Ha. It was a dive center with employees who really cared about their divers' total dive experience and earned my trust and respect. It saddens me that this is no longer the case and I no longer feel comfortable diving with this company.

 

[flots am]

I was not impressed by the following...
* on a 70 ft. dive, a young diver (about 12 y.o.) and his father both ran out of air at depth. It is the responsibility of each diver to monitor his air supply, but usually guides take more care when kids are in the group. On this dive, the guide did not pay any attention to the group, even to check to see how everyone was.

Good for the guide! As long as this was communicated before the dive, he's doing a huge service to the SCUBA community to stop "trust me" dives.

What father would take his 12yo on a 70 dive, and then not watch his tank pressure? The father should know more than anybody that a 12yo can't be trusted in life-threatening conditions.

* on a shallow dive of 50 ft., a diver indicated to the guide that she was low on air and was ignored by the guide to whom she had shown her pressure gauge. The diver was inexperienced and very unhappy that the guide did not respond to her in any way. He just continued the dive until she approached him again a few minutes later. A complaint was made to an instructor, but not sure what happened as a result.

This happens all the time. It's another good reason to not go diving if you can't be responsible for yourself.

Inexperienced divers should be offered dives that are appropriate for their skill level. If the island has no such dives, the diver should be informed of this fact.

* Guides pushing the sales of afternoon shark dives at 80-90 ft. to divers who had done cenote (shallow) dives in the morning. Selling took place during the cenote trip so divers could dive the deeper dive on their return from these shallow dives. I realize that diving a reverse profile does not necessarily cause DCS; however I've never seen dive professionals advocating such dives.

Again, personal responsibility. There are also people selling coke (not the bottled kind). It's up to the diver to decde whether something is a dumb idea or not.

You can rent a scooter in Cozumel, and AFAIK, scooters kill more people than the gangs.

 

[toddthecat]

I totally agree with flots on all three things.

-Sounds like the the father/son duo was paying zero attention. The guide is there to guide the dive, not to be reviewing skills that should certified divers should already know. That's why scuba review exists.

-The woman asking the guide what to do when low on air......I'll just withhold the majority of my opinion, liken it to someone nearly running out of fuel in their vehicle, and then wondering, "Wow...what do I do now?!?!?!". Darwin Award candidate.

-If someone wants to do a reverse diving profile then that's their decision. Of course, we are apparently talking about people who pay no attention to their air and don't know that it's a good idea to surface from a dive when you're low on air. I can't imagine such people would be able to comprehend diving profiles.

As I mentioned: Scuba review is to review skills and comprehension. Going on a normal dive is to go on a dive while being guided by someone knowledgeable of the site who can point out interesting things and try to keep the group as cohesive as possible. Divers are responsible for maintaining their air supply, which is a fancy way of saying 'check your SPG regularly'. If someone can't do that, they shouldn't be diving. If someone WON'T do that, then they'll get a reality check when they experience an OOA.

 

[nimoh]

* Guides pushing the sales of afternoon shark dives at 80-90 ft. to divers who had done cenote (shallow) dives in the morning. Selling took place during the cenote trip so divers could dive the deeper dive on their return from these shallow dives. I realize that diving a reverse profile does not necessarily cause DCS; however I've never seen dive professionals advocating such dives.

Cenote in the morning, ocean in the afternoon?

I would hardly call this a reverse profile dive, but rather two dives, since the likely scenario is:

1. finish diving the Cenote
2. tear down gear
3. drive back to the shop
4. grab some lunch
5. set up gear
6. go for a boat ride
7. start diving

This makes for about a 3 hour surface interval after a 30 foot dive

 

[drrich2]

Despite the flack 'trust me' dives get on this forum, to some extent there is a necessary component of that for many vacation divers. And even regular divers vacationing in unfamiliar terrain.

1.) The dive guide is familiar with the underwater topography and a route to conduct the dive in a time-efficient manner, arriving back at the boat.

2.) The overwhelming majority of their customers are not. Nor is there any credible expectation that situation awareness and navigation skills are going to take an across-the-board quantum leap anytime soon (or likely ever) to change any of that. No dive brief however well done changes this.

3.) I agree divers should monitor their own gas supply, and as this runs lower, communicate this info. to the dive guide, who can then react - perhaps by bringing the dive to a conclusion/working the group's way back to the boat, or signaling the diver & buddy to ascend as a pair, etc...

4.) If the diver is with an instabuddy and needs to go up unusually early, it can be a confusing problem. Different instabuddies behave very differently. Some are 'same day, same ocean.' Some may stick to you like glue. Some stick to the dive guide, and assume you do, too, and will let them know if you have a problem. An inexperienced diver might not know all this or what to do about it. Also, the dive guide may know the group is nearly back at the boat; the diver low on air may not be so sure. A dive low on air who decided to be independent and went up without letting the dive guide know, on the other hand, could create a scare when the guide realizes somebody is missing. Plus, if the boat wasn't expecting it and there was no SMB, this could be a problem for the whole group.

In summary, while every certified diver ought to be monitoring their own gas supply, depth and be mindful of NDL limits where such is apt to be a concern, I think it does behove guides leading vacation diver groups on guided dives to occasionally look back, and if a customer expresses concern about low air, then give some guidance.

Most guides I've followed do, later in the dive, inquire of divers about their gas supply. Not because they have to, but as a backup assurance to avoid out of air situations.

Richard.

 

[Diver0001]

I have some very fond memories of diving with the "original" Tank-Ha. It was a dive center with employees who really cared about their divers' total dive experience and earned my trust and respect. It saddens me that this is no longer the case and I no longer feel comfortable diving with this company.

I dove with Tank-Ha when I was there about 14 years ago. At the time they seemed like pretty much every other Mexican operator in the area. Competent, enthusiastic, efficient with a young entertaining staff. They took us to good sites and we had a good time.

I haven't been diving in the Yucatan since then but I've been thinking about going back. The thing that stops me isn't the fear of not finding a good operator to dive with. It's the memory of how horrible Cancun and Playa del Carmen were. Crowded with a lot of impatient loud (sorry for this) American tourists with more money than manners (I said sorry, didn't I?). Compared to a lot of places I've traveled, even within Mexico, it felt like walking around in the middle of a cattle drive. The effect was most pronounced in Playa del Carmen becuase it only had one main street and everyone just seemed to walk back and forth.

The up side was that we found a name for my daughter. My wife was pregnant at the time. My daughter's name is Carmen

Back on topic: has that "horrible crowds" thing changed at all since 1999?

R..

 

[Wookie]

Crowded with a lot of impatient loud (sorry for this) American tourists with more money than manners (I said sorry, didn't I?).
R..

Why should you be sorry. We exported them. It's about our only export any more. Ugly Americans.

 

[Mike]

I haven't been diving in the Yucatan since then but I've been thinking about going back. The thing that stops me isn't the fear of not finding a good operator to dive with. It's the memory of how horrible Cancun and Playa del Carmen were. Crowded with a lot of impatient loud (sorry for this) American tourists with more money than manners (I said sorry, didn't I?). Compared to a lot of places I've traveled, even within Mexico, it felt like walking around in the middle of a cattle drive. The effect was most pronounced in Playa del Carmen becuase it only had one main street and everyone just seemed to walk back and forth.

Back on topic: has that "horrible crowds" thing changed at all since 1999?

R..

Boy that's a tough question to answer, especially to somebody who's home country has a population density almost 20 times higher than Mexico, but I guess it really depends on the location. PDC and Cancun are the two biggest tourist areas in the Yucatan, I think you'll only find they seem even more crowded 14 years later. You definitely will not recognize PDC, it's grown tremendously and there is certainly now more than just 1 street along the water front that is developed.

 

[islanddream]

Go to Cozumel. The diving is far superior to PDC and Cancun. We've done all three places and now only go to Coz unless we want to dive the cenotes. But the cenotes are just a one-day trip. Is Coz crowded....yes, when the cruise ships are in harbor. When they're not around it's much more quiet. However, we really aren't bothered by the cruisers. We dive, dive, dive, eat, sleep, and dive some more!

 

[TSandM]

Go down to Tulum. It's still pleasant.

The scene with the name spelled out in fallen speleothems is disgraceful.