Blue Hole - Amigos Del Mar - Very Poor

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bathbiggles1

Registered
Scuba Instructor
Messages
61
Reaction score
4
Location
Marlow England
# of dives
200 - 499
We travelled to Belize and spent a week or so diving in the second half of our trip.

I had been doing my diving with Pro Dive Belize - who are excellent - but they don't run trips to the Blue Hole very often - so I went with Amigos Del Mar.

They certainly have the best boat on Ambergris for the job - but that's the only thing to recommend them.

The lead Divemaster for the day - a guy called George, has been doing the Blue Hole for years and said he had done it 13 days straight. I am an experienced diver who used to instruct - and I'd say it was time for him to stop!

Him and rest of the crew kept to themselves for the whole trip with lots of 'in jokes' with each other and no interest in the guests. There were also family and friends of the crew on board going snorkelling which just added to the 'us and them' atmosphere. The captain was just a thug who swore and spat most of the time.

George's briefing for the Blue Hole consisted of a quick list of 'don'ts'. But very concerning was his instruction to ignore your dive computers and just follow him. The dive itself was terrible. 10 (mostly novice) divers following him down to 43 meters (140ft) - and some accidentally dropping to nearly 50m before they were spotted. But because very few had computers they would have no idea of their nitrogen profile! I carried a torch because it was pretty black down there - but George certainly never used one if he had one at all.

I buddied a guy who said he was nervous - but he would be because he had only done 11 dives!! He'd never been below 60 feet before. What are they doing taking him on a dive that deep??

The next dive had one of the divers run out of air completely! George couldn't have cared less. He just carried on - leaving the diver to share air with his buddy. Yes - it's the diver's responsibility to look after themselves - but I've never seen a guide behave like this.

The other aspect which was very frustrating was the constant RUSH RUSH RUSH. The crew, and in particular George - just wanted to get home as quickly as they could. A day that was due to finish at 5.00pm - 5.30pm actually got us back on the dock at 3.30pm. Lots of mistakes were made with gear by the Divemasters and I was hit in the eye by a regulator as they rushed to get my BC on and they swung it into my face. Without realising, I was sent into the water bleeding heavily and I did wonder why a couple of sharks showed more interest in me than is usual!!

Despite their flash operation and a big dock, these guys are cowboys and I'll be reporting their numerous safety breaches to PADI.
 
Did you say anything to them? If not, why not? I always wonder why people keep all this stuff to themselves and then post a negative review some time later. It's after the fact and too late to do anything to improve the situation. Odds are the offenders will never even know.

If there's an issue deal with it! I do and I have. Many times. I have no issue with getting right in their faces and telling them what needs to change and change right now.
 
We did the BH with ADM 14 years ago and had a blast...in fact, my daughter got certified by them on that trip....I don't even recall a DM joining us in the BH? Anyway...sorry you had a drag of a time....the second dive was more enjoyable than the BH....
 
Hey Caruso

Be careful not to jump in and judge here.

Yes I did talk to them. I said plenty in fact. This review is a last resort to help others in the future from being put at risk.

I spoke to the lead DM himself and explained my concerns. He was completely dismissive and said he'd been doing it the same way for 20 years.. Couldn't have cared less. The Captain did not speak English.

When we arrived back at the dock there was nobody more senior to speak to.

I then talked it through with the Manager of the dive operation who booked me in with Amigos Del Mar and questioned why they took novice divers to 40m+. He told me he believed that PADI had given them special dispensation - which I highly doubt.

Hope that clears things up!
 
Ok well you certainly tried. I hope you said something when they hit you with the regular something like "WTF man you just nailed me with that reg what's your freaking problem?"
 
It's reviews like this that can give Belize dive operators a bad reputation when it comes to diver safety and the Blue Hole. In addition to reporting your experience to PADI, I recommend that you also report it to the Belize Tourism Board. The BTB adopted the Belize National Code Of Practice For Recreational Scuba Diving Services found here: http://belizetourismboard.org/wp-co...2016_Recreational-Scuba-Diving-Services-1.pdf.

A couple of things come to mind. It sounds like George was more than a little burned out from doing the same trip 13 days in a row. The same is probably true for the crew. There's a big difference between minimally competent service and excellent service. Unfortunately, yours wasn't even minimally competent with all the safety violations going on there. This sounds like a serious accident just waiting to happen. Less serious is the whole "them and us" thing but that shouldn't happen either. This is a people oriented service industry. The best at it are the ones who can engage with their customers. A little conversation goes a long way.
 
I've been on that trip dozen or more times and have never experienced what you have. Terrible day for you.

I have no idea how it is physically possible to return to San Pedro by 3:30. Must have had quite the tailwind.

You can report them to PADI if you want to but PADI and Amigos parted company a few years ago.

I too find it unfortunate that they take new divers into the Blue Hole. As for ignoring your computer, well, that is a bit disconcerting I know but I also know why they tell folk that. Sure, it might make more sense if they have theory of decompression lesson and explained about how your computer will clear on the way back up and the length of time spent at the safety stop but . . .well, they don't do that. Some of the d's are better at explain ing than others and some days even the good explainers may be having a bad day. Captain didn't speak English? LOL I think you got snookered.

Truly sorry you caught the team on a bad day.

Oh, and I never needed a flashlight in the Blue Hole and since I accidentally called a shark over to me, haven't used one in there since. Yes, it seems dark but it actually isn't considering the depth and all. Yes, with a light, you'll have much nicer look at the stalactites, that's certainly true.
 
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Thanks Chilly

I had understood that Amigos Del Mar did have an issue with PADI after they combined diving with instruction at the Blue Hole - but have since been reinstated. Is that not the case?
 
Despite their flash operation and a big dock, these guys are cowboys and I'll be reporting their numerous safety breaches to PADI.

Amigos Del Mar is not a PADI shop. They were stripped by PADI several years ago, search ScubaBoard for it. Good luck reporting them.
 
Amigos Del Mar is not a PADI shop. They were stripped by PADI several years ago, search ScubaBoard for it. Good luck reporting them.

I wonder who is their certification agency. They still list all the PADI style classes, but don't list a certifying agency anywhere on their web site. I would be pissed to pay and not be able to get a card I can use elsewhere around the world.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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