Dressel Divers, Should I Avoid?

[redacted]

Is there a near by beach, pier, or other pick up spot for outside dive boats?

There is plenty of beach on either side of the resort if you don't mind lugging your gear a little farther (< 100 meters) and if your op can pick you up from the beach. Could be a problem if weather kicks up a bit.

 

[bcaderunr]

I used them (by default) 3 years ago when I stayed with my family at Barcelo Maya Resort on the PDC side. I signed up for a multi-day package and after the first day, we were weathered out due to high seas at the dock. Their response was: no refund for unused days. I was given the privilege of paying extra to be hauled over to the Iberostar (taxi/bus/taxi) to do a 2-tanker on Coz if I wanted to make use of the days I'd paid for when they couldn't pickup locally. They nickel/dimed us every chance they had; made us feel like trespassers for hanging up our wet suits/octos in their space (everyone else rented there); and treated us like cattle as soon as we'd made our up-front payments.

To their credit, the divemasters were very friendly and professional; but the management made you want to scream. Don't stay at Iberostar until they change their policies on pickup; don't dive with Dressel ANYWHERE!

 

[EuphoriaII]

I had heard the same horror stories about using outside dive ops at Iberostar. However, I stayed theree in February '06 and had Papa Hogs pick me up twice with no problems. I saw Blue Angel and a few other ops pick up guests there as well. The hotel had a guy on the dock that wrote down names of dive shops and number of guests picked up but Papa hogs told me they never had to pay any more. They said they just had to provide a bunch of documentation to them to be able to pick up there.

 

[zinmaker]

I was certified by Dressel on the PDC side from the Barcelo Maya resort in 2000, had a great time, they are a very safe operation. As to the rental policy, you should rent your gear in the US, and check it out on a pool dive if possible, then you know you have good quality gear, and will have the same gear each dive. Another small issue is the gear they rent, the pressure gauge will probably be in BAR not PSI since they are based in Europe. If you are planning on several multiple dives per day, you should think of diving with another operation, since there dive sites are very limited. There price per dive might be more, but by the time you pay for the taxi ride into town, have you really saved any money? Since most people on this board are steering you away from Dressel they are probably right, but if you have to dive with them in a pinch, you will still have fun.