PADI Certification Dives Playa Del Carmen

[motorref]

I just got back from Playa 6 weeks aga, and spent most of the week diving with Jason from Fantasea; he and his team did a great job and I had a ton of fun!
I also had the pleasure of meeeting Christa, the new owner of Geofish, and I was instantly comfortable with her, so much so that I might take my daughters down to dive with her.
TankHa and Abyss have great reps as well, but I did not get time to try them out. Makes sure you try a Cenotes dive - not to be missed!!

KL

 

[t4e]

I agree with T4E... consider Abyss Dive Center in Playa. There are many good shops in Playa, but Abyss has been around for many years and the owner has lots of experience diving in the area. Really knows the reefs and is quite safety-conscious. Abyss is a nice small shop so you won't feel like you are on a cattle boat or rushed through your training.

Happy diving!

well i think i'm going to take that back for now just because i have contacted them for our upcoming trip in May
so few days later i got a reply from David
he had some specific questions for me, like how many dives we have and when we dove last time
so i happily provided the info and also asked about going to 4 of the shallower sites they have on the map on their website
that was 2 weeks ago, i never heard back from him, i even forwarded the email in case he didn't get it and still no reply to this day
not sure if its his way of saying "i don't want to bother with new divers" or something else is going on

however i have contacted two other dive shops The Akumal Dive Shop and Akumal Dive Adventures
thy both replied promptly and answered all my questions and concerns

even though the hotel where we are staying has a dive shop on site i am choosing to go with one of the two above, since the onsite dive shop never bothered to reply to any of my emails i feel i can't place a trust in them

 

[Scuba-dan]

Another Canadian saying HI!! My boyfriend and I run a small, personalized shop here in Playa (we've been here for over 5 years). Feel free to email me if you need more information, advice, or just some good recommendations for your time here!!!

Hi Divinglife,

I'm actually heading down to Riviera Maya next week and plan to do some diving. Can you send me an email with details to your shop and prices?
curlingdan@yahoo.ca

 

[Shark_Sandwich]

I got certified in PDC with Tank Ha and had a very positive experience. My instructor was very professional, and I felt like we were well prepared. Another thing I appreciated was that our instructor (Barbara Blair--no idea if she is still there) decided not to sign off on a C-card for one of the people in the group. This particular student had serious buoyancy control issues, as well as a lack of general awareness in the water (she kept crashing into things, including the reef and other divers). Barbara offered to take her out on a fifth check-out dive for free to work on skills, or to pass on her training file to another dive shop for a last check out dive. I thought that was a classy way of handling the situation, and it gave me a feeling that she was really using professional judgment in evaluating our skills. I think a number of other dive operators would have just signed for the card and pass on the problem to someone else.

Anyway, that was a while ago (January 2008), but that's my experience for what it's worth.

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

Abyss Dive shop and Geofish have both left their shops and have went to online bookings only. It's been tough times for all the shops down here. They are alive and well and do accept reservations online, but neither have a physical shop anymore.