Hobnail
New
Took Dawn up on her Try-A-Dive-For-Free offer. Here's the report:
The Experience.: Made a ressie with Jaclyn in April for the 5/13 AM sortie out of Seagate. A few days before then Jenn called to tell me that wouldn't be working so we scheduled for the PM go. Upon showing up I learned the only other sceduled diver had cancelled about an hour earlier. Jenn, I think it was Jenn, started calling around to get me on with another op. She put up with my, "No, I don't want to go out with them, try xxxx. No, I'd rather do a wreck. Give xxxx a call." To make a long story short (too late) we did a double reef Monday PM; two resort coursers, two snorkelers, Matt, Steve, Jorge and me. We headed out to Molasses and did the dive. When climbing back up after the dive I mentioned the current and that I'd been treated to a vortex ride at one point. No big deal-just a comment. A few minutes later Capt. Jorge mentioned Snapper Ledge for the second dive and asked if I'd been there recently. As it turned out I'd been there that morning but Snapper is always a good time so that's where we went. In summary, both dives were very good.
The People: Micha, Olgo and Jennifer were in the office during my visits and all three were pleasant, sociable and helpful. On the boat, Jorge, as mentioned, was the skipper with Mate Matt and DM Steve. Jorge gave a good pre-dive and, during the short S.I., we had an interesting conversation about diving in K.L. Ditto about Matt. We also talked about our roots as we both come from the same general area. Didn't get to talk with Steve much but he exhibited what I gather is his general enthusiasm for diving, specially after being encouraged by Jorge and Matt. ALL the Cristal Clear folks I dealt with were pleasant+ at all times.
The other stuff: The boat, a standard Newton 42, was the most pristine I'd ever been on; no rotting squid lying on the deck or seats, no pools of vomit, two shower heads, a cooler of Capri Suns and a box of chips. What more could you ask for. OK, one thing; the cooler water could have been maybe a little colder. Is that being too picky? After returning to the dock the crew said I could store/dry my gear in their locker overnight even though I wasn't going to be diving with them any more this trip. Nice gesture.
The Summary: Great people, nice boat, good shop. Customer oriented and they take the diver's experience level into consideration. To Dawn and all of her Conch Commando Corps, Thanks. I'll be back and recommend them to others.
The Experience.: Made a ressie with Jaclyn in April for the 5/13 AM sortie out of Seagate. A few days before then Jenn called to tell me that wouldn't be working so we scheduled for the PM go. Upon showing up I learned the only other sceduled diver had cancelled about an hour earlier. Jenn, I think it was Jenn, started calling around to get me on with another op. She put up with my, "No, I don't want to go out with them, try xxxx. No, I'd rather do a wreck. Give xxxx a call." To make a long story short (too late) we did a double reef Monday PM; two resort coursers, two snorkelers, Matt, Steve, Jorge and me. We headed out to Molasses and did the dive. When climbing back up after the dive I mentioned the current and that I'd been treated to a vortex ride at one point. No big deal-just a comment. A few minutes later Capt. Jorge mentioned Snapper Ledge for the second dive and asked if I'd been there recently. As it turned out I'd been there that morning but Snapper is always a good time so that's where we went. In summary, both dives were very good.
The People: Micha, Olgo and Jennifer were in the office during my visits and all three were pleasant, sociable and helpful. On the boat, Jorge, as mentioned, was the skipper with Mate Matt and DM Steve. Jorge gave a good pre-dive and, during the short S.I., we had an interesting conversation about diving in K.L. Ditto about Matt. We also talked about our roots as we both come from the same general area. Didn't get to talk with Steve much but he exhibited what I gather is his general enthusiasm for diving, specially after being encouraged by Jorge and Matt. ALL the Cristal Clear folks I dealt with were pleasant+ at all times.
The other stuff: The boat, a standard Newton 42, was the most pristine I'd ever been on; no rotting squid lying on the deck or seats, no pools of vomit, two shower heads, a cooler of Capri Suns and a box of chips. What more could you ask for. OK, one thing; the cooler water could have been maybe a little colder. Is that being too picky? After returning to the dock the crew said I could store/dry my gear in their locker overnight even though I wasn't going to be diving with them any more this trip. Nice gesture.
The Summary: Great people, nice boat, good shop. Customer oriented and they take the diver's experience level into consideration. To Dawn and all of her Conch Commando Corps, Thanks. I'll be back and recommend them to others.
