As a new diver I was really excited to hear that my grandparents are taking the entire family to Cancun next year for their anniversary. However, the other day I had some friends visit, and I told them about my diving. I was surprised to hear that they had gone scuba diving in Cancun. When I ask them how their experience was, they said awful; They had no sort of training. They were just given scuba gear and told to go in the water. They said the worst part was the constant taste of rubber, and they also said that their regulators where really hard to breath from. Originally I was going to rent a regulator, but after they told me this I'm not so sure. Have you had similar experiences? What do you recommend?
To rent or not to rent.
- Thread starter Texanguy
- Start date
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soccerrefjason
Contributor
While I'm sure you can find a suitable place whose gear is in good repair, I believe it's often better to use your own gear that you KNOW is in good repair and has been properly serviced.
...or rent from your local LDS, whom you have had experience with in regard to their gear during your classes, and travel with that....
sure, if you have the money, feel you will get suitable use from owning your own, and are ready to purchaes, by all means, it is always a good idea.
sure, if you have the money, feel you will get suitable use from owning your own, and are ready to purchaes, by all means, it is always a good idea.
ccx2
Contributor
Hey Texan, I've dove some in diff places on the Yucatan peninsula from different dive ops and never had any problems with there gear rentals. I think ALL dive rental gear is used hard and not taken care of or cleaned as well as most people would clean there personal gear but I'm still above water breathing air after using the gear from Mexican dive shops. Ive dove from Peurto Moreles,Isla Mujeras, Akumal,Cozumel and all had gear that i had know issues with. Ive had no bad taste from any rental gear but saw a girl puke though her reg at depth and on the surface and was glad it was my last day/dive with that dive op. No regs were hard to breath from best as i remember.
I would recommend you rent a reg. Nothing wrong with owning your own if you are sure you will keep diving and do your homework before you purchase one because it it a confusing piece of gear for the first time byre that doesn't have a clue about what to get and will get so many biased recommendations. Regulators are probably the most important gear of your kit to keep maintained and serviced on a regular basis so its easier to rent one if you aren't going to use it a lot. Have fun in Cancun ,Its all party party along the Hotel Zone and you may forget about diving with all the parties.
I would recommend you rent a reg. Nothing wrong with owning your own if you are sure you will keep diving and do your homework before you purchase one because it it a confusing piece of gear for the first time byre that doesn't have a clue about what to get and will get so many biased recommendations. Regulators are probably the most important gear of your kit to keep maintained and serviced on a regular basis so its easier to rent one if you aren't going to use it a lot. Have fun in Cancun ,Its all party party along the Hotel Zone and you may forget about diving with all the parties.
There are several different ways to go diving.
You can do what is called a "Discover Scuba", which is a supervised, limited experience underwater. You don't get a lot of preparatory work or training for doing this. My guess is that that is what your friends did.
You can get certified to dive and go down and rent your equipment. Rental equipment can vary in its original quality and its service. Around Puget Sound, rental equipment is generally pretty good, but the more remote the place you go to, the more carefully you have to look at gear, because it's relatively expensive and repair and maintenance are, too, and dive operators who operate on a shoestring budget can decide to cut costs on maintenance.
You can get certified and buy some or all of your own gear. If you are only going to dive once or twice a year, or less than that, such an investment may not appear to make sense to you, but the price you pay for not acquiring your own stuff is that you are at the mercy of what you can rent. You CAN rent gear from your local, US dive shop and take it to remote places, and that gets around the "I have no idea what I'm getting until I get there" problem.
If diving is going to become a regular activity for you, getting your own stuff makes a ton of sense. In the long term, it is cheaper than renting. You will be completely familiar with your equipment and how it works, and you will also know its service history. And you will be sure that you are using equipment that fits and suits you, every time.
You can do what is called a "Discover Scuba", which is a supervised, limited experience underwater. You don't get a lot of preparatory work or training for doing this. My guess is that that is what your friends did.
You can get certified to dive and go down and rent your equipment. Rental equipment can vary in its original quality and its service. Around Puget Sound, rental equipment is generally pretty good, but the more remote the place you go to, the more carefully you have to look at gear, because it's relatively expensive and repair and maintenance are, too, and dive operators who operate on a shoestring budget can decide to cut costs on maintenance.
You can get certified and buy some or all of your own gear. If you are only going to dive once or twice a year, or less than that, such an investment may not appear to make sense to you, but the price you pay for not acquiring your own stuff is that you are at the mercy of what you can rent. You CAN rent gear from your local, US dive shop and take it to remote places, and that gets around the "I have no idea what I'm getting until I get there" problem.
If diving is going to become a regular activity for you, getting your own stuff makes a ton of sense. In the long term, it is cheaper than renting. You will be completely familiar with your equipment and how it works, and you will also know its service history. And you will be sure that you are using equipment that fits and suits you, every time.
ccx2
Contributor
Some will rent from their LDS and drag/pack it along and you can see the gear before you take it or even use it in the pool. Thats ok i guess also but i wouldn't want to pack rental gear for a trip like that. I got certified at a shop that had the worst rental gear I've ever seen since I've been diving, literally tattered, faded and just terrible looking but worked fine. Don't lug rental gear, i think you will be just fine with the rental gear in Cancun, its usually 15bucks for a Bcd and Reg.
I actually just bought my first Reg and felt it was more important to have my own BCD that i was comfortable with and knew well before the Reg purchase. Thats how i did it but to each their own.
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The only thing I've ever rented was tanks--for charters at times, for convenience at others. I own 3.
The only reason I would recommend renting anything else would be to try stuff out to see if it's something you'll buy. At times one may consider renting weights (if not provided) if you have plane travel. And of course if you dive like twice a year you'd probably rent it all. Otherwise, buy everything.
The only reason I would recommend renting anything else would be to try stuff out to see if it's something you'll buy. At times one may consider renting weights (if not provided) if you have plane travel. And of course if you dive like twice a year you'd probably rent it all. Otherwise, buy everything.
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To go on from where TS&M was at...
Texanguy, your original post is a bit confusing. You infer that you have some limited SCUBA experience, but your SB Profil shows as not certified.
From your statements, I'd also think that your friends reports came from their perspective of being non- certified vacationers who partook in a Mexican version of a "resort course". These versions are often described as you did, and some even more alarming. A huge number of negative experiences seem to emanate from this area and situation.
What may be drawn from this is that you were getting reports of "difficult to breathe" from untrained divers who were under extreme stress. I wouldn't put too much stock in the reports.
Further, I would say that understanding the meaning of the tank pressure gauge and testing whether you can suck air out of both second stage regulators is basic knowledge required before using any source of gear. Also, any certified diver that I sign off on can tell me if their BCD is functional. Pretty basic stuff. Easy to quickly examine any gear, decide if you want to use it.
Texanguy, your original post is a bit confusing. You infer that you have some limited SCUBA experience, but your SB Profil shows as not certified.
From your statements, I'd also think that your friends reports came from their perspective of being non- certified vacationers who partook in a Mexican version of a "resort course". These versions are often described as you did, and some even more alarming. A huge number of negative experiences seem to emanate from this area and situation.
What may be drawn from this is that you were getting reports of "difficult to breathe" from untrained divers who were under extreme stress. I wouldn't put too much stock in the reports.
Further, I would say that understanding the meaning of the tank pressure gauge and testing whether you can suck air out of both second stage regulators is basic knowledge required before using any source of gear. Also, any certified diver that I sign off on can tell me if their BCD is functional. Pretty basic stuff. Easy to quickly examine any gear, decide if you want to use it.
I'm part way through open water certification. Before I even started the class I looked at where I spend a lot of time at to see if it was practical to get certified. I also don't want this to be something I get and never do anything with. So I made list of places I'm likely to dive in the near future. If I buy a regulator that I can't get serviced in the local area can I send it somewhere to get serviced ?
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