Diving with Papa Hogs

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mike&bethc

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Can anyone give advice (good and bad) regarding this operation? :06: We recently returned from Cozumel and had several not great experiences with both the divemasters and the owners from Papa Hogs and wanted to see if it was just bad luck a full moon, or something else....

Thanks for any info!
 
I found them to be a good op if you want maximum diving freedom and minimum mastering. I believe that is the kind of divers they cater to. There smaller boat were a bit rough though.
 
We were wondering if our "problems" arose from not booking a set package of dive's with them and we just got stuck with whatever was left over or what.... didn't feel that the divemaster wanted to be there with us or anyone else for that matter, we nicknamed him speedy gonzales, first one out of the boat and the first one back in as well. Then specifically planned a trip to Maricaibo, found enough other qualified divers to fill the boat and then the morning of the dive, we were told there was no room and that we wouldn't be able to go. Even after confirming the dive 2 days in advance. We were very unhappy at that point.... We paid our bill, and did not get any kind of response at all from the owners either.
 
Do a search on this forum for Papa Hogs. This question was asked recently and there are others out there who share your experience.
 
I just returned from diving last week. Like I said in my trip report I thought Mike was a little rude but, margeret seemed very pleasant. There were moments when I felt like my business wasnt that importent to them but, all and all it was ok. The divemaster Sergio was ok but, at times it seemed like he was not to happy to be there. There was a couple of instances when I thought he was triing to run us out of air by moving into the current. IMO
 
I've never heard of Papa Hogs, but the Southern Cross Club on Little Cayman Island is a fantastic place to dive. The staff knows what they're doing and the whole operation is first class.
ScubaLu
 
Amy WJ:
Do a search on this forum for Papa Hogs. This question was asked recently and there are others out there who share your experience.
I dived with them once, I've dived with worse there, and I've dive with better. I'd try to avoid them.

I was in a group and never saw Mike or Margaret until after the diving when I stopped by to pay for some extras.
 
ScubaLu4fun:
I've never heard of Papa Hogs, but the Southern Cross Club on Little Cayman Island is a fantastic place to dive. The staff knows what they're doing and the whole operation is first class.
ScubaLu

Are they planning to open a franchise on Coz? :)
 
My 15 y/o son and I dove with them the day after thanksgiving (3 weeks post hurricane) and had a good experience. I came in on a cruise ship that would be too late for their morning runs and would leave to early to be able to go on the afternoon one. They held up the morning run (the other divers were OK with it) so that we could go. I met Mike and Margaret as soon as I arrived and I thought they were personable. Our divemaster was 'Monkey' and on our dives, he was the last one out of the boat and last one back in. He was good about pointing out marine life hidden in crevices that we might have missed and he pointed out the 2nd spotted eagle ray that we would have missed if it wasn't pointed out.
I can see that they are better suited for experienced/comfortable divers as they are hands off and I agree with:
found them to be a good op if you want maximum diving freedom and minimum mastering. I believe that is the kind of divers they cater to. There smaller boat were a bit rough though.
Although my son and I are fairly inexperienced, we had no problems hanging with the more experienced divers in our boat (Santa Rosa Wall dive) and managed our air consumption right up to our NDL (according to our computers) along with the other divers.

FWIW, my LDS echoes some of the same concerns listed above. Maybe I had better service than most since it was a slow diving week. And since I'm less experienced, I don't have as many dive ops to compare to. But I've got nothing to complain about and booked with them again for this weekend
 

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