We stayed at the Majestic Elegance in Punta Cana. There are a fair number of dive shops on this beach in different resorts. We noted Mariana, Dressel, Pelicano, and Scuba Caribe.
After doing some initial research and emails, we decided to use Pelicano Watersports for some activities and Mariana for others. We also observed some Scuba Caribe operations. Pelicano will actually pick you up on the beach in a small skiff for free, if you are in the resort area. Pelicano also offers free Nitrox. Mariana has none and Dressel charges extra.
While in Punta Cana, we observed a variety of diving procedures which we had not encountered before.
With Mariana, you are expected to carry you equipment including BCD, tank, and weights from the dive shop to the boat. This is the equivalent of doing a shore dive. The only boats are small outboard skiffs without ladders. You have to board the beached boat on the shore. On some days this can be challenging due to the beach surf. You must due a backroll to enter the water. To reboard the boat, you take off your BCD and belly flop over the side.
Pelicano assembles your BCD, regset, and tank, but no weights at the shop. They have someone carry your gear and place it on the boat. You carry your weights and mask, fins, snorkel, etcs to the boat. This is ok if you are using a weight belt, but is a bit more cumbersome if you have a weight integrated BCD or need a lot of weight. Pelicano has both small skiffs and larger catamarans and deploys them on based on the number of divers and the physical needs of the divers. This is better for older or less spry divers. We only dove on the catamarans. The catamarans have ladders with wide rungs and an area from which to do giant strides.
We encountered a third technique with a dive shop at Isla Catalina which has a cooperative agreement with many of the shops. It appears that only certain shops go to Isla Catalina on certain days. So, it would be a good idea to determine this in advance. At the port, you have to go down a large number of high steps to reach the dock area. This is a fairly physical process carrying a set of diving gear particularly on the way back up. There is typically a mix of divers and snorkelers on the boats. They had a 40+ foot catamaran with roll control tank mounts on the outside of the passenger area along the side of the boat. The crew assembled the BCDs, regsets, and weights with the tanks in the roll control mounts. At the site, passengers go on a walkway outboard of the racks and get strapped in. This occasionally caused a minor traffic jam as it was difficult for people to pass each other on the walkway. The crew frees the tank from the mounts and you do a giant stride from the walkway. There was a double tubing rung ladder for recovery. The crew either picked the BCDs from the water or while you were standing on the walkway.
We observed Scuba Caribe at one dive site. They has several divers on a skiff sized boat. They appeared to have to do a back roll and belly flop back on board. It turned out that we were observing what appeared to be an open water course.
We passed by the mooring Dressel boats several times. Those appeared to be similar to the Pelicano catamarans.
Part 2 will discuss actual dives.
After doing some initial research and emails, we decided to use Pelicano Watersports for some activities and Mariana for others. We also observed some Scuba Caribe operations. Pelicano will actually pick you up on the beach in a small skiff for free, if you are in the resort area. Pelicano also offers free Nitrox. Mariana has none and Dressel charges extra.
While in Punta Cana, we observed a variety of diving procedures which we had not encountered before.
With Mariana, you are expected to carry you equipment including BCD, tank, and weights from the dive shop to the boat. This is the equivalent of doing a shore dive. The only boats are small outboard skiffs without ladders. You have to board the beached boat on the shore. On some days this can be challenging due to the beach surf. You must due a backroll to enter the water. To reboard the boat, you take off your BCD and belly flop over the side.
Pelicano assembles your BCD, regset, and tank, but no weights at the shop. They have someone carry your gear and place it on the boat. You carry your weights and mask, fins, snorkel, etcs to the boat. This is ok if you are using a weight belt, but is a bit more cumbersome if you have a weight integrated BCD or need a lot of weight. Pelicano has both small skiffs and larger catamarans and deploys them on based on the number of divers and the physical needs of the divers. This is better for older or less spry divers. We only dove on the catamarans. The catamarans have ladders with wide rungs and an area from which to do giant strides.
We encountered a third technique with a dive shop at Isla Catalina which has a cooperative agreement with many of the shops. It appears that only certain shops go to Isla Catalina on certain days. So, it would be a good idea to determine this in advance. At the port, you have to go down a large number of high steps to reach the dock area. This is a fairly physical process carrying a set of diving gear particularly on the way back up. There is typically a mix of divers and snorkelers on the boats. They had a 40+ foot catamaran with roll control tank mounts on the outside of the passenger area along the side of the boat. The crew assembled the BCDs, regsets, and weights with the tanks in the roll control mounts. At the site, passengers go on a walkway outboard of the racks and get strapped in. This occasionally caused a minor traffic jam as it was difficult for people to pass each other on the walkway. The crew frees the tank from the mounts and you do a giant stride from the walkway. There was a double tubing rung ladder for recovery. The crew either picked the BCDs from the water or while you were standing on the walkway.
We observed Scuba Caribe at one dive site. They has several divers on a skiff sized boat. They appeared to have to do a back roll and belly flop back on board. It turned out that we were observing what appeared to be an open water course.
We passed by the mooring Dressel boats several times. Those appeared to be similar to the Pelicano catamarans.
Part 2 will discuss actual dives.
