Fajardo Puerto Rico Diving in April 2014 - Casa Del Mar or Seaventures?

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Tomlink

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Messages
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Location
Cypress,TX
# of dives
1000 - 2499
Hi, I have a business conference at the El Conquistador in Fajardo PR during the first week of April. I wont have much time to get to other parts of the island so I am looking for the best dive operation in Fajardo. It seems that the two main ops are Casa Del Mar and Seaventures. I've heard good/bad issues about both ops. Like most dive ops, the quality seems to vary depending on the caliber of the employees working at the time. I'm predisposed to go with Casa Del Mar since they operate out of the hotel. It seems like the bad reviews I read were a few years ago, and the latest reviews seem much better.

I'm an experienced diver but my wife is novice and I have a couple that wants to get certified in PR. Can anyone who has been to Fajardo lately chime in and let me know if CDM will be satisfactory or do I need to look elsewhere? I'm pretty tolerant of any dive operation that lets me get wet and use most of my air, but I want to make sure my wife and the noobs have a good experience.


Thanks for any help,


Tom Linklater
 
I am diving with sea ventures next week, I will let you know how it went.

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Thanks! Looking forward to your feedback.
 
SeaVentures is a great shop. I dove with them last October. I dove with Casa del Mar once. I have no complaints about Casa del Mar but I like SeaVentures more.
 
I can't stress enough to NOT use sea ventures. I showed up this morning and she cancelled the trip due to not enough people. Now at seven pm, she just called and canceled tomorrow for the same reason. Luckily I can't schedule anybody else as everyone is closed at seven pm. I don't think you could be less professional.

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Last fall, I dove with Sea Ventures.

They were the only boat going out. Casa Del Mar didn't have any boats going out the weekend we were in Fajardo, so I can't comment on them.


Their usual dive site of choice were fairly bland (Sand Slide[21m]/Devil Key[15m]) - best for less experienced divers (shallow sandy hard bottom, some reef, vis from 10-30m). Best done on overcast days due to the sand particulate in the water. There were a half dozen hawksbill turtles around in the grass at Devil Key.

They have a good boat, soft weights on board (no hard weights). The dive locker is below the pier, and cary your gear to the boat. The dive shop is in the 'strip mall' by the road in the parking lot.


Dive profiles were '45 minutes, 500psi'. Lots of newer divers breathing down spare second stages ....

We ended up doing 60minute dives (in first/out last) with just under 1/2 tanks left after the DM's figured out who's not going to drown and let us loosely follow along.

Check out the Bio-Bay kayaking just north of town if you have an evening free. Double SIT kayaking down a canal into one of the bays at night to experience the bio-luminesence in the water. Very neat, but there are a lot of 'customers' who don't know how to kayak, yet alone know how to be in a boat.



I prefer the diving to the SW of PR.

BRad
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback.

FireMedic, sorry to hear about your cancelled dives. I read a number of reviews on Seaventures PR cancelling dives due to low number of divers. Since I have some that want to finish their OW certification in PR, I'll probably just take my chances with Casa Del Mar as they are associated with the resort. Recent reviews suggest the current employees have their act together.

Bradells, thanks for the data. From what I've read, the SW end of PR is definitely better but I just wont have time to get away from the El Conquistador so I'll have to make do. BTW, I did the same bio-bay kayak tour in Grand Cayman last year near Rum Point. Very cool.

I'll post when I get back from PR.

Thanks again, Tom Linklater
 
I suggest all of you before heading down to PR, ask around. I am from the island and I know some ops that will go out without minimum divers...The SW is the best diving area and Island Scuba goes out without minimum divers....I will be in the island 6-25 Mar '14 and I will be diving so let me know if I can help you in any way...
 
FireMedic,

I assume you had a confirmed reservation beforehand. If SeaVentures knew beforehand that the dive would be cancelled, they should have called you. Jill (Jamila?) is the store manager and is pretty on top of things. Even if a bunch of people didn't show up that morning, they should have charged those people for not showing up after the cancellation window. Although my experience with SeaVentures was very good, I would be miffed if I made the trip to Fajardo for nothing.

I hope you have another chance to dive in PR. It's a great island!

I can't stress enough to NOT use sea ventures. I showed up this morning and she cancelled the trip due to not enough people. Now at seven pm, she just called and canceled tomorrow for the same reason. Luckily I can't schedule anybody else as everyone is closed at seven pm. I don't think you could be less professional.

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2
 
Heading to San Juan myself April 8-15, and trying to find a good dive operator as well. Has anyone dove with Scuba Dogs? Looking at them and Sea Ventures as my two options. Considered Casa Del Mar, but the transportation back and forth from San Juan for them costs more than a 2 tank dive, while Sea Ventures provides r/t transportation for only $30 and Scuba Dogs includes it in the price already.

Any more updated feedback would be great - thanks!
 
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