Undercurrent 03/07 did not like KBR

[aqualportal]

Despite Undercurrents review....we are 99% sure we are going there in 2008. We would like to hear from people who have been there recently after the upgrades were completed.

 

[Travelnsj]

I'm in Singapore headed for Lembeh Resort today....I'm sure I will run into some KBR people and let you know.

 

[Wayan]

Despite Undercurrents review....we are 99% sure we are going there in 2008. We would like to hear from people who have been there recently after the upgrades were completed.

Undercurrent used to be very good, ( I no longer subscribe to the mag as I have lost faith in the reporting) now it just depends on who wrote the article, how well informed they are on the area and social/political pressure etc and just exactly what there expectations are. In reality a expectations of some people sometimes outweigh what is actually achievable in the remote far away places.

Better to get first hand info from a number of people (as you doing) who have visited these areas. KBR has been in the past well respected resort - as with all places there are always negative comments.

 

[TSandM]

I don't know when the upgrades were completed. I was there in September of '06, and we had a wonderful time, and I have nothing but good things to say about the place and the dive op. The lodging was beautiful, the food was excellent, the service was cheerful and attentive. The boats were fine, the system was efficient, and nowhere else in the world have I been met after a dive with hot tea and cookies! Not to mention that the diving was utterly fascinating, and we saw just about every rare creature you could hope to fine (except a mimic octopus, but there has to be SOMETHING to come back for.)

 

[Bosun]

We were at KBR in May 2007 (second visit) and we were impressed by their continued high standards. The dive crew are knowledgeable and considerate and their staff fantastic. Our room was clean and comfortable. My only concern is that there is a lot of stress on the Straits due to high volume of dive centres and liveaboards in the vicinity now.

 

[freed1ver]

Hi,

We also loved KBR when we visited in Sept 07. The resort is great and the food is pretty good. The people are really nice. My wife absolutely loved the diving which is at most 10 minutes away by boat.
I would say the only downside, as it is at most dive ops in asia, is that the dive guides are not divemasters but simply scuba certified "guides." They are great at finding the animals and getting you photo ops, but they do not emphasize or truly understand dive safety. My wife had an out of air incident at 40 ft and had to make a free ascent. We think what happened was that the boat driver accidently closed the valve part way when he handed the BC/tank down to her. I was photographing a macro subject and did not see her until she was on her way up. I followed her up to find out what was wrong. At the surface, I found out she did a free ascent and we decided to go back down to at least do our safety stop. The dive guide, who was only guiding the 2 of us, basically finished the dive and didn't come by until we were done with the safety stop. Once back on board, we told him about what happened and he just shrugged it off. No comments or suggestions, but he did keep asking if we were still going on our scheduled Mandarin fish dive next. I don't think anyone would really want to dive a couple of hours after a free ascent.
Anyway, just be responsible for your own safety. We dive with a spare air now b/c of the incident. Still, KBR is the best diving resort that we've been to in Asia.

Mike

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Why would you allow anyone to touch your gear in the first place? Just curious. I'd never dive with an op where I could not go into the water with my gear on.

 

[TSandM]

I guess the guides were fine for us, because I don't expect anything from a DM/guide except guiding. I always check my own gear (and our gear flummoxed a couple of the folks there -- they set my bp/w up once with the tank on the wrong side of the plate. I wondered how they thought I was going to wear it . . . ), we do full equipment checks before we submerge, and I dive with a buddy who's my spare gas.

 

[Bali-Freak]

I came to this thread late, but it appears the offending article has been removed from the forum. I must admit I'm curious to know why.

As somebody in this thread already suggested, the negative review may have been an act of pique by the author trying to get some revenge for a perceived sleight. Or it may have been a true reflection of the author's judgment of the resort in question.

If the latter, then congratulations to Undercurrent; it's a rare dive magazine these days that doesn't prostitute its editorial to advertisers. Since I've started dealing with dive mags as an advertiser, I've stopped buying them as a reader. It's become very clear to me that there is a direct relationship between advertising and reviews. This seems especially true of equipment reviews.

Or perhaps I'm just tired and cynical.

 

[tonka97]

.......
If the latter, then congratulations to Undercurrent; it's a rare dive magazine these days that doesn't prostitute its editorial to advertisers. Since I've started dealing with dive mags as an advertiser, I've stopped buying them as a reader. It's become very clear to me that there is a direct relationship between advertising and reviews. This seems especially true of equipment reviews.

Or perhaps I'm just tired and cynical.

Great post.

I continue to subscribe to Undercurrent, and appreciate its quality and unbiased information.

Scuba Diving Magazine for Serious Divers, Undercurrent Reviews Dive Resorts and Scuba Diving Equipment