what to expect in terms of professionalism, group size, and equipment.
Should be
excellent in all respects that you list. These guys know
exactly how to please their guests by exceeding their expectations.
You just have to understand what the specific expectations are of the guests that they attract. Other factors come into play, things that will affect the more seasoned and wider-travelled dive vacationer.
They will cater to a couple of the lowest common denominators, that being nothing like the diver who might select a liveaboard ship for a dive vacation. It will be a very closely regimented experience, anyone who says otherwise has never solo dived much less entertained the thought as a passing fantasy.
It is tailored to fit precisely with the clientele that they normally attract,
and there is nothing in any way wrong with that, it just is what it is- a much more relaxed version of what a cruise ship diver is exposed to. The G.O. (gentil organisateur = nice animator) DM's are experts at their craft, which in this case is:
Bring 'em back alive and smiling.
It is not like a week long stay at a dive resort anywhere. It is fantasy vacay at a lovely, homogenized, "stubbed-toe free" Island Paradise with remarkable food, pools, and many young, pretty people (and kids) with disposable incomes... who might consider a Discover Scuba, and then return next year with a full Cert card from back home. For the volume of guests that they entertain, there are very few Certs being sought after by guests.
It is a vacation... with some diving. I have been told by other instructors that the corporate figures show that of the diving guests who are certified divers (of that small number in the overall group),
the average number of dives per week is 1.2 each. One reason? The diving as an add-on simply is not a bargain when compared to the rest of the industry as a whole. You get what you pay for,
to some extent, however.
As I get older and more doddering, I think I might like their commodious boats and very attentive DM's quite inviting.