Is it safe to rent gear in Mexico?

[freewillie]

I would assume the answer is yes, but you always hear these horror stories about malfunctioning or poorly working rental gear. Any good stories, or bad stories?

We are planning a vacation to Cancun in August and will include at least a few dives. Any recommendations for a dive shop? I see Always Diving and Scorpio divers posted a lot. My daughter will likely be needing regs and possibly a BC.

Thanks.

 

[blue steal]

I'm sure others will chime in on this, but I have rented gear in Cozumel and found it to be ok, lower end reg's but worked fine. Also I found the prices to be quite good on rentals and a few places it was free if you dove with them on multiple days. Now mind you the gears were not new, but the BCD's, spg's, reg/octos all worked fine.
What I have noticed though is on the tanks the O-rings are pretty beat up, so you might want to bring a few of those and a brass pick.

 

[Mike]

Equipment varies. It may not be true for every operation, but usually the cheaper the prices the more ratty the equipment. Operations with pricing at the higher end usually have the money to replace equipment sooner rather than later.

Replace your own O rings? I don't own the tanks, I let the dive operator replace a bad o ring.

 

[halocline]

What do you mean by "safe"?

 

[dmoore19]

Hmm, if I have a tank with a questionable o ring I just take one of the 20 I have out of my dive kit and replace it. It costs next to nothing and is much quicker than asking the divemaster or captain for an oring. Not a big deal to me. YMMV

Equipment varies. It may not be true for every operation, but usually the cheaper the prices the more ratty the equipment. Operations with pricing at the higher end usually have the money to replace equipment sooner rather than later.

Replace your own O rings? I don't own the tanks, I let the dive operator replace a bad o ring.

 

[freewillie]

What do you mean by "safe"?

Regs function without free flow, no cracked hoses, diaphragm good working order etc. Same with BC, tanks, etc. Well maintained, hold air, no leaks, etc.

Basically, it will function through the whole dive without mishap or malfunction.

 

[Beyond_Diving]

I can't speak for others, but in my shop we have aqualung bcd's and apeks regulators as our rental stock.

 

[ntmainstrm]

I now bring my own stuff but I have rented gear from Dive Paradise in Coz and the BCD was the exact same one my buddy had lugged down from Denver. The nice thing about renting from your dive op is that if there are any issues everyone including the boat crew is usually able to repair it. If you are in high school and someone hands you a dive computer on the dive boat you could probably figure out how to use it in 2 seconds. Some of us are old enough to need to read the manual on the plane ride down so bring our own computer.
Lee

 

[Mike]

Hmm, if I have a tank with a questionable o ring I just take one of the 20 I have out of my dive kit and replace it. It costs next to nothing and is much quicker than asking the divemaster or captain for an oring. Not a big deal to me. YMMV

Sure, I get it. I just don't own any tanks so don't have any reason to have o-rings with me. I could carry them I guess, but the dive ops always have them on board.

You are a self-sufficient MoFo.

---------- Post added January 10th, 2013 at 09:03 PM ----------

Regs function without free flow, no cracked hoses, diaphragm good working order etc. Same with BC, tanks, etc. Well maintained, hold air, no leaks, etc.

Basically, it will function through the whole dive without mishap or malfunction.

Most of the time things will be fine, but even dive operators who maintain and purchase good equipment are still subjecting it to a huge amount of use over a short time. A lot of any busy dive operators equipment is basically diving almost every single day.

Things will happen, but it's usually so nice since if something goes wrong with rental gear, the fix is usually as simple as them giving you another one.

 

[skankpile]

Its no less safe then renting a scooter.