deepsea21
Contributor
This is our second 2-week dive trip diving with 3P's. This is cut and pasted from our pending review on Trip Advisor. 3P's is a quality operation for those who may be looking for one reason or another.
My wife and I havebeen diving Cozumel annually for the past 13 years. When our prior dive operation was sold to newmanagement and changed for the worse, we concluded we needed to find new diveop. It was difficult to move on andleave the DMs and captains we had become to know so well over the years but wewanted more for our dive dollar and even they understood our need to move on.
We researched TripAdvisor just as you are doing and found Tres Pelicanos (3Ps). We read the reviews and decided to give them atry. After a total of 23 dive days and46 dives with 3Ps between our December 2014 and 2015 dive trips what can wereport? We are pleased to report the exceptionallyhigh level of service and fantastic dive experiences we experienced in 2014 hascontinued in 2015. Without a doubt, 3Psis a highly polished dive operation both above and below the surface. As far as we are concerned, there is noaspect of this operation that needs improvement and for us to say such a thingsays a great deal.
10 points to consider:
1) 3P's age. Don't let 3Ps young 3 years in business spook you. THE STAFF HASOVER 100 YEARS OF COMBINED DIVE OP EXPERIENCE and it shows in every aspect thisoperation. Ironically, one of thecurrent staff members was formerly with our prior dive operator!
2) Top Quality Online Service. We initially contacted 3P's through theirwebsite with a number of questions. We informed them we were looking for a newdive op and could only commit to 1 day of diving with them. If we were pleased,we'd probably dive the next 10 days with them if availability allowed. Wereceived a response with all questions answered just a few hours later fromJeanie. It was also nice to receive aresponse the next day from the owner, Steve B., who was aware of what had takenplace with our prior dive op and was looking forward to meeting us and deliveringa superior level of service and dive experiences. As it turns out, quite a few divers from ourprior dive op have found 3Ps and are now diving with them as well. SHOW ME ANOTHER DIVE OP WITH AN OWNER WHOPERSONALLY REPLIES TO EVERY SINGLE REVIEW POSTED ON TRIP ADVISOR! Nuf said.
3) Courtesy transportation. 7:40AM at the in-town dive shop for the courtesytransport to the marina was no problem. Aswe always stay at the Casa Mexicana we were a bit concerned about having to beat the shop by 7:40AM but that fantastic breakfast buffet at the Casa (known asthe best on the island) opened at 7:00AM sharp every day so we had 35 minutesto enjoy breakfast before our short 5 minute walk around the corner and to theback of the block where 3Ps shop is located. Some divers were also picked up from otherhotels and all inclusive resorts that resided between town and the southernmarina. It was especially interesting to see divers picked up from some allinclusive resorts where their resort dollars or resort credits could havebeen used for diving with the resorts in-house dive operator yet these diverspreferred to pay to dive with 3Ps and use their credits on otherofferings. That says a great deal initself.
4) Trust them with your gear. I am a stickler about our dive gear. I've neverleft it in the hands of a dive op (not even our prior op) and I cringe when Iplace it in the hands of an airline. Quite frankly, I dont like others eventouching it. However, I found a level ofcomfort with 3Ps and decided to give them a chance taking care of it. Well, every day all of our gear was on theboat having been fully rinsed. I cantell you it also smelled far better by day 10 than it ever would have if we hadbeen rinsing and hanging it daily ourselves. It was such a pleasure to show upat the boat and find all of our gear not only waiting for us but already setup. Again, Ive never, ever allowed adive op to set up our gear but our level of comfort was such that I trustedthem with the set-up and only needed to perform a quick (yet somewhat anal)inspection of it all. Upon returningfrom our dives it was great to walk away from it all and let the staff takecare of it. It was like having two vacationsfor the price of one as we were often back to the marina shortly after noon andback at the Casa showering by 1PM. Thatleft lots of time to relax & review UW photos taken that day, kick back bythe pool with a cocktail or take a walk around town. The only decision to bemade daily was where to eat dinner! Owner Steve B. and other divers on the boat all had recommendations thatoffered great food at a fraction of the cost of the well-knowns.
5) Courtesy gear maintenance. When we have encountered a couple of minorequipment issues that couldnt be performed on the boat, we were informed theywould be taken care of by Pony at the shop and our gear would be ready the nextday for diving. Pony performed the maintenancefree of charge (as there were no new parts needed other than a new O-ring whichhe had in stock at the shop) and we were pleased to tip him for his services. Bottomline If it goes under water Pony can probably fix it and if he cant he knowswho can and will do his best to get you back in the water without missing adive.
6) The boats. Skinny Shark & Loan Shark. Skinny Shark & Loan Shark are set up for amaximum of 10 divers each. Both boatsare powered by new, eco-friendly 4-stroke Yamaha 300HP outboards that dontspew that 2-stroke oil into the water that other dive ops that have beengrand-fathered still use. We dove from both boats and left the dive fleet behindevery day and were always among the very first on the reefs. Skinny Shark is a bit wider than Loan Sharkbut both are equal in length and deliver equally smooth rides. Unless you are sporting 36+ free-dive finsyoull never experience that annoying fins-on-top-of-fins from the diversitting across from you on either boat. I will also touch on a safety issue which is very important to us Inthe rare event there was an dive emergency, both boats have full first aidkits, emergency O2 on board, and FUNCTIONING radios. I dont want to be on a boat that lacks afully stocked first aid kit, emergency O2, has to wait for 20 divers to all getback on board, and then plods along at 10MPH to a dock to then call paramedicsfrom a land line. I want to be on a boatwith a max of 10 divers that can run 40+ MPH at full throttle and haveparamedics waiting for transport when the boat hits the dock.
7) The dive sites.Because the boats are still classified as "small" boats by capacityand are so fast, we enjoyed the best dive sites every day based on diveconditions and regardless of their distance from the marina. If you've beendiving Cozumel for a while you know what I mean There are the sites that savean operator fuel and time and there are the sites the best dive ops with thefast boats will get you to.
8) THE FREEDOM & ON BOARD ATTENTION! As others have stated, this a dive opBy Divers for Divers. Owner Steve B. was diving with us almost every day!3Ps offers experienced divers the freedom to dive their own profiles,computers and tanks. Divers are only limited by their own computers and airconsumption. 1:00 to 1:20 dive times were the norm. Talk about bottom time and value for your divedollar! Steve has selected his DM's and captains for their commitment todelivering a level of freedom experienced divers want. No dives ever held deepby the DM to limit bottom time and maximize air consumption no games playedwhatsoever. You can dive deep and short or shallow and long. WE WERE NEVERSIGNALED IT WAS TIME TO SURFACE AS LONG AS WE HAD SUFFICIENT AIR AND OUR DIVECOMPUTERS INDICATED WE HAD TIME! This level of freedom truly sets 3Ps apartfrom most and they can do it because they leave early from the southern marina,have FAST boats and have DM's who consume as much air during a dive as a tireon my car loses in a year. On board younever need a helping hand as the Captain and DMs are assisting you with all ofyour boarding and on-board needs.
9) Fellow divers with3P's. Simply stated, a fantastic group of fellow divers. From new divers to highly experiencedtechnical divers, all were represented. I would say the dive mix was probably1/3, 1/3, 1/3. 1/3 were new orrelatively new, 1/3 were experienced and the last 1/3 couldnt find their olddust covered log book they lost track of years ago if their life depended onit. While a dive operation such as 3P'sis going to attract more experienced divers by its nature, new and newer diversshould not be afraid to dive with 3Ps and enjoy the same great experiences wehave. For example, our most recent dive trip had a newer diver on board who wassurfacing after 35-45 minutes. Well,that lasted all of 1 day and some suggestions from the more experienced diversduring a surface interval had him pushing 1 hour bottom times immediately! I even surfaced before he did on one dive andasked him what the heck he was still doing in the water when he reached theladder! Thats the benefit of being anewer diver among more experienced divers. See #10 below.
10) New/Newer divers. If you're comingdown for your open water cert dives, have only a few dives logged, or could benew to drift diving, I say book 3P's andpay for a personal DM as several have done during our trips. You'll see thebest sites the other operators won't get you to and for a few bucks you havethe comfort of a personal DM until you feel comfortable. As the boats are generally 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3as I described earlier, unless you are doing your check-out cert dives you can alsobasically enjoy a personal DM free of charge as the more experienced divers aregoing spread out a bit and dive their own dives. That leaves you with basically a freepersonal DM and no one kicking fins in your face. For those who believe there is safety in the numbersa cattle boat that crams 20 divers on board or may be fearful of a smallerboat with a smaller number of divers, I will tell you its far better to be oneof the newest divers in a small group of experienced divers who all know howto watch out for each other and the group as a whole than to be one in a groupof 20 who plan to dive one day during their trip, parasail the next day, swimwith dolphins, tour the ruins, rent a dune buggy, and close out their last daywith a massage Just something to think about.
I say you may as wellstart where youll eventually end up. Give 3Ps a try and skip a costly learning curve with COZ dive ops. Contact Jeanie as we did, tell her you cancommit to 1 day of diving and if you enjoy the experience, youll book moredives if availability allows. You wont regret it as 3Ps delivers anexceptional boutique diving experience without the boutique price.
Overall, another absolutelyfantastic dive trip both above and below thanks to Owner Steve B., ReservationsJeanie, Shop Manger (and Mr. fix it) Pony, Shop Assistant Willie (Young Bull),DMs Jorge (Old Bull/Cubano) & Edgar (Camao) and Boat Captain Francisco (ChanFran/Eagle Eyes) who can spot a diver on the surface from Lord knows how faraway.
VisitedDecember 2014 & 2015
My wife and I havebeen diving Cozumel annually for the past 13 years. When our prior dive operation was sold to newmanagement and changed for the worse, we concluded we needed to find new diveop. It was difficult to move on andleave the DMs and captains we had become to know so well over the years but wewanted more for our dive dollar and even they understood our need to move on.
We researched TripAdvisor just as you are doing and found Tres Pelicanos (3Ps). We read the reviews and decided to give them atry. After a total of 23 dive days and46 dives with 3Ps between our December 2014 and 2015 dive trips what can wereport? We are pleased to report the exceptionallyhigh level of service and fantastic dive experiences we experienced in 2014 hascontinued in 2015. Without a doubt, 3Psis a highly polished dive operation both above and below the surface. As far as we are concerned, there is noaspect of this operation that needs improvement and for us to say such a thingsays a great deal.
10 points to consider:
1) 3P's age. Don't let 3Ps young 3 years in business spook you. THE STAFF HASOVER 100 YEARS OF COMBINED DIVE OP EXPERIENCE and it shows in every aspect thisoperation. Ironically, one of thecurrent staff members was formerly with our prior dive operator!
2) Top Quality Online Service. We initially contacted 3P's through theirwebsite with a number of questions. We informed them we were looking for a newdive op and could only commit to 1 day of diving with them. If we were pleased,we'd probably dive the next 10 days with them if availability allowed. Wereceived a response with all questions answered just a few hours later fromJeanie. It was also nice to receive aresponse the next day from the owner, Steve B., who was aware of what had takenplace with our prior dive op and was looking forward to meeting us and deliveringa superior level of service and dive experiences. As it turns out, quite a few divers from ourprior dive op have found 3Ps and are now diving with them as well. SHOW ME ANOTHER DIVE OP WITH AN OWNER WHOPERSONALLY REPLIES TO EVERY SINGLE REVIEW POSTED ON TRIP ADVISOR! Nuf said.
3) Courtesy transportation. 7:40AM at the in-town dive shop for the courtesytransport to the marina was no problem. Aswe always stay at the Casa Mexicana we were a bit concerned about having to beat the shop by 7:40AM but that fantastic breakfast buffet at the Casa (known asthe best on the island) opened at 7:00AM sharp every day so we had 35 minutesto enjoy breakfast before our short 5 minute walk around the corner and to theback of the block where 3Ps shop is located. Some divers were also picked up from otherhotels and all inclusive resorts that resided between town and the southernmarina. It was especially interesting to see divers picked up from some allinclusive resorts where their resort dollars or resort credits could havebeen used for diving with the resorts in-house dive operator yet these diverspreferred to pay to dive with 3Ps and use their credits on otherofferings. That says a great deal initself.
4) Trust them with your gear. I am a stickler about our dive gear. I've neverleft it in the hands of a dive op (not even our prior op) and I cringe when Iplace it in the hands of an airline. Quite frankly, I dont like others eventouching it. However, I found a level ofcomfort with 3Ps and decided to give them a chance taking care of it. Well, every day all of our gear was on theboat having been fully rinsed. I cantell you it also smelled far better by day 10 than it ever would have if we hadbeen rinsing and hanging it daily ourselves. It was such a pleasure to show upat the boat and find all of our gear not only waiting for us but already setup. Again, Ive never, ever allowed adive op to set up our gear but our level of comfort was such that I trustedthem with the set-up and only needed to perform a quick (yet somewhat anal)inspection of it all. Upon returningfrom our dives it was great to walk away from it all and let the staff takecare of it. It was like having two vacationsfor the price of one as we were often back to the marina shortly after noon andback at the Casa showering by 1PM. Thatleft lots of time to relax & review UW photos taken that day, kick back bythe pool with a cocktail or take a walk around town. The only decision to bemade daily was where to eat dinner! Owner Steve B. and other divers on the boat all had recommendations thatoffered great food at a fraction of the cost of the well-knowns.
5) Courtesy gear maintenance. When we have encountered a couple of minorequipment issues that couldnt be performed on the boat, we were informed theywould be taken care of by Pony at the shop and our gear would be ready the nextday for diving. Pony performed the maintenancefree of charge (as there were no new parts needed other than a new O-ring whichhe had in stock at the shop) and we were pleased to tip him for his services. Bottomline If it goes under water Pony can probably fix it and if he cant he knowswho can and will do his best to get you back in the water without missing adive.
6) The boats. Skinny Shark & Loan Shark. Skinny Shark & Loan Shark are set up for amaximum of 10 divers each. Both boatsare powered by new, eco-friendly 4-stroke Yamaha 300HP outboards that dontspew that 2-stroke oil into the water that other dive ops that have beengrand-fathered still use. We dove from both boats and left the dive fleet behindevery day and were always among the very first on the reefs. Skinny Shark is a bit wider than Loan Sharkbut both are equal in length and deliver equally smooth rides. Unless you are sporting 36+ free-dive finsyoull never experience that annoying fins-on-top-of-fins from the diversitting across from you on either boat. I will also touch on a safety issue which is very important to us Inthe rare event there was an dive emergency, both boats have full first aidkits, emergency O2 on board, and FUNCTIONING radios. I dont want to be on a boat that lacks afully stocked first aid kit, emergency O2, has to wait for 20 divers to all getback on board, and then plods along at 10MPH to a dock to then call paramedicsfrom a land line. I want to be on a boatwith a max of 10 divers that can run 40+ MPH at full throttle and haveparamedics waiting for transport when the boat hits the dock.
7) The dive sites.Because the boats are still classified as "small" boats by capacityand are so fast, we enjoyed the best dive sites every day based on diveconditions and regardless of their distance from the marina. If you've beendiving Cozumel for a while you know what I mean There are the sites that savean operator fuel and time and there are the sites the best dive ops with thefast boats will get you to.
8) THE FREEDOM & ON BOARD ATTENTION! As others have stated, this a dive opBy Divers for Divers. Owner Steve B. was diving with us almost every day!3Ps offers experienced divers the freedom to dive their own profiles,computers and tanks. Divers are only limited by their own computers and airconsumption. 1:00 to 1:20 dive times were the norm. Talk about bottom time and value for your divedollar! Steve has selected his DM's and captains for their commitment todelivering a level of freedom experienced divers want. No dives ever held deepby the DM to limit bottom time and maximize air consumption no games playedwhatsoever. You can dive deep and short or shallow and long. WE WERE NEVERSIGNALED IT WAS TIME TO SURFACE AS LONG AS WE HAD SUFFICIENT AIR AND OUR DIVECOMPUTERS INDICATED WE HAD TIME! This level of freedom truly sets 3Ps apartfrom most and they can do it because they leave early from the southern marina,have FAST boats and have DM's who consume as much air during a dive as a tireon my car loses in a year. On board younever need a helping hand as the Captain and DMs are assisting you with all ofyour boarding and on-board needs.
9) Fellow divers with3P's. Simply stated, a fantastic group of fellow divers. From new divers to highly experiencedtechnical divers, all were represented. I would say the dive mix was probably1/3, 1/3, 1/3. 1/3 were new orrelatively new, 1/3 were experienced and the last 1/3 couldnt find their olddust covered log book they lost track of years ago if their life depended onit. While a dive operation such as 3P'sis going to attract more experienced divers by its nature, new and newer diversshould not be afraid to dive with 3Ps and enjoy the same great experiences wehave. For example, our most recent dive trip had a newer diver on board who wassurfacing after 35-45 minutes. Well,that lasted all of 1 day and some suggestions from the more experienced diversduring a surface interval had him pushing 1 hour bottom times immediately! I even surfaced before he did on one dive andasked him what the heck he was still doing in the water when he reached theladder! Thats the benefit of being anewer diver among more experienced divers. See #10 below.
10) New/Newer divers. If you're comingdown for your open water cert dives, have only a few dives logged, or could benew to drift diving, I say book 3P's andpay for a personal DM as several have done during our trips. You'll see thebest sites the other operators won't get you to and for a few bucks you havethe comfort of a personal DM until you feel comfortable. As the boats are generally 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3as I described earlier, unless you are doing your check-out cert dives you can alsobasically enjoy a personal DM free of charge as the more experienced divers aregoing spread out a bit and dive their own dives. That leaves you with basically a freepersonal DM and no one kicking fins in your face. For those who believe there is safety in the numbersa cattle boat that crams 20 divers on board or may be fearful of a smallerboat with a smaller number of divers, I will tell you its far better to be oneof the newest divers in a small group of experienced divers who all know howto watch out for each other and the group as a whole than to be one in a groupof 20 who plan to dive one day during their trip, parasail the next day, swimwith dolphins, tour the ruins, rent a dune buggy, and close out their last daywith a massage Just something to think about.
I say you may as wellstart where youll eventually end up. Give 3Ps a try and skip a costly learning curve with COZ dive ops. Contact Jeanie as we did, tell her you cancommit to 1 day of diving and if you enjoy the experience, youll book moredives if availability allows. You wont regret it as 3Ps delivers anexceptional boutique diving experience without the boutique price.
Overall, another absolutelyfantastic dive trip both above and below thanks to Owner Steve B., ReservationsJeanie, Shop Manger (and Mr. fix it) Pony, Shop Assistant Willie (Young Bull),DMs Jorge (Old Bull/Cubano) & Edgar (Camao) and Boat Captain Francisco (ChanFran/Eagle Eyes) who can spot a diver on the surface from Lord knows how faraway.
VisitedDecember 2014 & 2015
