Dive Review of
Sea Ventures Pro Dive Center/Dive shop only, no resort in
Puerto Rico/Puerto Del Rey

Florida, Mexico, British & American Virgins, Caymans, Belize, Hawaii,
Australia

Dive Conditions

Divers separated into Open & Advanced groups; Advanced given option of
diving own profile, but max depth of 75 feet & poor visibility at an
unfamiliar dive site made it inadvisable.  Dive profile and Dive Master's
attention limited to 40 minutes, after which one could cruise under boat.
  

No accomodations for photography were provided - zero.  

Overall Rating

This was a day dive scheduled after arrival in PR and after prior 
excellent diving at Parguera with another dive operator, some 3 hours away
by car.   Sea Ventures Pro Dive Center (Fajardo/Puerto Del
Rey) was chosen due to relative proximity to our hotel, West of San Juan. 

However, this dive operation is a troubled one, fraught with friction
between boat and shore staff.  Our group of 4 divers was greeted
enthusiastically at shop by David, but cost of diving was collected
immediately and before we saw the boat.  We arrived early for an 8:30 A.M.
departure.    Boat very crowded for the 12 divers aboard and had
insufficient room between tanks to allow adjacent divers to assemble their
gear or don tanks to actually dive.    

First departed close to 9:00 A.M., and then the boat was recalled to to
accommodate 3 more divers who were late for a class.  Boat staff observed
in heated conversation with office staff by phone, but 
clearly lost battle with office staff seeking to maximize revenue. 
Well after 9:30 A.M., and with the 12 divers growing increasingly angry
over the delay, 3 youths and 4 parents arrive - this was 7 additional
divers and clearly beyond the crowded boat's capacity.   A nasty public
dispute ensued over the capacity of the boat and oral reservations before
the group of 7 left angrily (none of the divers aboard were sympathetic).  
And then the boat would not restart.     

Crew apologized for office staff's behavior and took everyone to a nearby
deli to buy sandwiches and snacks on Sea Ventures, a nice gesture. At 10:30
A.M., we finally departed.  Speed and construction of the boat guaranteed
all were drenched by the time we reached the first dive site.

Poor visibility and choppy conditions due to wind are not the fault of Sea
Ventures, but neither were we cautioned about it at any time in the
process.    Group split into Advanced & Open Water groups and dived
separately with 2 divemasters.    Ours was an uninspiring guide, and kept
us along sandy bottom when the reef at slightly shallower depths was far
more interesting.    Approx. 20 foot viz
made diving your own profile in strange area questionable.       Surface
interval snacks of sliced melons very good, trip to 2nd site was brief. 

Divers expected to change own tanks between dives, but could ask for
assistance.     Second dive site offered more fish & slightly better
visibility, but certainly not prolific.    All fans beaten down by
weather, although coral was ok.

Upon our return, barrels of rinse water were provided, and staff 
offered hangers for wet suits.  Along with Divemaster Kim's (very 
customer focused) concerted effort to make up for our disastrous beginning,
we were starting to feel better about the dive operation, when 2 members of
our group emerged from the dive shop angry and resentful about the behavior
of one office staff member, who had launched into a tirade about how much
money we spent on sandwiches earlier.    Coupled with the refusal of any
office staff to even acknowledge their presence in the room, this was
sufficient to torpedo the boat staff's best efforts.     

We spoke to the boat captain, wondering how much a sandwich and soda could
possibly cost, and why it would be an issue under the awful circumstances
of the morning, and he noted that it is "their problem" and then
asked when we would come back.     NOT SOON!    

Kim had noted earlier that the owner was out of town and therefore she had
no route of appeal on departure problems, but this operation appears to
have a number of problems beyond his absence. This is a revenue hungry,
high volume operation that I would not recommend and would not use again.  
Have lodged written complaint with Sea Ventures as well.
 

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