SCUBA Fun has clearly had many satisfied customers with excellent dive experiences, and for the most part our diving was excellent with a professional dive instructor, Rafael, and boat captain from Sea Dwellers. SCUBA Fun kept our gear between dives and rinsed and organized it, and transported it to the dock for us. Water was provided on the boat and after every dive, the boat crew removed our tanks right as we stepped on the boat, which was much appreciated. The dive conditions were wonderful and we were advised about any potential adverse conditions and the reason for choosing each dive site.
Our only complaint about the actual diving was the lack of safety stops on dives to 25-27 feet. While these are relatively shallow dives, they still exceed the PADI recommendation for a safety stop on any dive exceeding 15 feet. While more experienced divers may make the decision to exclude a safety stop, as a brand new diver, it was disconcerting not to be allowed to practice developing these safe diving habits. When asked, one of the other instructors on the boat bragged that she had been going three years without safety stops. We also felt the surface interval was often inadequate, about 25 minutes, especially for the older diver in our group. When asked why the safety stop was not an hour, we were informed it was because the boat would not have time to make it back to pick up afternoon divers. That is a business and scheduling decision, not a safety decision. Once again, some experienced divers may disagree with the necessity of safety stops and surface intervals and this review is from three point of view of a new diver.
In terms of administration, SCUBA Fun is a perfect example of a “fair-weather friend” dive establishment. The dive shop owner, Anya, was very courteous to me over email while planning the trip and answered all of my many questions. From our first interaction as we arrived in the dive shop, an hour early due to my error misreading her email, we were repeatedly reminded that we had arrived early and it was treated as a huge inconvenience. Instead of telling us when we arrived that we should come back an hour later, she said it was okay for us to wait in the dive shop, but then as she prepared our paperwork she seemed to do so bedrudgingly and repeatedly appended “because, as I said, you came early” as if preempting complaints that we did not have. Repeatedly reminding us we made a mistake was not productive in any way and didn’t set a good tone. Throughout our followed interactions, I came to expect a perfectly poised and pleasant response when the question was ideal, and for any question or answer she seemed to feel was a silly question, she would answer with a level of sarcasm, condescension and snark. While I am sure she saw her words as humor, this type of attitude rarely functions humorously on an uneven playing field - an experienced dive instructor may find a question elementary, but it is a sincere question from a student. From someone who is in a teaching profession, she should know better than to make students feel that their questions or answers are stupid or make them reluctant to ask a question because they expect this attitude in response.
We booked an Everglades tour through Garl’s Kayaking as part of our SCUBA Fun package. For the most part, it was very enjoyable and our guide very friendly. There could have been better communication prior to the tour to inform us the level of physical exertion required; the SCUBA Fun website has a short listing of the tour mentioning kayaking into the sunset. Our kayak through the mangroves was beautiful, leisurely, and fun. Our saltwater saltwater kayak experience was extremely exerting, with a lot of current on the open ocean, and I did not feel prepared or comfortable. Had we known prior to boarding the kayaks the second time, I would have happily chosen to pass on that portion of the tour and waited for our members to return. This is of course not under the control of SCUBA Fun, but since they facilitated booking this tour for us, perhaps they could have a handout with more information about the events of the tour, since Garl’s Kayaking did not provide this type of overview prior to leaving for the trip.
When we called on Thursday to schedule a Saturday morning dive, we initially asked for Rafael, but we were told he was not available and that she would schedule us with a group guide at $20 per person. (When I simply clarified it was diving with a group, Anya laughed at the ridiculousness of my question, “of course you will not be getting a private dive every time”) We did not receive any further call from SCUBA Fun telling us otherwise, but apparently she was later able to book Rafael and had scheduled him for us. I ended up having a bad allergic reaction to an insect bite on my eyelid following our tour of the Everglades the following day, and had to cancel our following dives with SCUBA Fun, as I could not open that eye. Their cancellation policy was clearly stated in previous emails and I understand the inconvenience that we caused them and their instructor by cancelling. However, I truly dreaded calling to cancel because I expected to receive a lecture or attitude about it, and I should not have felt embarrassed like that for something outside my control.
Overall, we had a good dive trip, but the interactions whenever things did not go perfectly according to SCUBA Fun’s expectations, even down to the level of wording a question, made me feel less than comfortable. Their opinion may be that they do not care to cater to overly sensitive clients. As a student in a high stress graduate program, I have never felt unwelcomed or made to feel bad about gaps in my knowledge, and have always been forthcoming and earnest with my questions in my attempt to learn - this is one of the times in my life I have learned it was preferred if I kept my mouth shut.
SCUBA Fun instructors do speak French and German as well as English. When someone phoned Anya speaking in English, to ask about a guide in Spanish for their husband, she kindly referred them to another dive shop as they didn’t have anyone that day who spoke Spanish. It was very professional and courteous of them to prioritize the language needs and therefore safety of their client.
Réponse de l'hôte
Nov 2018
Isabel, thank you very much for your side of the story. That is just what it is, your side of the story, and we are sorry you felt this way. It is sometimes difficult to please everybody, but we try very hard.
We tried everything to accommodate all your wishes and repeatedly answer all the same questions, but we did not appreciate the threats or the attempts at blackmailing us so you would get a discount (which, to be fair, we had already given you, but that was not enough to stop the threats).
Your arrival story is a matter of opinion. When you arrived an hour early and insisted we had given you the wrong info (which we hadn't), we apologized that we could not take care of you immediately, and when we got to you within 10 minutes, we apologized again for the delay. I guess you can see that as a reproach if you wish to.
As for the safety stops and surface intervals, your PADI table gives you a bottom time of almost 4 hours at 30 feet, so there is no safety stop or surface interval necessary after a 50 minute dive to 30 feet. On the deeper dives, of course everybody here does a safety stop and has all necessary surface intervals.
We hope you get some more wonderful and enjoyable dives under your belt, all the time feeling as safe and well treated as you actually are :-).