West Divers

Just a quick public thank you for the diving we had with you.

Look forward to being back soom.

Amy, x

For the better part of a decade, our small group of experienced dive buddies has been visiting La Parguera at year end for diving the wall and inshore reefs along Puerto Rico’s SW coast. Marilyn of West Divers has arranged our trips with a smile, and it’s always a pleasure to catch up with her in December. Piloting the newly refurbished (about a year ago) West Divers boat, Johny and Julio navigated us to distant sites not used by other dive operations out of Parguera. They assisted us into and out of the water, kept us fully fueled with sandwiches/snacks and they engaged us in conversation.

The success of our U/W adventures lay with Bam-Bam who has been our guide and mentor for our many trips over the years. The continuity and skills of our team have allowed us to evolve with each trip. Bam-Bam has taken us to multiple, dramatic locations along the Wall and to reefs alive with fish and invertebrates. Bam-Bam is not averse to petting a nurse shark for a photo op, nor is he shy about carefully guiding us close into the undersea life for observing and taking pictures. When we expressed the desire to drift dive a couple of years ago, Bam-Bam accommodated us. It is something we now do routinely. We have been on some dives that covered large distances along the Wall to see sights that other divers would miss by staying at the more commonly visited sites. We have also drifted from reef-to-reef to discover new reefs, one in particular so thrilled Bam-Bam that he quickly surfaced to have the coordinates recorded.

Comradery, stories, knowledge of the region, friendship and the Bimbo’s (!) keep us returning for excellent diving. A big “Thank you” goes to Marilyn, Johny, Julio and Bam-Bam.

Went on a diving trip with West Divers to the Wall. Mixed picture which is one of the main reasons for writing the review. Let me start by saying that Bam Bam is an excellent divemaster/guide and I absolutely loved the 2x 50 min + drift dives we did on the Wall.

Now over to the not so good stuff which is about the organization and reliability on the side of West Divers as an organization.

When walking into the dive shop to reserve the dive trip they told me they had a trip lined up for the next day that I could join. They had a small group of US clients that had been coming back for many years. They told me to meet them at the dock/boat at 7 am the next day. When asked if I could see their equipment the response was they didn't have it in the shop but at the dock. When I asked they told me it was all Cressi and max 2 years old. Didn't feel entirely comfortable with the answer but decided to book the trip anyway and check out the situation the next day. Nobody asked me for my certification.

When showing up at the dock around 7am the next day there was nobody who could talk to me. After an hour the three other guests and the dive guide (Bam Bam) showed up. It became quickly obvious that the divemaster wasn't aware that I was supposed to join the dive and there was no equipment. He jumped into his truck and drove off to get some equipment. When he returned with a BCD and a regulator they managed to find some fins and we were good to go (had my own mask and computer). A wetsuit/shorty was not available (although not absolutely necessary I always prefer a wet suit). Found out later that the equipment was 'borrowed from another dive shop. Needless to say, and no surprise to me, that absolutely nothing was Cressi and all of it was way older than two years.

The divemaster asked about my certification level, we filled out the forms and he told me he had 3 long term/returning clients, that he didn't know I was supposed to join them and that the clients had requested to go drift diving and that there would be quite some current.

I decided to go with them and as said absolutely loved the dives but my word of caution to other (less experienced divers) is that the situation is potentially tricky.

Everybody should make it's own assessment of their comfort level but it goes without saying that the organization on the side of the dive shop was well below par, all the way from not informing me about what kind of dive was being scheduled and checking it against my certification level and previous experience, not doing the paperwork in the shop, not having the equipment available and ready, not informing the dive guide and to let him deal with the situation to not being able to tell the right rendez vous time.

Would I recommend West Divers? Probably not.
Would I go diving with Bam Bam again? Absolutely! He took the effort to go get me some equipment, to check my certification and even checked what kind of diver I was with the other shop I took a trip with a few days before. In short, he acted very responsible.

Big thanks to my three dive buddies that day and Bam Bam for some excellent diving.

Everything was taken care of by the staff, the dives were great! The boat was very comfortable, I am all into boat diving now whilst before I wasn't really a fan.

Would absolutely dive here again!

Fantastic, awesome, great!!!!!!

Boat is excellaent, crew even better.

We had a wonderful time and cant wait to gte back.