west divers

I never complain in these types of forums but it just was bad. Trip was supposed to be three hours. Ended in 2. The first spot we stopped the water was super choppy so snorkeling sucked which of course you can't control the weather buuuut the next stop was awesome and instead of letting us stay a while to make up for the last stop we breezed past some of the coolest things I'd ever seen. "Snacks" were one bag of Doritos, coke, water and cookies. I've never not tipped a guide but he seemed like he could just care less. We actually complained officially to the shop and they gave us $20 back but it's not about the money. We had one day for this experience and it was wasted:(

We spent the afternoon in La Parguera and snorkeled with Joel our Master Diver for the afternoon. We did not have a reservation and they were so accommodating to making sure we could snorkel on that day. We so appreciated the fact that he not only took us to locations to snorkel, but he was our water guide as well. As most of our experiences with snorkeling have been that the captain takes you out and then you are on your own from then on while snorkeling. We really enjoyed the hands on experience! He is so informative about the ecological aspects of the area and showed us plants, starfish, unusual shrimp from the mangroves. We are hoping his predictions for the area do not come true! :). We would recommend West Divers highly. thank you Joel!

Just came back from an amazing trip to Puerto Rico. The ONLY negative experience we had during our two week trip was with this dive shop. We caught them lying to our group about the dive spot and tried to cancel our reservation. They refused to let us cancel our reservations and refused to let us leave the drive shop without paying a huge cancellation fee. The situation got very tense and they called in more and more employees to pressure us into paying. We felt very uncomfortable and felt like they were taking advantage of us because we were a large group of tourists. If we had just called and cancelled over the phone, none of this would have happened, but in person they were relentless. After one member of our group got very upset we paid the fee and left. I will never go back to this dive shop and would not recommend it to anyone. Save your money and dive with someone you can trust.

We would never return to this dive shop or recommend them to anyone. This dive shop was very difficult to work with and had the worst customer service. We were unable to go to our desired dive spot in the afternoon for two dives ($115) so the dive shop tried to compromise by giving us a "deal" for one dive for $80. They said they would take us to a special spot called "no name." These pseudo compromises were after much argument where there were multiple stories and excuses given by the dive shop, some of which were found to be untrue. In the end, the coerced us into paying half price for dives that never happened by bullying our group and standing behind our car and preventing us from leaving. I am sure the diving in Parguera is nice and the dive instructors very well may be friendly as well. We just didn't get passed the terrible counter service.

Manny was the guide we had and he was very helpful and informative. Had a great time by all 15 in our group! They even arrange a dinner for us!!!

Worst boat dive trip ever in 33 years of diving. In summary, poor equipment, poor maintenance of the boat and facilities, poor communication and poor attention to the divers. Before arriving I asked if they had wet suits with the equipment rental and was told they did. But they had a ragged and ripped collection and none that fit me well. I took one but went without and it was not too cold. Seven divers on the boat, boat is full, maybe could take eight. Three guys have been coming there on vacation for five years so it works for them. There was a young couple on their first boat dive for the lady, me and my wife. On the way out the boat engine died. The divemaster's assistant captain, the only crew, went below and in a few minutes got it running but it died again and he kept it limping along until we got to a spot we could dive the wall; not the planned location, but supposed to be good. The three guys take off by themselves. Divemaster (DM) puts the young lady in the water first. I had told them that my BC fill valve was leaking air into the BC. They examined it and told me it was OK. When I was putting it on I finally convinced them that I had an equipment problem because it was blown up tight as a drum and they changed the BC. So I am last in, followed by the DM. The young lady is panicking on the surface in the three-foot seas, and the guy is getting seasick. I had asked for more weight than they gave me. DM orders us down immediately, no time for buoyancy check. Depth is 45 feet but the down line is only 15 feet. Both my wife and I are under weighted. She starts kicking down head first to get depth but starts going off too far with no line to follow. I am struggling to get down too. Visibility is not good. Everybody is separated. DM catches up with my wife, grabs her arm hard and swims away; no clear communication. We all surface and the DM starts yelling at my wife; never even asked if she was OK. Young lady goes back on the boat and we kick back to the boat against the current, get a little more weight and try again. By this time we are all tired and upset. I am still under weighted, expending a lot of energy staying down and breathing rapidly. The dive is aborted, which was probably best at that point. Meanwhile help has come to fix the engine, which had a clogged fuel filter and air in the fuel lines. The hatch in the middle of the deck is open and they are working on it. They get it fixed and the young couple escapes in the rescue boat. We went to another shallower spot and with all the equipment problems fixed, and had a nice dive. But DM takes us to the safety stop with 1000 pounds of air after 40 minutes (he said) at max depth of 60'. I am back on the boat with 900 pounds and my wife has 1200. After the aborted first dive we really could have used more bottom time. And the three guys who did the deep dive are still down there hanging out. Back at the dock (which you drive to from the shop) there are no bathrooms (none on the boat either) and we go back to the shop to use the bathroom and shower. The shower head there hardly works either and the toilet is disgusting. There is no soap or paper towels at the sink. Nobody there even asks how it went. The people there are only interested in selling T-shirts. It's not a real well-stocked dive shop.I'm leaving things out so this does not become too long. But I must say that just down the street is another dive shop, well stocked, clean bathroom, much nicer boat (with a head) and we will try them next time.

We want to thanks West Divers, Capt Frank and Bam-Bam for take us out and save our trip, This guys are amazing, they were very friendly and professional . They took us to Fallen Rock and Efras wall , we did to wall dives wow that was awesome, lot of life to see , we met pancho and lola that she seems to be Capt Franks friend playing with him , the water get a litter choppy but all good thanks again.

After being bumped by Paradise Scuba at the last minute upon our arrival for a party of 21 because they forgot to write down my party of 4, I was lucky West Divers could take us. I had never scuba dived before and was a bit anxious. I loved it! The experienced diver took us to incredible reefs and made sure we saw all there was to see.We later went to the bioluminescent bay which was much nicer than the one I had previously been to in Fajardo. It was a great experience. They are smaller than Paradise but definitely worth it. I will definitely go out again with them whenever I return.

Booked on to a two tank dive with West Divers agreeing to pay a premium they requested (only two divers on boat). They phoned at 2pm the afternoon before the dive to tell us that they did not have anyone to fill the tanks between that time and the scheduled dive the next morning. This seemed so comical that I thought it was a joke but found out it wasn't. I even offered to drive down and fill the tanks for them! This didnt seem to resolve their problem of 'not having anyone to fill tanks' and the excuse we were given it probably an indication of a business with bigger problems.Issue isnt so much that the diving got cancelled (this happens!) but the soft excuse that was provided and the fact that it was cancelled half an hour after they confirmed it was going ahead. We incurred additional expenses with a rental car we didnt need and they left the cancellation so late we were unable book another charter to replace them. Graciously they agreed not to charge our credit card for the diving they would not be providing.Personally I would never ever attempt to use this company again.

We drove all the way from fujardo to try this out and were not disappointed. BamBam is a character and added a bit of fun to dive. We dove Fallen Rock and some "secret spots" that were great despite the waves. Eliel made sure all were safe dives for our group of intermediate experience divers. Tempted to drive again that far or find accommodations in Ponce. La par guerra is a small seaside village

My husband and I signed up for a tour of the Bio-Bay off La Parguera in Puerto Rico. West Divers claimed to know the best locations in the bay to see bioluminescent sea life. The tour consisted of two guys driving us in a gas engine boat out into the bay and one of the guys getting out and swimming in the ocean to show how the water sparkles with micro-organisms (there was not a lot to see and we were there in prime-time when there was no moon). Then, this guy got back in the boat and filled a bucket with ocean water and splashed it on the deck so the micro-organisms would sparkle on the deck. My guess is they sparkled with their last breath as it is likely they died from being taken out of their environment. There was no description/discussion of what the organisms were, why they sparkled or what efforts (if any) are being made to protect their environment. My understanding is that the organisms in the bio-bay off La Parguera are dying by being poisoned from gas powered boats and sunscreen from tourists swimming amongst them. So, in essence, West Divers is just capitalizing on a natural phenomenon until it dies out because they don't know or don't care about this beautiful but delicate tourist attraction. They charge $10/head for the boat ride. Do yourself and the bio-bay a favor and try to find an outfit that rents sea kayaks and go out yourself.

After having just completed my annual year-end trip for diving La Parguera, I wanted to give credit to Bam-Bam (operating through West Divers) for another great set of dives. We are a group of experienced divers who have come to expect not only the required safety and service that West provides, but also the professional and knowledgeable manner in which Bam-Bam conducts the dives.The West Divers, six-pack boat is Coast Guard approved and is outfitted with the compulsory safety gear. Waivers were required for the daily trip; however, we noticed that for multiple days of diving, only one waiver was requested. Tank fills were generous this year. I wish to thank Angel for being the polite and helpful Captain on our boat. At the end of the week when it was time to pay, there was an issue with acceptance of credit cards which was a slight negative for the overall experience.Knowing what our group wanted, Bam-Bam either guided us to ideal locations based on his experience with the seas here or allowed us to pick the dive profiles for the day. And, even though the Wall is the area’s main draw, Bam-Bam dropped us on some shallower reef sites that were so alive with colorful creatures small and large, it almost made me forget the Wall. Surely the largest crab I had ever seen in the water was holed up under a ledge at one of these reefs. Some of these sites were not yet named. On Fallen Rock, Bam-Bam told us to expect a black-tip shark when we plunged over the lip of the wall. True to his word, it was there and then quickly retreated when it saw us. We were told human-interest stories about the water and we were given perspective of the U/W topography to better familiarize us with diving La Parguera as we idled through the surface intervals.La Parguera diving is some of the best the Caribbean has to offer. The team that put us on the unforgettable sites is the choice for diving this area.

We called a day before to reserve 3 spots on a snorkeling excursion. I was told the tour would be 2.5 hours and would start at 12pm. We arrive at the shop and were told the boat would leave between 12 and 12:30. We went to the dock, where we waited for 1 hour and 30 minutes before leaving on the tour with two boat loads of people- some of whom said they had only heard about the tour 30 minutes before. The dive guides were all very knowledgeable and helpful, but they were disorganized. 20 was way too many people (although we had enough guides) for the small areas we snorkeled in. The fact we had to wait so long and in the end took two boats because so many extra people were added was annoying. They could have sent a boat load out for an excursion and then a second out later if they wanted the business. I would not book another excursion with this company.

Rented snorkel gear from here, ridiculously expensive, we should have bought gear it would have been cheaper. The snorkeling was mediocre as well.

I just completed another dive trip to La Parguera and want to provide an overview with the hope of getting some of you to consider La Parguera as a dive destination. I was part of a group of five that has been doing this same trip for years at the same time.We used West Divers (http://www.westdiverspr.com) for the trip. They know us and have handled our group well in the past. We made our reservations around August/September. West Divers needs a minimum of three people to go out. If there are two, they will go out if each diver pays more. With five we were fine. We also were able to get our preferred divemaster who goes by “Bam Bam.” A week or so before I came to the island, I received a call asking me to reconfirm the dives and to have all of my friends reconfirm as well. A few days before the trip, they called me again to see if I needed equipment. I brought all my own gear but the shop has rental equipment. We scheduled four days of 2-tank trips. Each day costs $100 (without equipment, only tanks and weights).We were asked to arrive at the dock on the first day at 7am due to the potential for wind. That’s a bit tough when you’re on vacation but we made it. Our departure time on subsequent days was 7:30am or 8am. We were given a safety briefing and also signed the standard liability releases. The name of our boat captain for the week was Angel. Each trip out takes 25-40 minutes depending on the site. We went to several sites I have seen before (e.g. Fallen Rock, Chiminea, Andrea’s Reef) as well as some that I hadn’t seen (Bella’s Reef). Entry was via giant stride off the back of the boat. We were asked to wait at the surface until everyone was in the water. Upon return, we were required to do a three minute safety stop. There was an ascent/descent line in the water if you needed it. You do need to be a little careful when approaching the ladder to the boat as it does swing a fair bit. Our total dive times were about 50 minutes with some going up to almost an hour. The water temperature was 82F. I was fine in a 3mm shorty but if I were diving a third dive in a given day I might have opted for a full suit. One guy in our group just used his swimsuit and a rash guard. Everyone is different.When we got back on board, West Divers had sandwiches, cookies, fruit, and beverages. We then spent about an hour on board before beginning the second dive. We made it back to the shore around 12:30-1pm.We saw a good amount of fish life. In some places there were large schools of fish moving around the reef. I did not notice as many lionfish as I saw in years past. We saw a few nurse sharks. One of my friends saw a black tip shark. I’m not as good at fish identification so I’ll just say we saw the usual “Caribbean stuff.”The only glitch that I had with West Divers was paying. Both of my main credit cards (Visa and MasterCard) have the “smart chips.” West Divers’ machine wasn’t able to process them. They do not take American Express. They also rejected my ATM card. So, I had to walk next door to use the ATM and withdraw the money (using the same ATM card that was rejected). They really need to get that fixed because these chips are becoming more popular in the US. Europeans have been using them for a few years now.Now for some non-diving stuff.Our group stayed at Villa Parguera (http://www.villaparguerapr.com/) which is located on the shore right next to the town plaza. It is the largest hotel on the island. Villa Parguera is known as a “parador,” one of several “inns” that you will find around the island. The rooms are simple, but clean. Each room has a private bathroom and has air conditioning, television, and a phone. There is a nice garden area, a large pool, a restaurant, and some conference rooms. It’s really a great place to relax.With regard to food, the two best places for dinner are Moon’s Bar & Tapas in town near the bottom of Route 304. We had dinner there twice. This place is a hit every time! We also went to Restaurante Turromote which is down by the marina. You might be able to walk there but it’s easier to drive. They have incredible steaks and seafood. I suggest you make a reservation. Our group sat at the bar. I had the churrasco steak. Fantastic! We also ate at Yolanda’s Bar & Grill (good food, but the service could vary) and the Puerto Parguera restaurant which serves Puerto Rican food (good food and service). Los Balcones is also a good lunch spot with daily specials. For breakfast, I recommend M&M Café at Supermercado Perez to the right of West Divers. They open at 6:30am. There is also a bakery to the left of West Divers.There were some real surprises of new life in the town. They had live music in the town square for most of the nights we were there and the music was great! Also, a small café (Friends Café) and Aguaviva (a wine bar) were new additions. The café usually had long lines. These are all great additions to the life of the town. I was told that the leaders of the town are trying to bring in new activities. So far it’s a great start!Now for some logistics.La Parguera is in the southwest part of the island. It takes about 2.5 hours to get from San Juan to La Parguera via the 52 toll road (autopista) or about 1.5 hours from Rincon. If you’re renting a car, it probably has the toll tag which allows you to use the Autoexpreso lanes for a daily fee (only on the days you use the toll system) plus the actual toll cost. On the 52 toll road, I believe they did away with the toll attendants so you will have to pay the tolls. There is a gas station in La Parguera as well as two ATMs (one outside of Villa Parguera and one in Supermercado Perez).In conclusion, I have been coming to La Parguera for years. Each time I return I always have a great time. I highly suggest you consider adding La Parguera (and the whole island of Puerto Rico) to your plans for future dive travel.