Diving

Under the Sea 

You might think this is going to be about Disney and if you kept reading to here, you will find out you are dead wrong.  This has nothing to do with the Little Mermaid.  I became a certified scuba diver in 2018 and it has been one of the most exciting, terrifying, and expensive things I've ever done.   

Simply getting the certification wasn't too taxing.  I chose Diver Supply Indy.  They assisted with equipping me with fins, a mask, and snorkel and ensured I had all of the necessary equipment when it was time to complete my dives.  My dive instructor was great and took plenty of time to ensure I had the knowledge and skills required for diving.  If you are in the market for a dive center, I highly recommend Jimi Mayes and his crew.  Now, back to the task at hand.  

There are a couple of ways you can dive while on vacation and they include staying at a dive resort, on a dive boat, or at a resort that either offers diving or who can assist with your diving.  The first two are for your more seasoned diver and the main focus of these resorts and boats is to immerse you (no pun intended) into a diving experience.  I don't know first hand, but I suspect that the quality of the other amenities that our clients ask about will likely be less spectacular when you chose this type of trip.  We book the third sort of trip - so let's look more closely at resorts that offer or assist with diving.

Sandals and Beaches resorts, hands down, have provided a majority of my vacation dive experiences.  Why, do you ask? Well, since they offer every certified diver at least two one-tank or one two-tanks dives every day, absolutely free, it's hard to go wrong.  You mean "free" but you have to pay for the equipment, air, gratuities, boat, etc?  No, I mean completely free.  It's all included.  

The resort normally has it's own dock, boats, 5-Star PADI dive center (where for a fee you can get certified if you aren't or take additional classes if you are).  During our last trip to the Bahamas, I was able to complete 11 dives and I completed my Advanced Open Water certification.  I will point out that a Sandals or Beaches vacation is more expensive than most other all-inclusive brands but you get what you pay for and this is no exception.

If you decide this resort brand is more than you want to spend, not all is lost.  Palace Resorts have dive centers operated by independent companies at some of their resorts.  I've had the opportunity to dive twice from these centers and had average experiences.  I have also stayed at Palace and booked with other dive centers in Mexico including Aqua World for a cenote dive, Scuba Caribe, and Dressel Divers.  The last two dive centers were located at RIU Yucatan and Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal, respectively.  Dani (SC) and Sam and Matteo (DD) were excellent guides.  All three did a fantastic job and did a superb job discussing their expectations and our dive plan. 

Staying at the same resort you dive from allows you some added benefits such as the ability to leave you gear at the dive center instead of lugging it back and forth, saving on the cost of transfers off property (I spent $60 for taxis on my last trip to Mexico), and time-savings which means either more dives or extra time with the family. 

If you have any questions about diving or booking an all-inclusive resort package, don't hesitate to contact us.  For more tips and fun, follow us @instagram disney.dillon or Facebook.  Remember we are paid by our vendors like Sandals, Beaches, RIU, Palace and Iberostar (and many more) so our services are 100% free to you!