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10 stars for Alan, 0 for Pavel. To be objective there should really be two separate reviews here for Scuba Playa.
On the day diving in the cenotes with Alan everything went smooth and super professional - from driving, to briefing, to the actual dive guiding in a most incredible cavern labyrinth on Earth, finished off by a spontaneous street taco. If I were to return for diving in Mexico, I would hire Alan as a personal guide (which he does offer @chillandgodiving).
Shipwreck dive with Pavel was an absolute failure from the start. He was rude and condescending in his poor English, didn't follow pre-dive safety/buoyancy/buddy check procedures, briefing was a joke, and the best: HE COULDN'T FIND THE SHIPWRECK. We swam for 40min over a flat sandy bottom seeing absolutely nothing. I kid you not, but he blamed it on "the sea current being 'wrong' direction and the captain dropping us in the wrong spot". There isn't such a thing as wrong current - I sail in one of the most complex tidal areas in the world and can tell you that the direction and force of sea currents have been calculated for years in advance to the hour and charted with pretty colorful arrows for anyone to understand. Not a rocket science, but you do need to invest 40 bucks a year in a Navionics app (where that missing shipwreck is also charted btw). Clearly disappointed by my lack of admiration at his bragging about shark feeding, Pavel finished the day with a snooty remark "why do you even dive if you don't like sharks" (because I'm a divemaster with 200 dives and I know what I like? LOL). Should have looked in the papers before telling me to put the regulator in my mouth on that second dive... He was totaly unprofessional and I dare to doubt that he is a PADI instructor, unless he bought his qualification in the Taiga.
Otherwise, the dive center itself is well equipped and the owner Anita super friendly - she let me borrow a snorkeling set on the New Years Day when the center was closed and arranged an extra dive after the shipwreck fiasco. I understand the business needs a dummy for a shark feed(er) but if you happen to stumble in there, ask NOT to have Pavel as your dive guide. - via 