We are experienced divers and have already visited several bases around the world. Frenchies, however, is one of the worst experiences we have had and we would definitely not recommend this base, especially for inexperienced divers.
The motto here is: Earn as much money as possible with as little effort as possible in the shortest possible time.
There was no clean introduction, neither for the base nor for the boat. A short boat and dive briefing when driving out and a confusing group division should be enough. However, the guide assignment was not adhered to, our “scheduled” guide was already in the water and submerged, and when we asked who we should go with now, all crew members shrugged their shoulders disinterestedly. At some point someone took matters into their own hands and we were assigned to another guide. But he was already in the water too. We had to laboriously dive after it in order to be able to go along.
As already mentioned, the briefing on the first dive was more bad than good. On the second dive it was no longer there.
Underwater, the guide merely acted as a guide. Look for great and interesting objects and, if necessary, show them to the group = none. He was happy that he was able to finish the first dive quickly after 50 minutes (we all still had at least 100 bar of air). The group hadn’t even shown up yet and the guide was already sitting on the boat to grab a packet of chips. The surface break was made in a lagoon. There was no information whatsoever. If you asked, you were met with short, annoyed answers. The crew preferred to be among themselves and didn’t want to be disturbed. In the lagoon you could snorkel with Nurse Sharks and Southern Stingrays. This was cool, but we guests had to find out for ourselves.
The second dive was completed after just 40 minutes. I think the guide was bored and cold. Here too: He was the first on the boat, the other divers, especially the inexperienced ones, were left to their own devices. At the beginning it was said that safety was the most important thing for Frenchies and would be treated as a priority. Sounds good, but it wasn’t implemented at all. At the end there was a short speech as we arrived, saying thanks to the guests and they hoped we had all had fun etc. But actually it was just a note to please leave a tip. Hard to beat when it comes to cheekiness.
I would like to positively mention the youngest crew member, who was the only one who looked after the divers. He did all the work, helping the divers, distributing drinking water, and was always there while all the other older crew members were busy with themselves and the chips and cookies.
Conclusion: I would not recommend the base to anyone, neither experienced divers, but certainly not newbies. It is a check-in process and the individual guests are not taken into account. Safety is not a priority, but getting back as quickly as possible and collecting tips is not a priority. There are a lot of other, smaller bases on the island. I would definitely take these into account in the future. (Frenchies was recommended to us by our hotel).
By the way, the two dives were terribly boring and more or less in the same place and close to the base. Here too it was a good idea: it was better to have a short journey than an attractive diving site. -via
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