Aquanauts Dive Adventures

★ 5 · Paul Benge · 2010-01-18

I recently upgraded my diving certificate by taking the PADI Advanced Diver Course through Aquanauts Dive Adventures on November 16 & 17, 2009. Although the actual dive shop is small (attached to the Hacienda Morelos Hotel), located in Puerto Morelos, the owners William & Crescent run a first rate business. Oh and I must mention their young son Geronimo, who at 18 months actually runs the entire operation....LOL. Recently, I upgraded to PADi Advanced through Aquanauts.  William and Crescent, who are the owners run a first rate business and oh, I must mention their young son Geronimo, who at 18 months actually runs the entire operation....LOL. I did not take my own kit, but used Aquanauts, which is in good condition.  William is a great instructor who takes time to explain things in detail, but gets the point over to you.  My first 2 dives consisted of just William and myself (talk about personal instruction) with Tony operating the boat. Of the three other dives, the highlight was of the C-56, which is a Mexican Navy gun boat, located at approximately 95 feet.  The dive was awesome and we were actually able to penetrate the ship. I would certainly return and recommend this dive centre for any scuba enthusists, who are going to be in the Puerto Morelos area and want to do some excellent diving.

★ 5 · Sara Parker · 2009-11-07

I'm a fairly new diver, and my very experienced dive buddy let me pick the outfit for our first dive together (no pressure there). After extensive research and a ton of questions to the 2 top contenders, I picked Aquanauts. Crescent answered all of my questions, and threw in extra info to help me out--even via e-mail she has a warm and welcoming personality. There were so many outstanding reviews of Aquanauts that I wondered if they could really be as wonderful as everyone said. Now that I've been there, I can say truthfully all of the praise is well-deserved! The first pleasant surprise was the reasonable rates for diving--and no surprise fees or extras--we were told exactly what our trip would cost when we made arrangements, and were charged exactly that. We arrived early to fill out the usual first-day paperwork, and the guys were already setting up equipment. The efficiency and ease with which they went through the routine gave me confidence that we would be well-taken care of--we were diving with people who obviously knew their jobs. I picked Aquanauts because I wanted to dive with someone who had a lot of patience and could help me work on my skills without making the dive boring for my buddy. I had read that William was very skilled at structuring the dives so that people of different abilities felt comfortable and were all able to enjoy the dive. We got really lucky, because we were the only divers on the boat the first day. William offered the possibility of penetrating my first wreck, if he thought I was ready once he saw me in the water. I chickened out at first, but by the time we got to the site I knew I could trust him not to let me go in if I wasn't ready, so I said let's try it. We went down, did a little exploring, and when we got to the entry point, he signaled me to come in. It was extremely cool--I'm so glad I got to try it! William led me carefully through, with my dive buddy behind me, to make sure I was OK. I probably should have been a little freaked out, but I never even thought about worrying with William in charge. The rest of our dives were equally outstanding. William took us to several sites where we saw a staggering variety of fish and marine life. He found lots of really neat creatures for me to photograph--and helped me get some great shots--he got me close enough to some juvenile drum and to a moray to get a decent shot of each, and when I was too nervous to get close to the turtle (my first turtle!!) he took my camera and got me a couple of fabulous close-ups of the turtle poking his head out of the reef. He also got me some amazing shots of lionfish, and took us to spots where there were huge schools of fish so I could get lots of practice with the camera. The Aquanauts boat captain was a true professional. Even on our one slightly rough day, he got us across the water with ease--the ride was quick and the bouncing was minimal--as someone who gets a bit seasick, this is pretty important to me. When we were gearing up or exiting the water, he was always everywhere at once, making sure our equipment was on securely and operating properly, and helping us get our gear and ourselves back in the boat without incident. Further evidence of William's skill as a teacher is what a great diver Bruno, who was one of William's students, is with only a few dives under his belt. William noticed even small details of his performance, and provided just the right mix of feedback and encouragement. I was flabberagsted to find that Bruno hadn't been diving for ages, and quite embarrassed that I was nowhere near as skilled. Crescent is as easygoing and positive in person as she was via e-mail. She is a diver herself, and an avid reader, so we had the opportunity for some lovely chats while we dried off and packed our gear to go back to the hotel. She attends to the business attentively, but always seems to make time to connect with the divers and to make sure her husband and his guys are taken care of. Everyone on the Aquanauts team made the diving so easy and took such good care of us--it was a comfortable, relaxing, extremely enjoyable experience.