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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 99
jfabes Offline OP
OP Offline
I was in san pedro 4/13 - 4/23 and wanted to do some diving. After reading all the great things other members have had to say about protech I decided to dive with protech, and boy what a mistake that was.

I took a relaxing walk up the beach from bananna beach to the belize yacht club where protech is located and spoke to a lady at their shop out on the pier. We had decided that since I had not been diving since 1999 that I should do a refresher course, so I agreed to the refresher course. I was told the refresher course would be $100 and included gear and it was a 1 tank dive that should last around 40 minutes or so depending on 02 usage. So the lady tells me to be at the dock at bananna beach the next morning at 0830 hours. Sunday morning I wake up around 6am and go eat to give time for the food to settle, then walk around a little bit. Around 0815 I head out to the beach and find myself a comfortable lounger to relax in while waiting for protechs boat to come pick me up. A few minutes later a protech boat goes flying past the dock and I thought that they would pick me up on the way back but around 0830 no protech boat, 0845 protech boat goes past the dock as I wave and keeps on heading towards their dive shop, 0900 no protech boat, 0915 still no protech boat. Finally I was pissed off enough that I walked up to their dive shop and spoke to another female there, one of the dive masters and informed her that I had a refresher dive scheduled for today and that I was told I would be picked up at 0830 so she checks the schedule it was on the schedule. I told her I was a little upset about the situation and she stated that they would comp the rental gear for me for my troubles if I still wanted to dive with them, which I agreed to. 1330 protech arrived at the bananna beach pier to pick me up and my refresher dive was with gilbert who was a great dive master and very knowledgable and eager to point out interesting things throuhg out the dive. After the dive I was feeling a little better about protech so I scheduled a 2 tank dive for the next day.

Monday around 0815 I waited nervously at the pier to see if protech would once again forget me, but this time they showed up and off we went back to the dive shop. Today my dive master was the female dive master I had spoken to the previous day. First dive max depth was around 65 feet and during the dive we saw a total of 5 huge sea turtles, 2 of them were large males that were fighting by snapping at each other shells and flappers so we hung around for a minute or two and watched while they fought. 2nd dive we again saw more huge sea turtles but not as interesting as the first dive. Back on the boat headed inside the reef Gilbert asked me if I needed to go to the dive shop for any reason and I said yes becaues I wanted to schedule another 2 tank dive. Gilbert said he would let them know and asked what day so I told him thursday I wanted to do a 2 tank dive and I was told to be at the pier at 0830 on thursday for pick up.

Thursday comes and I am again excited about diving. I walk out to the beach around 0810 and wait for the protech boat. About 0830 I start getting nervous that they might have forgotten me again but I wait a little longer. 0845 no protech boat, 0900 and still no protech boat so by now the phones are back up so I head inside monkey business to have them call. The lady at the dive shop says they had no one else who wanted to dive this morning so my dive was postponed for 2pm later that afternoon. She stated that she called Bananna beach and had the staff call me room but there was no answer, so they left a message taped to the door of my room. So I walk back to my room and look at the door, no message is taped on the door, I asked my travel companion who had been in the room all morning if there was a call for me and she stated no one had called the room. By now I am a little upset with protech, but reluctantly I decided to go ahead with the 2 tank dive later that afternoon. Later that afternoon protech did show up to pick me up at the dock and the dives were exciting and fun.

After the dives we head back to the dive shop so I can clear up my tab. I was told I needed to pay cash or travelers checks and I explained to them that when I first talked to them before diving that I needed to pay with a credit card because I did not have the cash nor travelers checks to cover the amount owed to them. After a few minutes they agreed to take my credit card. I scan over all the charges and see that I was charged $10 for a park entrance fee for the refresher dive, only problem is we did not do the dive at hol chan, it was some other local site. After some convincing the lady takes off the $10 charge. But what else, I see that I was in fact charged for the rental gear I was told that I would not be charged for becuase of their mistakes in forgetting to pick me up. Finally I had enough of that company and just sigend the damn credit card slip and got out of there.


CLIFF NOTES: protech forgets me at dock twice, then charges me for park entrance fees when we didnt even dive the marine park, and also charges me for gear they stated they would comp me because of their mistakes. NEVER again will I dive with protech.

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,273
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I remember when you were inquiring on who to go with. Did you enjoy the rest of your time in AC? If you return, PLEASE go with Amigos Del Mar, I really ment all that I said. They are professional, knowledgable, great at what they do, and FUN.

Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 29
C
Offline
C
We dove with Protech last summer, and overall the experiance was good, we are planning on diving with them agian this summer. However, I have to agreet the office staff is the weakest part of the operation. They would promise us calls, we would have to call three times. We also had boat confusion one morning. However, the skill and attitude of the divemasters, the excellent equipment and good boats made up for this for us. I was doing my open water check out, and Jr. was outstanding. My boyfriend is a long time diver, and was impressed with the dive staff.

Hope they square away the office problems soon to make working with them the all-around outstanding experiance it could and should be.

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 700
Offline
You should of listened to Ke, None of this would of happened with Amigos. This is why Amigos is and will always be the most recommeneded dive shop in S.P. I have made over 150 dives with Amigos over the past 12yrs.I have led many group trips with them & have sent many local dive shops from my area (ohio)there as well. My largest group was 23 divers, I have never had a bad experience with them or has any one I sent down to dive with them.
No one comes close to their service & experience.
Their staff has hardly changed over the past 10 years. Why? Because they are all very happy working for the best Dive Operation in S.P. & they are always busy. They also have the largest fleet of boats in S.P.
The owner is Changa Paz who has lived in S.P. all his life.
They also happen to have the best location, right in the center of town in front of Cholo's bar & Lily's restarant.
There are alot of good guides who can show you a good time under water in S.P.
But as I said earlier:
. No one comes close to their all around service.

Jerry Webb
NAUI Instructor #12240

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,273
Offline
Exactly, J Dog is 100% right. In responce to Coreen, this is great that Coreen had a great overall dive experience with Protech. HOWEVER, she mentions "office staff is the weakest part of the operation" and " They would promise us calls, we would have to call three times. We also had boat confusion one morning." This is not an overall excellent experience if AMIGOS will provide the an excellent experience WITHOUT these troubles both people above had. Changa would not allow such things to happen with his staff. AMIGOS DEL MAR ON A SCALE OF 1-10 (10 BEING THE BEST):

PROFESSIONALISM=10
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL=10
EXPERIENCE=10
EQUIPMENT=10
STAFF(OFFICE AND DIVEMASTERS)=10
ORGANIZATION=10
(THEY DON'T FORGET THEIR CUSTOMERS!!!)
COMMITMENT TO GREAT SERVICE=10
FUN=11 (CAN I GIVE AN 11?)

(THEY ARE FUN TO DIVE WITH/KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT FUN!)

So if you dive with others, who you feel are not adequete in some areas, but make up for it in others, why wouldn't you go with a company who is 100% reputable and excellent?

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 205
Offline
That settles it. We're going to use Amigos. Is it wise to book in advance of a two week trip in February? We want to dive 5 days each week for a total of 10 days. I was hoping to get a multi-day/week discount for booking. We're staying at Mata Rocks.

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,273
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I do not believe in Feb it is necessary to pre-book. I was just there in Feb. They have a lot of boats and lots of great divemasters. Have a wonderful time with Amigos!

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 99
jfabes Offline OP
OP Offline
ke if and when I return to san pedro I will definitely steer clear of protech and will dive with amigos del mar. Originally I had the refresher dive scheduled with amigos del mar but had to wind up canceling it when I found out that the phone lines were down and I could not get cash from the ATM. Only later did I realize that I could possibly pay by credit card. When I set out to walk up to amigos del mar from BB I found that I was hot and sweaty and tired by the time I reached protech so decided to try them out and what a mistake. If I do return I definitely will not stay that far out of town either, not really much to do at night way down there. After the 3rd or 4th day I smartened up and passed up the walk up the beach for walking the road and hitchhiking. I found that most tourists and some locals were very eager to offer a ride on their golf cart, although I did have a few locals pass me up and yell out some smart ass comments while I was attempting to thumb a ride.


Overall a good experience on AC, I enjoyed everything I did there from the snorkeling to the fishing with cpt bicho to the diving to the lamanai trip. I would return to AC but only after I visit other destinations that I have on my list first.

Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 8,868
S
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S
Any local that picks up hitchiking tourists is gonna hear complaints from his taximan friends and neighbors. They see that as taking food from their families table.

Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 177
IRM Offline
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WWJDW?

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