Visit Date: July 2009

My 11 year old son and I just competed our PADI open water certification at La Buga yesterday. I am extremely impressed with La Buga! Not only do they provide a relaxed and comfortable environment for the theoretical part of the course, but they also provide top notch water skills training. My son was a little nervous about some of the skills required, and he didn't love the bookwork. He is after all, 11 years old! However, Kate's patience and one on one coaching and Ricardo and Kate's positive vibe encouraged him to continue. He completed the course with flying colors! I have to give them extra credit for that! They did not skimp on the skills requirements or the quality of the instruction and they were flexible and supportive throughout..

The diving was transcendent, the confined water skills were done out on the sandy bottom of the Gardens, which is a beautiful environment is which to learn. We had 3 days with 2 dives each day. And they add on 2 free dives to use as you like after one is certified! Kate really enjoys sharing the underwater world with her students and Jose and Fidel back her up superbly. They care about the environment very much and educate on proper diving techniques that cause no harm to the reef environment. Jose is studying to be a marine biologist and is an amazing diver in his own right. Ricardo, Kate and Jose are fluent in both Spanish and English, Fidel is very quiet so he remains a mystery! All are very fun and comfortable to be around.

It was our first experience with diving and we loved it. My favorite was the drift dive, but Hospital Point was also amazing.