Visit Date: April 2009

My wife and I were very disappointed with this dive operator. Our initial impression at the dive shop was fine, but as soon as we were on the boat, things weren't quite right.

Our divemaster gave the briefing, and informed us that the dive would be for 60 minutes. This is pretty standard for the area we were diving. However, she said if we were low on air before 60 minutes, we were going to have to breathe off of her alternate instead of surfacing. This wasn't presented as a choice if you wanted to stay down longer, but as a rule. With every other place we've been, when you're low on air, you signal to the divemaster, and then you and your buddy end the dive.

We decided we'd just do whatever we were comfortable with if that situation came up. We started our descent and noticed that the regulators (rented from the shop) were not giving us much air. We're fairly new divers, but have never had this issue before. Continuing down, my wife wasn't able to breathe, so I had to give her my alternate, and we started for the surface. The divemaster came up with us, and after one question about whether she was okay, started telling us that it was my wife's fault and the regulator was fine. I tried out my wife's regulator, and found it hard to breathe, so I have a hard time believing the Divemaster who said she'd just been scared.

We returned to the boat and changed out the regulator for the spare onboard. The new one was just as difficult. I'm not sure if they had them adjusted to conserve air, or whether it was a matter of not being serviced properly. Either way, we weren't comfortable with the equipment and decided just to stay on the boat and snorkel instead.

After the other divers and divemaster came back after their dive, the divemaster continued to dismiss our concerns and told us we were just new and didn't know what we were talking about.

When we got back to the dive shop, we explained the situation, and they agreed to only charge us for a snorkel trip. This is the only reason I gave 2 stars for the staff rating instead of 1.

While this Dive Center is the only one on La Digue, it is not the only option if you're staying on that island. Some of the Dive Centers of Praslin will pick you up from the La Digue Jetty on the way to dive sites. The other centers have lower prices and better service.

I would not recommend this dive center to anyone, especially not to divers without much experience.