Sand Dollar Sports Dive Center — Attraction in San Miguel de Cozumel

We were in Cozumel on a cruise itinerary. We had just a few hours to spend on the island. We like to scuba dive and have been diving on Cozumel numerous times in the past. We have a favorite dive shop or operator with whom we normally dive when we come to this island. We decided due to the short duration of our port stay, we would simply go with the dive operator who was working with our cruise line - Sand Dollar Sports. I have dove with this dive/tour operator in the past but don't recall anything particularly good or particularly bad about this company. This time, we had a remarkably good experience with Sand Dollar Sports. The boat picked us up right from the cruise pier. The boat was modern, clean, and well-equipped. The dive gear was clean, relatively new, and in perfect working order. Although we had a fairly large group of divers, they had multiple dive masters on board and broke us up into smaller sized dive groups. Much to my surprise, I found that my favorite dive master of all times, had moved from my usual dive company and was now working for Sand Dollar Sports - Roberto. I have made dozens of dives in the past with Roberto and always found him to be pleasant, helpful, enthusiastic, and always willing to do whatever he could to make sure my dive was really special. He has a philosophy of "easy diving" in which he does his utmost to minimize the amount of work and hassle each individual diver has to undergo when diving with him. He did not disappoint this time, either. He was like a breath of fresh air to me after having to put up with new, inexperienced dive masters who probably have logged a lot fewer dives than my wife or I but who insist on keeping their divers on such a short leash that they feel strangled by all the rules, and so many corrections that they don't have an enjoyable dive. I have gotten my dive gear ready many hundreds of times in the past - I don't need to fool with that when I'm trying to relax on vacation. I want to simply show up, slip my arms into my BCD, tighten things up, then stand up and enter the water at the time of my dives. Anything more than that is simply too much effort and work. Roberto made me feel safe, but due to his depth of experience, did not focus on the non-important things but ensured that we had enough personal freedom to explore on the dive such that each diver was able to have a very personalized dive experience. Roberto was there to ensure we were safe and to point out the myriad of interesting sea life and animals so that each dive we felt we saw and experienced much more than we would have with other dive masters. I didn't get lectured about swimming 2 feet from the other divers, or swimming all in a row like some type of underwater duckling. He was comfortable enough with his skills and was able to observe our level of skill and let us relax and enjoy the underwater experience without constantly hassling us or banging on his tank. Really enjoyed diving with Sand Dollar Sports and loved diving with Roberto. I would definitely ask for him by name on my next dive with...

!!For your safety, get your PADI certification somewhere else!! My instructor was overbooked and spent half his time with other groups.

Their website says people can get their open water certification in 3 days. After I paid a deposit, I received an email saying the course was only 2 days (after which I would be certified) and that I could pay extra to do a boat dive on the last day.

I felt extremely rushed the entire time. On the first day, we had three dives planned and even after the first dive, I was so exhausted I needed to take a short nap. After the second, it was already noon (we started at 8am) and my instructor wanted me to do the last dive right away. I insisted on taking a break to eat.

As soon as I finished eating, I was rushed back into the water because my instructor had another class booked for that afternoon. The last dive was extremely uncomfortable for obvious reasons — 20 extra minutes to digest lunch would have gone a long way.

The second day was even worse. I completed my last dive with 3 people doing a discovery dive. I had to wait for my instructor to finish briefing them before we could continue with my certification. The entire time, my instructor’s attention was divided between the group doing the discovery dive and my final dive to earn my certification.

As soon as we got out of the water, my instructor started to brief the next group doing a discovery dive before helping me log my dives. I mean seriously man???

After waiting around for another 30min (at this point it was past noon and I was starving and exhausted again) my instructor finally came back to complete the course with me.

I also have to mention the fact that several of the instructors (not mine, thankfully) spent a lot of time staring at my body every time I walked past them.

Spend a few extra dollars on a course somewhere else and save yourself this hassle. My instructor didn’t even check that I had completed my e-learning until after I completed all my dives. (Though the owner did ask me as soon as I arrived)

There were a few other minor things that irked me.

For example, the restaurant staff told me I couldn’t eat outside food on the premises and needed to buy their overpriced food to eat there. Considering the time crunch because of how overbooked my instructor was, and the fact that I paid $450 USD, you’d think I’d be able to eat at the dive shop.

Also, when we arrived, the owner offered us some coffee which never came (which is fine) but they told us it would cost $6 USD when we reminded them (which kind of sucks when you’ve already been...

They are responsive on WhatsApp and flexible in working with your schedule, and they claim to offer valet service, but apart from that, the dive guide I had Bernardo was very rude, angry, and did not follow safety protocols. There are other negative reviews about him as well and I wish I read them before choosing this dive shop. He left one elderly member of our dive group ascend on his own without a buddy or supervision and he was just open water certified (the group always ascends together this was new to me), he was yelling at people on the boat when they asked questions and insulting them which I have on video, when I was underwater I asked for help to adjust my strap because they messed up my weight belt and he got annoyed and refused to help, he was touching the wildlife (which I also have on video) when it was clearly listed not to touch any wildlife in the marine park, and apart from that, the person on the boat did not help me walk to my spot on the boat with my tank after the dive and my knees were in bad shape after, and it could have also led to a major accident with people falling due to the lack of help. The helper on the boat also pushed me to jump when I wasn’t ready (I hadn’t even stood there for 2 seconds before he started pushing me) and he scares people to rush by saying the sharks will come to get you- as an advanced diver I didn’t care but I can see how it could cause a lot of panic for other people. No one helped me put my tank back after the dive. Bernardo was even annoyed when I asked for a stamp for my dive log, he was constantly disgruntled acting like he hates his job. After diving with many other shops, this is the worst shop I have ever dived with and I strongly recommend to anyone diving with these people, at least make sure not to dive with Bernardo. It reflects poorly on the dive shop to have their most senior dive master act in such a manner. They have no motivation to ensure a good experience for all their clients because they constantly get bookings from cruise ship passengers. The ambience of this place also sucks because it’s right in front of enormous cruise ships and it’s noisy and busy, I was waiting there for 10-15 mins for assistance when I first got there. They also pushed me to get there 30 mins early but left a whole hour and a half later than the stated departure time. The dive itself was mediocre, its not as rich with marine life as...