Punta Campanella Diving Center — Local services in Sorrento

Instructor from the US here. I only did one afternoon dive with Punta Campanella Diving Center due to arrival times but here’s my review!

Had a great time. They run a safe, professional operation. They have all necessary recreational gear available for rent and it is in good quality. For those bringing your own gear, they typically use steel tanks, I believe 63’s with din valves (I brought yoke regs and they had a yoke adapter). They use weight belts as opposed to integrated BC’s and pressure on their SPG’s is in bar.

They use a nice clean rubber boat to get out to the dive site. Nice and low to the water so backrolling is easy. The rubber boat helps cushion the choppy water conditions which is typical in the afternoons when the wind picks up. Our site has to change last minute due to choppy conditions so instead of a 10 min ride it was maybe 20 min to get to the site which was no big deal.

I dove in mid September and water temps were 68-78. Strong thermocline around 20-30 feet where temp really dropped off. 5 mm suit is perfect for this time of year. Visibility was quite good maybe 40’. We saw a number of small fish schools and moray eels. Our dive master lead a great dive!

I would love to come back and try some other sites! I get the feeling there is more aquatic life I was not able to see due to the...

For starters, I never write reviews, this is my first. I received my certification in 1986 while serving in the U.S. Marines and earlier this year in Cabo received my advanced open water and Nitrox. I’ve dived all over the Caribbean, Mexico as well as the Great Barrier Reef. This was my worst experience by far, it was amateur hour at best. Worse dive boat I’ve ever been on, very small, and to many people, they included a bunch of snorklers, the 2 dives I did were for beginners, very shallow, nothing to see. In the Caribbean the crews are always very accommodating, here, our guide was first out, her and the boat captain watched, offered little assistance as divers struggled to get out of the water and onto the boat using the very flimsy steps. Not worth the time, effort and...

Our diving experience came with mixed feelings. Communication was good, our instructor was good and the diving site was also good. However, we went out in a very small boat, which also transferred people who were to snorkel and everything was cramped, the equipment was mixed etc. Also, it was extremely difficult to get on the boat with all the equipment on a flimsy ladder. As a result we suffered a minor injury (cut in hand). Finally, there was an equipment failure underwater (BCD inflated fully and got stuck) which could have been dangerous if the instructor had not reacted quickly (thanks). It would be good to have the boats and equipment updated as the moment both carried an amount of risk greater than what one...