My family (wife and two adolescent girls and I) decided to try scuba diving last year and hired Ocean Quest Dive Center, specially because they had the best price since we where on a tight budget. We learned that we had to pay cash which was OK. After filling out the registration forms we had to watch the Padi video which was kind of long and basically the same we had already read in the Padi book, that Klaus Bosbach the owner and Master Instructor, had recommended us to read before coming to Vallarta. After going through some theory and dive tables we did our confined water portion in Los Arcos in an area where you can stand and slowly learned all the skills we needed. My wife had problems to clear the mask and Klaus was very patient. Finally after and hour she could do it flawlessly. He explained that the course is performance based and it could be fast if you learn the skills quickly, but we had to feel comfortable. In our case the whole afternoon went into training but it was worth it because we all loved it and really felt good with the skills.

The next day we went to the Aquarium at Los Arcos and dove to 40 feet fed a bunch of angelfish and butterflyfishes; we where totally immersed in fish, it was fantastic. We had to repeat the skills such as pre dive safety check, 5 step descend, the mask, buoyancy, regulator recovery etc., and in the second dive the rest emergency swimming ascend equipment removal etc. It was great because during the exercises spotted eagle rays swam by us and schools of fish.

The next day we dove also in Los Arcos but the wall and we had to repeat only mask and regulator recovery and had a super dive. Klaus Bosbach our instructor was very precise on briefing and dive review and logging our dives. It surprised me that they processed all the information on line and I had that same day a confirmation e-mail from Padi that we where certified. I think we got a great deal, we learned a lot and we had great dives and pictures to take home. I highly recommend Klaus and Ocean Quest!

On the first day, both of our dives had visibility of 80 to 100 feet! I was amazed at how good the view was, especially since it was the rainy season. Los Arcos is in the south part of Banderas Bay. The streams that flow into the bay on the south side come straight out of the mountains. The north side of the bay looked like 0 to 5 feet of visibility due to the muddy river that flows into the north side.

On our first two dives, we dove the "aquarium," which runs 25 to 60 feet deep. We saw many large schools of colorful fish. There were also a few eels and sea horses. The bottom is rocky, with some coral, but the coral is not very colorful. The water temperature was 90°F. It was very comfortable without a wet suit.

The second day, we dove Devil’s Canyon, which goes 25 to 1,800 feet deep. The visibility that day was about 40 to 60 feet. There was a thunderstorm in the area that was stirring things up. We did not see as many fish in this part of Los Arcos, but we did see three rays. We saw an eagle ray and a sting ray that was sitting on the bottom. We were right next to the drop-off to 1,800 feet. While we were looking at the sting ray, I noticed the sea behind one of the other divers getting dark. I then realized that it was a 20-foot-wide manta ray that had just come up the cliff wall! It was an amazing sight to see. The manta ray stayed in the area for quite awhile. It even came to the surface when we did and stayed about 50 feet away from us.

That evening, there was a HUGE thunderstorm over the entire bay. That probably hurt the visibility for the next few days. We hit it at just the right time.

When we arrived at the shop at 10am, Klaus’s assistant, Lutz, was there and fitted us for our equipment. The shop was big enough for four of us to stand inside. Klaus arrived at about 10:30am. We were doing four dives (in 2 days) and getting our full certification for six people. The cost was $220 each for a total of $1,320 (this included all equipment). Ocean Quest’s website says that they take VISA and MasterCard. When we got there, they wanted CASH! They tried to run my credit card, but it would not work. When we came back the second day, we paid with my wife’s credit card (same account, different card). After all the hassle, Klaus graciously waived his standard 10% SURCHARGE FOR USING CREDIT CARDS.

They took the gear in a pickup truck. We took the bus for about a 15-minute ride to the dive site. From the bus stop, we walked down a dirt road for about 400 yards. There are several local vendors that have shops along the road, and also some restaurants.

We got down to the beach, and the gear was loaded into a motor boat with seating for about 10 people. Since this was our certification class, we were told that we would do our confined water training in about 5 feet of water. We did it in 5 feet of water–with 10 to 30 feet of more water below us! If you want a quick, no-frills, no-excessive-instruction, bare-minimum class, then this is for you. We did all the required skills for the PADI certification. We did the skills once, and if we did it correctly (or at least close), we did not do that skill again. Most of our time was spent enjoying the dive.

When we got back to shore, they packed up the truck and headed back to the shop. We rode the bus for 5 pesos ($0.50) each for the bus. We stopped at Juan’s restaurant for lunch before catching the bus. They have good local food and $1 beers.

The diving was exceptional. See my entry on Los Arcos dive site.

I originally was going to go with Chico’s, the big dive shop. In my research, I found that Chico’s is one of two dive shops in the world to be EXPELLED from PADI.

Overall, it was a good experience. One big plus is that they limit their groups to six divers. I would recommend Ocean Quest for divers who are already certified or want a VERY short, bare-bones certification course.