What you get for the cost of your course: instruction (of course), transportation to the dive sites, and use of the equipment. If you wish to use a wet suit, there is an additional charge. If you opt for the Cozumel trip, you also get transportation (by bus and ferry) to the island of Cozumel and lunch after your dives. There's also a little time to do some shopping.

The instructors are friendly and saftey-conscious. The equipment and boats are clean and in very good condition. I've done this trip twice, and both times my experience has been absolutely perfect.

I had heard of other "divers" that have not had the same luck as I, primarily due in part to their sensitivity on the subject of tipping. Many of the top resorts in the Cancun/Riveria Maya area "all-inclusive", and the gratuity is already included in the price of their vacation. Aqua World does NOT share in this gratuity. My basic rule is this: if I had a good time and was treated well, I throw the guys a bone--20 to 50 pesos for a day trip is chump change!

The other complaint that I've heard about is that the instructors were demeaning and rude to the divers. This can happen when a "diver" does something stupid. Diving can be a very dangerous sport! If you're unsafe, expect the tongue-lashing you deserve and say you're sorry.

Once again, I had a great time diving with Aqua World and will be taking their open-water certification course on my next trip to Cancun.

The course was in fabulous condition. Since it rained most of the time, we couldn't properly judge the pace of the greens. However, the overall condition was immaculate. There were several sets of tees, so that everyone can play to his/her ability. In evaluating the course, though, I'd say that the scenery was only so-so. There were mosquito armies out there ready to devour you on the first tee if you don't bring bug spray. Our local country club in the Midwest has better scenery. It's basically swampland. Any balls hit into the rough can simply be counted as gone. There is absolutely nothing spectacularly special about this course- at least not for $250.00. They are opening another 9 holes soon- and supposedly the rate then gets hiked up some more. We'd rather head for Pebble Beach- or our local country club.