Dressel Divers Club International

Where Dressel Divers operates

Dressel Divers Club International runs its own dive centers, snorkel trips, boat excursions, water sports and dive courses, mostly from beach resorts. Its destination menu lists Mexico (Cozumel Island, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta), Jamaica (Montego Bay), the Dominican Republic (Bavaro and Punta Cana, Bayahibe and La Romana) and Spain (Majorca). The About page's list of water sport centers adds Playa Paraiso in Mexico, and the hotel list places the centers at Iberostar, Barceló, Hyatt, Dreams, Jewel and Grand Palladium resorts, with the Majorca base at the Iberostar Waves Club Cala Barca. The homepage headline reads "Top-notch scuba diving since 1993," and the About page says the company has "more than 30 years experience in water sports." Its CEO and founding President is named as Javier Ibran. Prices on the site are shown in US dollars.

The jobs page describes the company as operating "on the Caribbean beaches of 5-star hotels," and says it holds "the PADI worldwide record in dive certifications per year for a multi-resort operation." The About page adds that the company "certifies over 3,000 new divers and introduces more than 30,000 people to the sport of diving" each year.

Courses, excursions and snorkeling

Courses run from first dives to professional level. The homepage groups them as Dive Courses for Beginners; Refresher, Advanced and Specialty Courses; and a Scuba Diving Career track with SDI Core Diver Essentials, the SDI Divemaster Course, the SDI Dive Instructor Course and Technical Diving Courses, under the banner "From Zero to Dive Instructor." The courses page says the company has long taught PADI courses and has added SDI "to broaden our offer," and that "in all our destinations we offer Beginner and Advanced courses, including diving lessons for kids." The homepage claims "Over 100,000 diving courses delivered and counting." Divemaster (Go Pro) and instructor (IDC) programs run periodically through the company's own Career Development Center.

Excursions are listed by country. In Mexico: a Cozumel Excursion, Cenote Diving, a Catamaran Tour in Riviera Maya, Bull Shark Diving, Riviera Maya Diving, Mayan Snorkeling, a Marieta Islands trip and Puerto Vallarta Whale Watching. In Jamaica: the Luminous Lagoon (which the wedding page lists on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), the Montego Bay Marine Park, a Catamaran Tour, a Mangrove Safari by kayak with snorkeling, and the Catamaran Wedding and Catamaran Party in Montego Bay. In the Dominican Republic: Saona Island, Catalina Island, a Catamaran Tour in Punta Cana, Wreck and Night Diving, and a Divers Day. Snorkeling is offered at every Mexican, Jamaican and Dominican base, and water sports centers in all 3 Caribbean countries offer what the homepage lists as "Parasailing, Jet-Ski, Windsurf and more." A GoPro service is also on the menu.

The Catamaran Wedding in Montego Bay has the most detailed page, describing a private celebration cruise for wedding parties, bachelor parties or family gatherings. It leaves from the pier in front of the dive center, stops at a coral reef for snorkeling (mask, fins, snorkel and vest included) and then at a shallow natural pool. The page lists a morning tour from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and an afternoon tour from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in winter), seating for a maximum of 35 people, an open bar, a champagne bottle per 10 people, and crew and hostess service. It shows the price "from $72 USD using the 20% prepayment discount" and also says "Contact us for prices." Guests can stay at any resort and "simply hop over" to the dive center.

Boats, equipment and safety, as the company describes them

The About page says the dive boats were built for Dressel Divers, that most are catamarans or trimarans, and that all carry a sun roof, fresh drinking water, a radio, GPS, oxygen and spare gear, with captains holding first aid training. Cylinders are provided on board, rental gear is washed and disinfected by staff, and the homepage advertises "FREE Nitrox included," with an asterisk. The company states it keeps "an immaculate safety record with a 0% accident rate" and says almost all its staff qualified through its own Career Development Center. Certified divers from other agencies (SDI, SSI, NAUI, CMAS, PADI and others) are welcome, according to the Dive Federations section.

Instructors must be fluent in English, which the jobs page calls "the official language of Dressel Divers," and ideally speak Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian or Dutch. The About page describes the staff as "multilingual." The site itself is published in English, Spanish, German, French and Italian.

Liveaboards and Stay and Dive packages

The liveaboard menu covers the Maldives, Galapagos, the Red Sea, the Bahamas, Socorro, Truk Lagoon, the Solomon Islands, Bikini Atoll, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. These are not Dressel's own boats. The About page calls them "Liveaboard Quality Selects," says the company picks "one liveaboard per world-class diving destination," and states that "diving is offered based on the strong standards of each liveaboard operator," with yearly quality checks by Dressel. Stay and Dive packages are listed for Cozumel and Playa del Carmen in Mexico, Bayahibe and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, and Montego Bay in Jamaica, and the homepage mentions bookings with more than 20 resort partners and more than 300 activities.

Booking, reviews and support

The homepage lists a 20% discount "just for online bookings" (with "Conditions Apply"), and secure payment through Redsys by Visa and Mastercard. The homepage, About page and tour page each carry a "Contact us for prices" form. The reservations department is open Monday to Friday, 10:00 to 18:30 CET, by email, phone and WhatsApp. A review widget shows "Excellent" based on 3510 Tripadvisor reviews, and the About page lists per-center review counts, from 2884 for Cozumel to 209 for Puerto Plata. The About page also says the company has been voted among the top 10 dive resort operators by Rodale readers several times.

What the site leaves open

The site does not publish a cancellation or refund policy, and it does not say what the conditions on the online discount or the free Nitrox are. Prices for courses, dives and most excursions are given only on request, so the $72 wedding cruise is the only figure shown. Minimum ages for the kids' courses and the prerequisites for specific dives are not set out. The Catamaran Wedding has a stated 35-person cap, but group sizes for dives and snorkel trips are not given. The company suits travelers staying at one of its partner resorts in the Caribbean who want to learn to dive or dive daily from the hotel beach; the wedding page says guests staying at any resort can join, but most prices have to be requested before committing.