Why book your dives through Divescover.com?
The 4 reasons why is better to book your dives through us:- It's easier. Avoid surfing over hundreds of crappy websites. Get all the information in one place
- Choose among all the dive centers available, not only the ones with website or agents
- Always the best price. If you find it cheaper, we pay you the difference
- Earn points: Upload your pictures, reports, comments, invite your friends, and you get credits to save money in your next booking
How Divescover works?
It's very easy and free!
- Choose whether you want to find a specific dive center, a region or just wanter around
- Get a list of the best places in the country, and narrow your search down by region
- You can send an enquire to the dive center or book directly through our system, getting always best prices
- Get points by booking trhough us, uploading pictures or comments. Redeem the points in your next holidays!
How can I be sure of the quality of a diving center?
First of all, your best option will be to check other users comments and references. If a dive center has an AMBASSADOR REVIEW section in its page, it means that one of our ambassadors personally and impartially reviewed the dive center, and gave them a rating. Check for the review!
If a dive center appears like this:
it means that an ambassador reviewed this dive center, written a complete evaluation and the number is the overall rating of the place. If the dive center has 75% or more then they have gained the divescover quality award.
As a dive center, shop, resort or live aboard
There are four levels in our diving centers:
Standard: This is the normal state. Any active dive center can have this status and
appear on the website. Any user can write a comment or reference as well, but this
is not a quality award from us. It is FREE to appear with a standard account in our
directory.
Premium: This means that the dive center has a premium account. It will appear first
in search results and in the directory, and will be able to upload more information than
the others, as well as being highlighted. This means that the dive center paid a fee for
the premium account, but this is not a quality award. Any user can write a reference or
comment about the center.
Gold: A few more goodies than the premium account, such as featured in our home page,
newsletters, and in our facebook and twitter accounts.
Recommended: This is the actual quality award. Is not money related. This means
that a dive center CAN NOT buy this status. To be a recommended dive center,
one of the divescover ambassadors has to personally dive in the place and write a
statement about the center. Note that not every dive center will be able to pass the
quality standards needed. A recommended dive center can have either a standard or a
premium account.
What is a Divescover Ambassador?
An ambassador is a professional, recreational diver with a certification of at least
divemaster or equivalent. The diver has to be somehow involved in diving in more
ways than just the occasional diving holiday.
By this we ensure that it is somebody who has dived in several places and is able to
write an objective evaluation of any dive center around the world.
The only way to be an ambassador is by being recommended by another ambassador.
He or she, has to pass a personal interview before qualifying.
Once the ambassador is active, this will be shown in his / her profile, and they will be
able to perform reviews of any dive center wanting to be recommended. These users
are the most important on the website, and their reviews and comments will be the
most important.
What does a dive center need to be recommended?
Any dive center can ask to be recommended, in which case we will put the application
in the queue until an ambassador is ready to go there.
The ambassador will need two days of free diving, meals and accomodation, with at least four
dives and free equipment rental.
Yes, ambassadors can dive for free!
Bear in mind that so far there are only a few ambassadors around the world, so
waiting in the queue could be a matter of months, but we are trying to increase our
family!
The DIVESCOVER Quality Standards
These are the objectives every ambassador checks and measures when reviewing a dive center. We think that these are the most important things to have in mind when deciding whether or not to dive in a specific place, but we can add or remove items. Feel free to tell us what you think!
- Staff:
- Are they friendly? Do they have enough qualified personnel? Did you feel comfortable with them? Did they follow safety procedures? Do they feel passionate about their work?
- Gear
- Equipment & materials: Do they have enough clean, tidy and up to date rental gear? (Including air tanks), do they have first aid and oxygen kit? Do they have an up to date emergency plan available to anyone? Do they have information and training materials? (Fish books, maps, other books and info...)
- Facilities & Boats
- Is the place clean? Do they have showers? Changing rooms? The boats are safe and have space enough to fit everyone? Are the boats fitted for diving? (Holes for tanks, place for weights and fins, ladder for getting aboard from the water and a safe jumping place...)
- Dive Sites:
- Do they have enough dive sites for three days of diving? Suitable for any level? Do the guides or divemasters lead the dive to the best places and show you fauna enough? (According to the area)
- Amenities:
- Do they give you any snacks or drinks during surface time? Do they have offers for photographs or videos of your dives?