Costa Rica - Agua Rica Diving Center

Unfortunately we had a horrible experience...This is why:
1. I purchased a Catalinas Islands 2 tank dive for $95. The morning of the dive we were told that we may not make it to Catalinas due to rough seas...understandable no one can control that. Instead of cancelling the tour, we were put on a boat with a 50/50 chance (by the way the boat is not a dive boat...) and then dropped off at "the cape". That was disappointing, but then it got worse...

2. Once we we got to the dive site it took 1.5 hours for the crew to get 8 people in the water...it seemed largely due to the boat configuration. 1.5 hours on a small vessel in rough seas can get old very fast.

3. Safety issues!!! Firstly, my girlfriend who trusted Agua Rica for her Open Water certification was given a tank wit a fault O ring. Right before entering the water the tank rapidly bled 500 pounds. The crew then told her it was ok to dive the tank...I had to protest and tell them to change the tank immediately...they did. After my girlfriend complained to Tony about the incident, Tony called her a liar. I could not believe it...Secondly, the 1st dive group was split up. 2 people could not find the instructor and ended up surfacing in a different location, while they were lost the boat with 2 prop engines was "following the bubbles" of the other group and was on top of the 2 lost people. After raising the issue with the instructor I was told that the instructor was not responsible for the divers, and it was the divers' fault that they lost him. Also I was told that the boat running the engines and circling around was fine...and that I did not know what I was talking about because I only have 14 dives under my belt...

4. 80% of the people did not go for the 2nd dive and 50% of the people wanted their money back...understandable. When we very respectfully stated our complaint and asked for the money back Claudio was very nice in turning us away and refusing to see our point or do anything about it. Tony, however, was not very nice. She screamed at us...I've never seen a business run this away and customer complaints dealt with in such a fashion.

Perhaps this is uncommon, but I would urge any diver travelling to the Tamarindo beach area to stay away from Agua Rica and find another dive shop.