PADI Discover Scuba Diving

Ivan and Jose were absolutely amazing! My family and I went diving during our day in port in Costa Maya, and booking with them was one of the best decisions we made. Two of us had little to no diving experience, so we were understandably a bit nervous. Ivan did an incredible job explaining the theory behind scuba diving on shore before letting us practice essential skills like clearing our masks, recovering our regulators, and getting comfortable with the equipment in shallow water where we could stand. That extra time to build confidence made all the difference. Once we were ready, Jose captained the boat and took us out to the dive site. Together, they helped us get geared up and safely into the water. Two of us descended right away, while one member of our group felt hesitant and stayed on the surface at first. Ivan took the two of us down, where we explored vibrant coral reefs filled with marine life—and to our surprise, we even spotted a juvenile manatee! Being that close to the underwater world was absolutely unforgettable. Meanwhile, Jose went above and beyond. Although he hadn’t originally planned on diving, he got in the water to work one-on-one with the hesitant member of our group. Thanks to his patience, encouragement, and calm instruction, she gained the confidence to complete the dive and ended up having an incredible experience. That level of care and dedication says everything about this team.

My daughter was interested in scuba diving so I booked a Discover Scuba. I have my open water certificate and dove with her for support. Ivan was a great instructor and took good care of us. Weather was a challenge on this particular day so Ivan and the boat crew were extra attentive to make sure the dive went well. My daughter said it was her favorite activity of the whole cruise. I would highly recommend the discover diving through Mar Adentro Diving.

Great experience. Would definitely do it again. First time scuba diving. Had axel, Jose and Nico as trainers. Nico’s training and explanations were great. Axel came with me into the water, was 1 on 1 with me. Never felt like I needed to panic. Kept me calm as I entered the water to equalize pressure in the ears since I had a hard time with it. Would recommend for sure

Ivan was awesome. He did such a great job with my son who had never been diving before. Gave him clear directions that he understood well and we had a great dive. Everyone there was really nice and helpful.

Ivan was a really good trip advisor and i would want to go again i had a good time during the dive and we learned lots of things also seeing a lot of fish.

I have been snorkeling many times but never scuba diving, so I 'took the plunge' when I found it as a possible shore excursion! It was a quick cab ride from the port, located at the end of the strip of shops and beach chairs for tourists. After a short video, we were sized for a gear. After everyone was outfitted, we headed out to the beach to go over basic safety and to practice hand signals under the water. We kneeled down in waist deep water, until our heads were submerged. Because our location, the water was pretty choppy and we were tossed around a little while we practiced. I had success with hand signals and finding my mask but I was having a hard time getting accustomed to breathing under the water. Etienne was unreasonably patient with me, allowing me to take as much time as I needed. After many more dunks, I was still nervous but ready to give it a go. Ultimately, I was paired up with Jose while Etienne guided the rest of our group. Once we descended about 8 feet, the water was so calm and clear I knew I had made the right decision! It was an amazing experience and I highly recommend it if you've never scuba before!

This experience was entirely ocean based—no pool. It was fast paced, a bit challenging due to the sargasso and currents on the day we were there. The staff was incredible, I am sure we don’t know the half of what they were doing to keep us safe, it was seamless from our end. The dive was more than I expected, we saw a good variety of fish and coral and the dive counts towards future certification. The family is hooked!

We booked the PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience with Mar Adentro Majahual in Costa Maya as an excursion on our cruise with MSC through the western Caribbean. My wife and I had never tried scuba diving before, and this was perfect for us. The experience was about 1.5 to 2 hours long, with about equal time spent in the pavilion on shore, the shallow water at the edge of the beach, and out at the reef. The experience started with a medical questionnaire and release forms, followed by a 10-minute safety video. After that, we met our instructor/guide, Brenda, who fitted us with a mask, fins, a weight belt, and tank harness. She explained and demonstrated how to put on each piece of equipment and how to determine a proper fit. She spent a half-hour or so carefully going over each item, explaining how to use the primary and back-up regulators, tank gauge, and buoyancy vest. She demonstrated how to clear our masks, how to find and recover a lost regulator, and a variety of important hand signals to use under water. She frequently stopped and asked us if we understood and if we had any questions. She was unhurried and patient, ensuring that we we comfortable with what she was teaching us. After that, we headed down to the water. The staff loaded up a cart with our equipment so we didn’t have to carry it and brought it down the beach to the water’s edge. We put everything on and started out by breathing through the regulator with our heads out of the water, then with faces in the water, and finally entirely submerged, but crouching in the shallows. We spent a fair amount of time practicing clearing our masks and locating our regulators in the event that we lost them (which never happened). We felt very safe and confident by the end of this practice time. As on shore, Brenda was very patient and clear. She was willing to take as long as we needed to feel comfortable in the water. Afterwards, we got in the boat and headed out to our dive spot on the reef. There were two other folks to assist—the boat captain and another diver/sailor from Mar Adentro. On the way, Brenda showed us a flip book of the kinds of fish we might see and what the hand signals were for each so she could point them out to us (or vice versa) when we were under water. One at the buoy tie up point, Brenda taught us how to flip backwards off the boat, and then we went down the buoy line hand-over-hand to the bottom, about 33 feet down. We went slowly, equalizing the pressure in our ears as needed. Once on the bottom, we were free to swim around the reef, staying close to Brenda but able to look around at things that interested us. There were many colorful fish and interesting coral formations. We saw a puffer fish, a lion fish, drummer fish, and a snake fish, as well as a school of parrot fish, and many others. It was very calm and serene down in their world. We stayed down for 34 minutes, exploring the reef. When it was time to come up, Brenda inflated a signal flag and sent it up on a spool of high visibility line. We ascended slowly and when we got to the surface, we fully inflated our buoyancy vests and floated while the boat came over to get us. On the way back, we enjoyed some sliced pineapple that they had brought for us. The whole experience was fantastic. The reef was fun to explore, and the novelty of the scuba equipment made even the training very interesting. All the staff were very polite and helpful—they even called a taxi for us at the end—but Brenda was phenomenal. She was so pleasant and easy-going, but very competent and clear. We felt very safe with her and we had a lot of fun. I highly recommend Mar Adentro and the intro to scuba course. My wife and I are talking about going on to get open water dive certified, based on our experience here.

I hadn’t had a dive in years and needed a refresher. Brenda was incredible. She took everything slow and steady and was a wonderful instructor.

The staff is very friendly. Our guide was Brenda and is an excellent guide, guides you at all times, is super attentive and friendly, is the perfect place for this experience.