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Nautilus Diving & Training Center: Traveler Reviews


TripAdvisor Traveler Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
TripAdvisor Popularity Index: #2 of 93 attractions in Cancun
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Attraction type: Educational site
Address: Hotel Best Western Cancun Clipper Club | Kilometer 9.5 Hotel Zone, Cancun 77500, Mexico
Tel: 52 998 884 0791

Reviews you can trust

[ Date ] [ Rating ]
Great experience and dives with Scuba Fred's

Nautilus Diving & Training Center

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5 of 5 stars
macado   3 contributions
Revere, MA
May 13, 2009
1/1 found this review helpful

Scuba Fred’s (formerly Nautilus Diving) which is located in the Cancun Clipper Club on the lagoon side. Fred is a former employee of Manta Divers and I remember from before when I dove in Cancun before.

The only people diving were me, the Clemente (I hope I spelled his name right), the divemaster and a Mexican tourist whose name I do not remember. We did 2 dives, one wreck called C-58 in about 80ft of water for 32 minutes and a reef dive called Punta Negra (technically also did Grampin as well) at 50ft for 44 minutes. Both dives were good.

A lot of people knock Cancun diving but I actually think it is still very good just not a nice as Cozumel. Unfortunately, Cancun does not have anything near the reef structure that Cozumel has but it’s always teaming with a variety of fish life. Saw a nurse shark and a couple rays (one was actually dead).

The wreck dive had lots of barracuda and the 2nd dive had massive schools of fish. In my opinion, the schools of fish are always larger than one would see in Cozumel. If you’ve never dove Cancun I would say, you may want to try it at least once, you might be surprised.

Scuba Fred’s was a great dive op and based on my experience I would recommend them anytime.

After finishing up my dives in Cancun, Clemente showed me the pictures he had taken on the wreck. Most of them came out great so I decided to buy a CD from him since I had no pictures of myself under water. He also included pictures of lots of local sea life taken previously. The price was also very reasonable. If anything, I figured I would do my part to help the local economy. Please do not be deterred by the swine flu media frenzy. Cancun is perfectly safe and desperately needs your business. The economy has been hit hard and many businesses are struggling.

After burning me a CD, Clemente was nice enough to offer me a ride to the ADO bus terminal where I would leave to spend 3 nights in Cozumel. Cozumel is actually the main reason I booked this trip. The diving there is fantastic and the people and culture are extremely great.

Thanks to Fred and Clemente for a wonderful albeit very short Cancun experience. Wouldnt hesitate to dive with them again.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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What an Awesome dive

Nautilus Diving & Training Center

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5 of 5 stars
ScubaSteveIndiana   5 contributions
Indiana
May 6, 2009
1/1 found this review helpful

I recently returned from Cancun where I dove with Scuba Fred's. Last year Clemente gave me the opportunity to try scuba. I then returned to the US and became certified. I am now an Advanced Diver working on my Master Diver certification. Scuba Fred's run a great facillity. They are smaller and deal with smaller groups. Clemente is a fantastic diver and a wonderful underwater photographer with great patience. I dove 4 dives in 2 days, including a wreck dive and lots of sea life(nurse sharks, eagle rays, parrott fish, moray eels, sea turtles). Clemente definitely knows how to show you a good dive. He also is a very experienced and safe diver. This was a wonderful experience and I will use them every time I go to Cancun and no one else. I recomend them to anyone with any level of experience.

See ya next year Clemente !!!!!!!!!!!

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Very Very good experience

Nautilus Diving & Training Center

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5 of 5 stars
Scott_from_Sun_Lakes   4 contributions
Sun Lakes, AZ
Mar 31, 2009
2/2 found this review helpful

I had read on trip advisor about Octavio and Nautilus Diving. I stayed at the the Hyatt Regency and bumped into two ladies at the excursion desk. We both discussed how we wondered if the trip advisor rating was real or not. They assured me that they had just gone out with Octavio a few days earlier and how it was a wonderful experience for them. My buddy and I walked over to HOTEL BEST WESTERN CANCUN CLIPPER CLUB and left a note for Octavio to call us about going out. He called us back at our room and setup time for us to go out and dive. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say that it surpassed my expectations. I had never dived before and felt completely safe during the whole experience. I had taken an under water camera with me but never used it (1st dive, taking pictures was the last thing on my mind). Octavio took pictures(70+) with a digital camera and burned them to a CD, delivered to my hotel(see attached pictures). Buy his pictures and enjoy the dive, it is well worth it. I hope to go back to Cancun sometime in the future and have my wife take the dive training with Octavio.

P.S. - Octavio, if you read this, thank you again!!!

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Training was fine, but a warning about Sea Sickness

Nautilus Diving & Training Center

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2 of 5 stars
ironbull   1 contribution
New York
Mar 27, 2009
0/3 found this review helpful

The folks that work here, especially Octavio, are friendly & knowledgeable. My gripe is that I specifically asked about rough seas & was told that it would not be a problem. Our party was dropped into very rough water & 4 out of 7 divers were sea sick.

If you are susceptible to motion sickness, be forewarned....

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Great beginner's experience

Nautilus Diving & Training Center

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5 of 5 stars
rm0847   9 contributions
Hamilton, Canada
Mar 1, 2009
1/1 found this review helpful

My friend and I have never been on an actual dive and went to this place specifically because of the TripAdvisor reviews ignoring all other offerings. Very lucky we did and thanks to all the other reviews that were submitted. I'll talk about that later. One thing to mention first, IF YOU GET MOTION SICKNESS, TAKE SOMETHING FOR IT BEFORE THE DIVE!!! The underwater swells at this time of year are large and that constant large rocking motion can make you motion sick, Also, the 25 minute ride to the reef in choppy seas won't help. I probably made it worse by constantly making movies with my camera and focusing constantly through the viewfinder doesn't help. Anyways, she was a little squeamish about the dive and developed some other issues along the way. Fred takes you through the basics in the pool. Octavio and Clemente took us out on the dive like all beginners I think. Octavio has a calm, friendly demeanour with gives lots of personal attention to the situation (he practically held here arm the entire time and periodically stopped to help relax her). Clemente's comical relief and friendly smile helped her relax a lot too. She may not have gotten out of the boat without the help of the captain. As it was, she actually got to the bottom before me! I had unexpected problems equalizing pressure but Clemente helped me all the way through that difficult initial period. Once I equalized to the bottom the first time, I had no problem equalizing thereafter and Clemente took care to reminded me all the time too. I was taking pictures and movies from all kind of angles. I didn't start dry heaving until almost the very end of the 1st dive (2 are scheduled in 2 different spots on the reef) I unfortunately was too sick to make the second dive where a large sea turtle showed up for the event right on queue. The place is small and there is not too much to it but the beginner dive instructors, Octavio and Clemente are excellent. My friend is going to write them a personal letter of thanks. As for other places, make your own judgement but during my trip, I was talking directly with another hotel guest and although he was not negative about failing to complete a dive, I heard him mention bad things that I read happening on beginner dives elsewhere like beginners popping up out of the water all over the place and swimming to the boat on their own BUT I wasn't there. I just know that every possible thing was done to make our dive as successful and pleasant as possible where the one story from the other beginner dive did not sound like fun at all.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Nautilus Diving & Training Center Address

Hotel Best Western Cancun Clipper Club | Kilometer 9.5 Hotel Zone, Cancun 77500, Mexico Tel: 52 998 884 0791