English Corner  Capt. Lawrence.  Today: Captain Lawrence takes the plunge!

Escolta-ho mentre navegues

Good day landlubbers! I hope you´re having a magnificent time on our beautiful Mallorca. If you stumbled across last week´s article, you may have read about the wonderful experience we had with SLOANE helicopters.

Good service, better yet, excellent service must be promoted and with that I bring you this week´s winner, SCUBA MALLORCA! Balearics premiere dive centre.

Don´t believe me? Here are a few facts. Owners Mick and Jessie have more dives under their belts than most centers have had hot dinners, 43 years! A PADI 5 star IDC course director, MCA 200 ton Captain, RYA powerboat instructor, etc. Mick is among the world’s most respected professionals. As you’d expect, Mick’s entire team has been hand selected and trained by him! No wonder SCUBA MALLORCA is the oldest and most respected dive center in the North. OK that’s enough about the boss, more about his team and our diving experience.

My wife and I, living on this incredible island were eager to start diving. Not doing so here is a crime. First things first, choosing a dive centre? Disqualifier numero uno, bad customer service. If bobo answers the phone, I´m hanging up. First call, there was bobo “no spekaaa engle…” slam! This went on all day. Just as all hope was lost, Jeanette’s vivacious voice lit up the phone.

“Hello, Scuba Mallorca, how can we help you ?”

“WOW, you speak English, real English”

“Yes, (laugh) we do, how can I help you today?”

“My wife and I would like get our PADI open water certifications.

“Great, come on over, we would be glad to help you”

Mallorca take note. Jeanette loves diving, she is a dive master, hence enjoys her job, is happy and thus shares her good vibe with the client. Trick is you have to be genuine to provide genuinely great customer service.

Fast forward……..wife and I are kitted up on the boat ready to take our first plunge. It´s another hot sunny day in the bay of Pollensa. First dive is in shallow water, two meters, to familiarize oneself with the equipment and build confidence. Safety checks complete, regulators in, giant step and SPLASH! Just to emphasize how safe it is, one of our group was a petite 12 year old señorita diving for her very first time. She did great. My wife´s eyes where like soup plates. To be honest I expected her to freak out, au contraire, I could not have been more mistaken. It wasn´t fear in her eyes, it was excitement. We knelt on the seabed while Sebastian demoed a few underwater skills. It´s important to train with experts. Should you ever encounter a situation that requires quick decisive action, the skills you learn here will keep you safe.

Before we knew it, we were back on the boat stripping out of our gear and giggling like children. Our instructors Sebastian and Tom were phenomenal. Back at base for some important theory, lunch, then back on the boat for a deeper dive. PADI open water certification can be completed in 3-4 action packed days, depending on client preference. We did ours in three days, no problem. “OK guys, suit up, buddy check, inflate your BCDs and join me in the water” ” Yes sir”

Next dive was around 9-12 meters. The skills we learnt in our shallow dive prepared us well. Before long we were on the seabed looking up at a curtain of beautiful silvery air bubbles. Obviously the deeper one goes the more intense the experience. But remember, diving is not about being cool or rushing. Deeper is not always better. Actually most of the good stuff is in relatively shallow waters. Should you ever feel pressured by a dive center or literally out of your depth, find another center such as SCUBA MALLORCA and report the old one to PADI immediately.

OK, ok, so what did we see down there? Well, we saw lots of colorful fish, an octopus, sea urchins, crabs, many shells, friendly instructors, starfish and some soft corals. Come see for yourself!

My wife and I absolutely loved the experience from beginning to end. We are proud to be certified by the best. Like Sloane, www.scubamalloca.com understands how to treat their clients. The experience was an A plus. As for the rest of you bobos in your empty dive centers, do yourselves a favor, take a leaf out of Mick´s book and repeat after me, customer service, customer service, costumer service etc. Next week it´s !SHARK! diving at the Palma Aquarium. I think we’re going to need a bigger boat? GULP!

Fair winds amigos, come on back next Tuesday. I hope I will!

Captain Lawrence

Llaüt El Gordito RCNP