The current weather in Culebra

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Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: vince (---.rexnord.com) Date:   10-10-06 17:04 I had the unfortunate experiance with Taz, I would not recomend him not even to the most experienced diver. Taz was the divemaster on board when Culebra Dive Shop lost a female diver, never to be found again. I believe it is the responsibility of the divemaster of making sure the boat does not leave the dive sight without makeing sure that all divers are accounted for. Further, after the accident Culebra Dive Shop was forced to close, I believe the case is still pending in court. After Culebra Dive Shop closed Taz went to work for Culebra Divers (WALTER RIEDER and MIGUEL are excellent) Taz had put 12 lbs of lead on a small boy (I am 170 lbs and dive with 12 lbs.) Miguel removed the wieghts from the small boy only to have Taz replace the weights behind Miguels back. The boy jumped in and his bc did not have enough lift and started to sink. Miguel had to Jump in and save the boy. Needles to say Walter fired Taz. I wonder if Taz even has insurance does anyone know? Another Time I wanted to go diving with Culebra Divers but there boat was all full. So I had to go out with Taz, to make a long story short I had air left in the tank and the other dive master told me to go ahead and stay near the boat and use up your air. Unknown to me there were a few girls that hd to catch the ferry, when I surfaced Taz said to me "Come on @!#$ lets get going" I thougt the hell with you where is coustomer service. I have Family that live on Culebra and if you have been there you know how small the island is, everyone that lives there knows each other. My Cousin informed me that Taz is not liked on the island. Take it for what it is worth, but if you want to dive again I would not go with Taz.

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Re: Aquatic Adventures Advisory

Author: island vacation girl - debbie (---.dsl.emhril.ameritech.net) Date:   10-10-06 21:00 all i can say is WOW ! anyone else have any feed back! every story has 3 sides ,yours, theirs, and the truth !

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: vince (---.rexnord.com) Date:   10-11-06 10:34 Yes every story has three sides as you say. all i can say is what I saw, i have nothing to gain and nothing to lose, take my experiences for what they are worth if you want ot have a safe and enjoyable vacation. Life is to short and fragile.

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: taz hamrick (---.prtc.net) Date:   10-12-06 10:21 Well, there truly are two sides to every tale..I was not nor ever have been 'fired' from Clebra Divers..and that is not the only thing 'vince' has wrong..the incident of the missing woman is not pending, but has been settled out of court for a ridiculously low amount, and no I was NOT the divemaster on the boat that day (come on Vince get the stuff right) I was instructing a student on the beach and did not have 'duty of care' for her or anyone else on the boat except my student....Vince, as for your bad experience I do not now nor have ever had a divemaster working for me...I do my own show..additionally, if you were dissatisfied with your service I would have appreciated a chance to make it right.. I am new at doing this for myself and try to please as many folks as I can...if you had that bad a time I apologize and hope you will give me another chance to 'get it right'...Taz

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Bonnie M. Anderson (63.175.186.---) Date:   10-19-06 11:07 Vince, A lot of us on the island have been trying to remember you... and no one does. For a small island, that is odd. When were you here? Where did you stay? Who did you hang out with? What is your last name and how can folks contact you to make this right? Our two current dive operations here are first-class. Culebra Divers (run by Walter and Monica) and Aquatic Adventures (run by Taz) strive to offer the best and safest service possible. And they do so admirably. Diving here is phenomenal and both operations are very successful because they provide an excellent diving experience. I recommend friends and clients to both of them. If you had a bad time with one of our dive operations, why didn't you let them know immediately? Here on Culebra, we're kind people who want nothing more than to make sure tourists have a good time. Posting something on the internet that can destroy a person's reputation is legally dangerous. It's called libel. The clear defense to libel (which is maligning a person's reputation in print in front of more than one other person or on a public place such as this forum) - is truth. Can you prove your allegations, and provide your ticket stubs to prove you were here, where you stayed, and how you paid Taz? I'm a journalist, and I'm really familiar with libel and slander law... and I hate to see either of our dive operations libeled or slandered. Neither one of our dive operations has come close to getting a review as horrible as yours. And, as I said, we - on the island - haven't heard of any problems. If you can't prove what you wrote, you might think about the legal consequences of hurting a person's reputation. And you might think about having your posting on this website eliminated... along with my response. Heck, I suspect even this website is liable for libel for having allowed you to make such charges. My email address is: bonniemanderson@aol.com My phone number is 404-317-2896. What is yours? I offer this in the spirit of honesty and transparency. I look forward to hearing from you. Bonnie Bonnie

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Michael (---.ny325.east.verizon.net) Date:   10-19-06 11:38 Bonnie, just for the record, posts are the responsibility of the poster. I think Taz explained what happened and how, sufficiently to warrant leaving the thread up, so people can see both sides and can make up their mind. It's better, gossip like this is out in the open and dealt with. If not it grows into a tumor and you cannot get rid of it. My2c. Enjoy Culebra! Michael

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Vince De La Paz (---.rexnord.com) Date:   10-19-06 14:03 I have been going to Culebra for many years now, my families name is Sayan my uncle works at the airport and my cousin (Perito) works construction; the new ferry dock he worked on it. I always stay at Flamenco Beach Villas, I do not expect anyone to know me, after all when I go there I am a tourist, the longest I stay in culebra is 4 to 5 days so I have time to visit my 90 year old Grandmother in San Jose. I live in Wisconsin but I am sure Walter, Monica, and Miguel know me. My sources are the people who live there (dive shops included). I am not trying to stop anyone from earning a living, but I am trying to let people know my EXPERIENCES (what I saw, heard and seen), How can someone be held liable for other peoples actions that are witnessed, if it means that someone is not left behind never to been seen go ahead and try to sue me. Again I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose, I just want the people to hear my experiences and let them decide, if they want to put there lives in someone’s hand it is their choice. Yes Culebra has excellent diving; I do not want down play that fact, when I go diving in Culebra I go out with Culebra Divers during the week and my cousin on the weekends and nights. If people are experienced enough you do not even need a boat, Tamarindo offers excellent shore diving but watch out for the current in Luis Pena canal. I am sorry for not posting my phone number, now days you have be a nut to put your phone number in a forum. And Taz, thank you but no thanks. After you called me an A__ hole I would not even buy a piece of bubble gum from you. And I why did I not complain? In the carribean why even waste your time and energy I am only ther for a short while, usually to enjoy myself, not to go looking for stress.

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Vince De La Paz (---.proxy.aol.com) Date:   10-19-06 21:14 I have been a fly on the wall on this forum for sometime now and I have never posted anything. The only thing I have posted is this thread, and I say again I only said what I experienced and I feel that I need to say that people that know me, on the island (Locals as everyone says), know me as either Junior or Jumito pronounced in Spanish, the Engineer from "AFUERA" my sister is Carmencita, the actress from Los Angeles. Not as a shameless plug or anything, but my Cousins father in-law, who was the chief of police on the island before he retired, is the owner of Casa Robinson. You might ask, why I do not stay at Casa Robinson? Family is like fish they start to smell after a couple of days. ;~)

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Debbie (---.asm.bellsouth.net) Date:   10-19-06 22:17 Bonnie - Bravo! I try not to get involved in the diving threads, as I find it hard to be impartial. Guess that takes a true journalist! Those who know Taz and Monika and Walter know, as you said, that they are world class dive ops, and if a person doesn't see the glory in that, then they need to go elsewhere. It's interesting that Miquel is not on the island anymore, and has not been since March or so, yet Vince talks as if he saw him yesterday. Lends a lot of credibility, doesn't it? Happy Diving! Debbie

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Jim Cox (---.albq.qwest.net) Date:   03-05-08 11:01 (1) Do not give any weight to a person's attacks that are based upon secondhand information (commonly known as gossip). Three out of four paragraphs from Vince fall into this category. (2) Dive with Taz. My neighbor and I dove with Taz last October (2007) for two full days. I have been diving for 30+ years, so I have sampled many captains and dive masters. I found Taz to be an extremely competent dive professional and a wonderful host. We had a great time diving with Taz and recommend him to divers of all levels. ……. I have a comment about the forum too. These kinds of posts can clearly have an impact on someone’s business. While I understand letting someone express their feelings about their firsthand experience with a dive operator, three paragraphs of gossip are not of value to your readers. Suggesting the reader “can make up their mind” is a nice statement to hind behind, but I would prefer a forum administrator to be responsible. In this case it would not take much to ask the other parties for their firsthand accounts (e.g., Walter). If that is too time consuming, I would trust a forum more that edited out the gossip (second hand information). That doesn’t mean people couldn’t leave negative comments, but they should be limited to what they experienced – not every story they can come up with to take a cheap shot a someone.

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   03-05-08 13:44 Can I add that it should be taken into account how many times the poster has posted and if they've made any previous efforts to help others by providing advice & guidance. When it's a first-time poster who makes a clear attempt to harm a business, it does seem suspicious... Like there's some kind of ax to grind. In Michael's defense, these types of threads usually end up being great publicity for the business as various posters come to its defense and the original poster loses credibility. It's a tough call for a moderator to make.

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Debbie (---.sip.asm.bellsouth.net) Date:   03-05-08 19:18 Jim, For your first post, it would have been nice for you to have started a new thread to praise Taz's dive operation, rather than resurrecting this 2-year old post that slams his business. As you said yourself "These kinds of posts can clearly have an impact on someone’s business." YOU just impacted his business! Hopefully, as Mort suggests - any PR is good PR.

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Re: Aquatic Adventure Advisory

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   03-05-08 19:29 Wow, Debbie, I hadn't even noticed that! Maybe it came up in a search and Jim hadn't noticed its age either? Jim? 'Course, I'm not helping much by keeping it alive! LOL.

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