Fantastic! Very good care and explanation! - We had booked the "trial diving" in the pool and ocean. Our diver first explained the theory to us, then we went into the pool for practice and then into the sea. She explained everything super understandably and took her time individually. Also the dive in the sea was great. We felt very well looked after and comfortable. Next year I will go there again and do the diving license with my children.

Nice and excited - I like the activity. Trainers are very helpful and friendly. We enjoyed. It was quite deep for the first time but it worked for me.

Amazing first time scuba diving!! - Had a great time scuba diving for the first time today; felt very safe and had so much fun! The guide was very friendly and helpful too. Would love to come again and definitely recommend.

Amazing Beginners Dive - Did a ‘Try Scubadiving’ beginners dive. It was very well explained and the instructor was extremely helpful. We started in the pool and then progressed to the sea, we felt very safe and had an amazing dive. We hope to come back again!

A great way for beginners to experience a scuba dive. - The Scuba Diving Experience for Beginners is a great introduction into Scuba diving. We started off in a small group being told what to expect, basic understanding of scuba diving and answering any questions on the pool side. Next into the pool to allow everyone to get familiar their equipment and the appreciation that we can breath underwater !! Next into the sea. We swam with instructor who not only pointed out all the interesting sea life but made sure everyone was safe and happy. Spent a wonderful 45 minutes under water. Thanks to Wilfried for this great experience!

Of the best experiences you can live - Of the best experiences of my life, highly recommended 100%. The instructor gave us the necessary instructions and advice to be able to dive without any problems. First we went to the pool to practice and then to the sea.

Great. - Great activity! Professional and interesting staff. Just as pleasant as it is safe. The sea trip is worth it.

An incredible diving... - An incredible diving experience! The team is absolutely professional, and the instructors are true experts who make you feel safe and confident every step of the way. You'll be amazed by the variety of fish and marine life you encounter. Highly recommended!

Our favourite experience in Madeira - Amazing experience! We’ve never done this before but the friendly staff thoroughly explained everything and made us feel at ease! It was great to practice in the pool before heading out to sea. Made us both fall in love with Scuba diving and would definitely do it again! Definitely pay the extra and get the underwater cameras - the photos were amazing and a great memory

Fun, but learn basics of scuba diving ahead of time so you can fill in the blanks the instructors miss yourself - Scuba diving as an idea is awesome. You will see abundant sea life in clear water. You will not regret spending the money for this experience. Having said that, I feel that my experience at Madeira Divepoint had both positive as well as problematic experiences. The Good 1. The staff is very friendly. They make you feel safe. 2. The changing facility is fine and conveniently located right next to the Atlantic Ocean. 3. There is a good instructors-to-student ratio when the group moves from the pool to the sea to ensure safety. 4. There is a good amount of sea life to practically guarantee a mentally stimulating experience. The problems 1. (Minor problem) Madeira Divepoint shares the swimming pool with Hotel Carlton, which is packed with families swimming in the pools. So we had to train in a pool with holiday goers just splashing around. They used a rope to reserve about half of the pool for us. But with five students in scuba equipment, that is still a little tight. 2. (Bigger problem) I feel the lack of proper matching of their equipment with the individual needs of the client is a problem. The biggest struggle I had was improper weighting for buoyancy. Nobody weighed the clients as a starting point before giving us the equipment in order to determine proper buoyancy, be it providing lead weights equivalent to 10% the divers body weight or whatever combination of equipment was used. They just asked us what size shoes we wear for the fins and eye balled us to give us the suits. After the students put on their suits, the staff just grabbed random lead weight belts from a pile to put on us, regardless of our weight or height. Then they put tanks on us and that was all before sending us off to the training pool. This is how my buoyancy problem started. The first instructor observed me with buoyancy problems and thought it was a result of me breathing too quickly, leading me to keep air in my lungs. But I wasn't breathing quickly. I would let all the air out of my lungs and I still stayed afloat with the buoyancy control device's bladders totally empty. After more observation he realized that I needed tree additional lead weights, which he put on for me. Great. But for some unexplained reason, our second instructor took all those three weights off of me, saying that I don't need them. She never checked me for neutral buoyancy. She said all I have to do to attain neutral buoyancy is to keep my head lower than my feet and keep my body straight. Having the hands out like superman also helps tilt the head down. This way, I would naturally swim downward as I kick. Well, yes, that is all true. But that means as soon as I stopped kicking to go forward, I started to float. I expressed that I needed the weights back for proper buoyancy, but she insisted that I didn't need them. She sensed my doubt so she decided to give me back two of the three that my first instructor put on me, saying that she was giving two back to make me feel better. However, the third weight that she didn't give back to me turned out to be crucial. After she put the two weights back on me, we got out of the training pool to start exploring the sea. Bad idea. The buoyancy problem just followed me to the sea, spoiling a lot out of my enjoyment. Over and over again I keep floating. If I managed to swim down, I had to grab on to rocks just to stay down. It was a constant struggle. Another instructor noticed my struggles and immediately he grabbed the power inflator of my buoyancy control device (BCD) thinking maybe there was air in my BCD's bladder. He pressed the deflator button only to find out the BCD bladders were already empty. But once out at sea, there was not much he or I could do. It would take too much time to go back to to the building to grab more weights. So I just tried to cope and struggle, grabbing rocks as I went. Another instructor noticed me grabbing rocks, which led her to wag her fingers at me, thinking I was an inconsiderate tourist destroying the ecosystem. The instructor who took my weights away grabbed me a few times to push my head down and push my feet up. Again, that worked only if I keep moving at a constant speed. As soon as the group slowed down or stopped for the group oxygen level check or for photos, I started floating uncontrollably. When the dive was over, although I enjoyed seeing the sea life, I felt the whole experience was just wrong. Yes, I could swim against the excessive buoyancy, but only if I kept swimming without stopping AND if I grabbed onto rocks to pull myself down every few meters, destroying the ocean environment. All in all, I would highly recommend scuba diving anywhere. On Madeira, the water is clear and teeming with life. But I feel the operators of these scuba diving tours, or at least Madeira Divepoint, are under time pressure to give tourists a thrill at the expense of thoroughness, leading the staff to sacrifice important attention to details. So if you want to scuba dive and have no experience, it would be best to educate yourself ahead of time so that you go into it already armed with the necessary basic knowledge so you can advocate for yourself better. Just watching a few YouTube videos will go a long way. If something feels wrong, don't just go with the flow, assuming that the instructors have done all their due diligence for you. Don't let the staff just rush you through the program. Demand that the staff fix what feels wrong immediately before allowing the group from proceeding to the next step. It is in the group's best interest that every single member is setup properly.