PROFESSIONALS
Chano Montelongo, Instructor Trainer Evaluator, is the leader of this group formed by divemasters, captains and sailors who work under the premise of "professionalism, kindness and friendliness".
DIVE SHOP
Located in the best area of the town, in front of the beach, our place is designed to receive and pamper our customers becoming, at the end of the day, a place for chatting and relaxation.
BOAT
The Gran Kraken is our flagship and still the best dive boat in Mahahual. Big, wide, comfortable, cozy and fast, it is the best option for sailing in the Caribbean.
CHANO MONTELONGO
Journalist, writer, photographer, instructor evaluator and trainer, and owner of Pepe Dive Mahahual. One day he got fed up with almost everything - traveling the world, writing for important media, organizing scientific and naturalist expeditions to the most remote seas of the planet, photographing the most extraordinary creatures and the pessimism that today dominates his homeland, Spain -, he rolled up his sleeves and decided to set up his diving center in Mahahual, "the place where patience ceases to be a virtue and becomes a penance" (in his own words). He is the author of six books, his underwater photographs have been exhibited at the Museo Atlántico de Arte Contemporáneo and in art galleries in Madrid; he has been director of the Nautilo Institute; he has collaborated with renowned institutions such as the Cousteau Foundation and National Geographic and is a member of the Spanish Geographic Society.
GREG
Our "Capi", Gregorio Leyva, saw the birth of Pepe Dive Mahahual in 2012. Back then, he was working at the now defunct Paraiso Restaurant, door to door, with our old place. He was more of a survivor than a waiter, as he slept in a hammock on the beach and ate what he caught with his harpoon. His friendliness with customers was what caught our attention about him, in addition to his eagerness to fight and desire to learn. He started working at Pepe Dive doing general maintenance, started diving and in a couple of years he was already a divemaster and guiding our clients on the Mahahual reef. After a few years of break working in construction and carpentry, he came back to us and today he is the captain of the Gran Kraken.
VANESA
Proudly original from Valencia, Vanesa -or "la patrona", as she is called here- joined the Kraken Team in 2017, after leaving her successful career in the area of hospitality and digital marketing in Playa del Carmen and Cancun. She arrived in paradise to bring order to the chaos or, what is the same, to give meaning and profitability to a business that until that moment was only the passion of a bunch of disorderly divers. Today she is one of the cornerstones of the diving center and nobody here can anymore imagine a Pepe Dive Mahahual without her.
SCOOBA & ONA
Pepe Dive Mahahual is inconceivable without our two loving Great Danes. Scooba was joined by a new playmate, Ona, albino and deaf as a doornail, but playful and funny to compensate for Scooba's discretion and quietness. They eat a lot, but more than earn their keep by being the best public relations in the company.
Our base of operations is located in the most central and beautiful area of the famous “Malecón” of Mahahual, in the Blue Reef building, with a deck over the beach to rest and drink something between dives. It has restrooms, showers, restaurant and even rooftop pool. It is also a complete dive shop (the only store of this type of Mahahual) where you can find all kinds of diving and snorkeling equipment, from masks and fins, to regulators and sophisticated dive computers. We have all the necessary equipment to organize the different tours that we offer (diving, snorkeling and kayaking).
The "Gran Kraken" is our greatest pride and, without doubt, Pepe Dive Mahahual's flagship -quite literally-. Built in Belize, the boat has a V shaped hull, is very wide (ready for up to 18 full equipped divers), and has 38 feet length and 9 beam, and 2 brand new powerful engines of 140 HP each.
It has been recently renovated and improved for diving. It is docked in the fishermen's pier, two minutes away from our operations base.
