I booked and paid for a refresher dive via TripAdvisor. At Ahla Dive Center I was requested to pay again as they don't get the funds from TripAdvisor, so they say... I paid at the location and later checked my bank account to see that I actually paid twice for the dive (2x 100 euro for 2 people). I've been sending emails for 10 months.. Ahla is difficult to reach and replies with requesting confirmation I've provided 10 times.. I still have not received my money back. Apart from this obvious issue, the employees at the school seemed all very hungover from a party the night before. The instructor was friendly but he gave the impression he preferred to be in bed rather than diving. This resulted in him being impatient with my partner who struggled with her regulator. I expect more prefesionalism from an instructor that does refresher dives. I do not recommend this dive school.
It was a bit of a chaotic start: When we arrived at the diving center, nobody was there to , but we got a phone number. So we organized a dive via whatsapp for the next day. When we got back to the center, it was quite difficult to differ between staff and hostel guests. We felt a bit lost, but everybody was very friendly and helpful. The equipment was ok, but a bit worn out, we thought. Our dive instructor Alexander was very funny, patient, and easygoing. We did a refresh dive and then a fun dive - in which we even saw dolphins! Alexander made awesome videos with his Go-Pro and sent them to us! Thank you very much again for this great experience!
It was really well run. I guess Israeli federal law requires that if you can't prove you've dove in the previous 6 months, you have to take a refresher. I've dove in 10 countries and never heard of such a law before. You have to have a logbook entry of that dive certified by a dive shop, otherwise you take the course. Honestly, I would not use SCUBA again at Eilat - everything is in 15 ft of water. But Aqua Sport dive shop is one of the best run businesses I've ever seen.