Cozumel cenote diving

[dogface79]

Hello all, My girlfriend and I have our advanced cert and have over 30 dives together as buddies. We are visiting Cozumel for a week in January. We are staying at the Fiesta Americana and need to plan about 4 days of diving (morning or night). How would you spend your week in Cozumel with a mixture of normal tourist attractions and diving?

Also, we were curious to know if it is recommended to have your cave diving certification for the cenotes in Cozumel? Any info. about the cenotes would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Downing]

I'd spend my mornings diving, my afternoons sightseeing and my evenings eating and drinking in the town square.

If you're into mayan ruins, check out San Gervasio, about 10 minutes out of town.

Maybe rent a jeep for the day and ride around the island. My wife and I make it a point to do that every time. The other side of the island is very different and it's where the locals go to get away from the gringos.

There's an interesting museum with a rooftop restaurant--great breakfast, btw.

If you're there on Sunday night, be sure to attend the event in the square. It could be a play, a dance, etc. Loads of fun.

My very first open water dives post cert were some cenotes just below Playa del Carmen. I used an experienced guide and had no issues. If you get a chance, hop the ferry and go dive a cenote. Or three.

But that's a lot to pack into only a week. You might want to leave something for next time.

You should check out the Cozumel Scubaboard Forum.

You're going to have an awesome time!

 

[TSandM]

The caves on Cozumel don't have a very large cavern zone, and what there is is dark and rather silty. They are very interesting caves, because they have a (relatively) large amount of indigenous life, but they are not the stunning, decorated spaces full of crystal-clear water that you see in the magazines. Cavern tours are not generally run in them. But it is not difficult to take the ferry across to the mainland and get picked up for the more usual sort of cavern tours.

 

[Garrobo]

You will be accompanied by a guide on all dives at Cozumel and depeneding on the guide you might have to fin along pretty fast to keep up with him. I wasn't that impressed by the cenotes though it gave me a chance to see if I'd freak out while diving in an overhead environment. I'd been in a few ships with a group on several occassions and had no problems but they were all cut out so you could see light to escape to. If you like to buy trinkets Coz is the place to go. When the cruise ships come in there is quite a crowd. At about six o'clock the place goes to sleep except for the bars. Don't leave the bar with someone local who you don't know no matter what he promises you what his sister can do. DON'T rent a scooter unless you are proficient with driving one. Same goes for the Beetles they rent. Buy the insurance they offer as they will surely hit you with paying for any damage to any of their vehicles whether it was damaged before or after you rented it. ALWAYS stop at the stop signs and lights. Watch out for any info painted on the road and obey the speed and traffic rules. The cops there are super corrupt and have quotas.They take your driver liceense and you have to go to the local PD and pay up. Better off to use the taxis. They are everywhere and cheap. Just be sure to get the driver to quote your fare before leaving. For anything you want to purchase off hand use pesos which can be bought at many outlets or the US airport of departure. It was ten cents to the dollar last time I was there. If you act like the ugly American you'll be treated like one and you'll go home uglier and with a lot less money in you wallet than you came with. Other than that, if the weather is good it's a great place to go to relax.

 

[raoulsttexas]

we've been there several times and here's what we do.

dive for the first 4 days or so, and then do the tourist / relax thing for the rest of the week. i really like dive with martin and aqua safari, but there's a million other suggestions on the coz thread.

i have not dove cenotes yet, but that is because the diving off coz is simply amazing....so why spend the time going across when i can just go for a boat dive that will make me more than happy.

the palancar sites are my favorite. make sure you hit palancar caves (not truly caves). san fransisco is my fav 2nd dive site. honestly, you just can't go wrong. i didn't like tormentos that much, but again, that's just compared to other 2nd dive sites i've seen.

i have rented scooters in the past and all i can say is that putting a wetsuit on over severe road rash on your legs, arms, and chest takes a lot of fun out of diving. rent a car! we use the place right across from the grocery store Mega. I think it's called "spend less" or something with the word "less" in it. he was super nice and gave us a reduced rate and knocked 1-2 days off our rental. we returned the car and he drove us to the airport.

mega is a good grocery store. we always stock up on basics and get a giant jug of water that lasts most of the week.

i've found that bringing starburst candy on the boat for post dive treat goes over well with the dm's, captains etc. of course, they'll have fresh fruit etc, but something to share with them goes over well. be competent with your gear assembly, be jovial and have fun with the dm's and you'll be the "teacher's pet" and have a lot of fun.

while heading out to the first dive site, you'll go by all the beaches south of town. look for the type of beach that appeals to you and ask the dm's what each beach is like. they'll tell you, "that's a tequila / party scene, that one is more chill" etc. choose the one you think you might like and then head there in the afternoon. we like san fransisco beach the best when we were there a few weeks ago. we went several times and had the same waiter. we tipped well each time and we're taken care of VERY well each day.

the breakfast place above the museum is great!

lastly, you HAVE to visit Wet Wendy's. its basically in the square downtown. we met clara and she showed us all the renovations she's been making. very great person doing very great things. and the margaritas are amazing.

if you want to spend more than a few pennies, Prima is one of my fav restaurants of all time.

that's my 2psi.

 

[DevonDiver]

Also, we were curious to know if it is recommended to have your cave diving certification for the cenotes in Cozumel? Any info. about the cenotes would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

I've not been to Cozumel yet, so I won't comment on the variety of non-diving activities.

I've heard very positive reviews of the Cenotes diving experience.

The Cenotes is cavern diving. It makes sense to have a Cavern certification, so that you maximise safety and enjoyment. If I were going on that trip, and intended to dive the Cenotes, then I would investigate which dive centres had an excellent reputation for providing that course. I enjoy broadening my experience as a diver, so I would see the cavern course as a good introduction that could possibly lead to full cave training at a later date.

If you dove the Cenotes without that training, then basically you would be putting a lot of reliance/faith in your dive guide. This is often refered to as a 'trust me' dive and not encouraged. Many people do dive the Cenotes as a 'trust me' dive. If you opt to do that, then please make absolutely sure that you do trust your dive guide!

Of course, there are many awesome reef (non-cavern) dives to be done at that location also. I am sure other members can advise you on what dive sites you should particularly aim to visit. It's worth researching dive sites in advance... so that you can experience the best that an area has to offer. Once you are there, you can decide your diving operator on the basis of which sites they offer you on any given day (assuming, of course, that you like their professionalism and service too).

 

[BTravlin]

I think the main thing concerning the cenote dives for you two would be (1) how confident you are underwater and (2) how good you are at maintaining buoyancy. If either of you still get nervous just diving in clear open water then save the cenotes for another trip. Same goes for buoyancy control. If you don't have it you'll be bouncing off rocks, killing the viz and pissing other divers off. Have a great trip!

 

[outlawaggie]

The Cenote's are very nice. I wasn't concerned at all about not having a cave cert. You are rarely very far from a place you could surface. It's not a dive I'd do repeatedly as once you've done it,you've done it. The halocline was still one of the most interesting things I've seen while diving.

 

[TSandM]

I'm sorry; I read the original post as asking about the cenotes ON Cozumel (there are a few).

You do not need a cave cert to do the cavern tours on the mainland. I would recommend having good buoyancy control, perhaps some night diving experience, and enough dives to know how you react if you are uncomfortable or something malfunctions. Be careful with the operator you choose. There is a set of rules that they are supposed to follow, but it is voluntary, and I have seen operators breaking them. These include no more than four clients to a guide, and everyone in the group should have a dive light.

 

[catskill diver]

dogface, we just returned from our first Coz experience and with the Norte winds sometimes the pool is closed (on the island we were shut out 3 days) . Found out that the harbor master works for the goverment and the dive shops are having a hard time getting around his decision even if their boats are built for much more. Maybe if he didnt get paid when the harbor was closed he would reconsider his decisions. Anyway,If you still have not got your dive fix taken care of you may wish to hop the ferry across to playa. I'm sure there are many operators on coz that have referal shops across on the main land. We found it very easy to come and go once we knew were to go. Got off the ferry and went directly right down the beach to our referal shop. We didnt need to go thru the "gauntlet" of cuban cigar and tee shirt shops that add distance. Very good op he spent ALOT of time on the briefing and bouyancy checks. We were one of the first groups to the cenotes and the last one out. Had a blast -however overhead enviroments still exist, its not for everone, we were delighted we went. Hope you have good weather - just booked again for end of june. cat