My husband and I are staying in Cancun from May 8-17 (we have too many non-divers in our group). We will be diving in Cozumel. I have researched every possible way to do this the most efficiently and this is what we are doing (you may want to give it a shot):
We arranged dependable transporatation through Brant
(the
www.entertainment-plus.net guy) so we will not miss the ferry, and a car will be waiting for us upon our return from Coz. I e-mailed about 10 dive ops in Cozumel and based on the responses I received (and other reviews), we will be diving with Raul Platas from
www.bottomtimedivers.net He has been wonderful! He has been so-o-o-o-o helpful in our planning. He has towels, fruit, snacks, water, parkas available for our use. He does not charge more money to the farther reefs. He is also being very flexible due to our unique situation of staying in Cancun.
Here is what our day is going to be like:
Leave Dreams Cancun Resort: 4:45 a.m.
Arrive Playa Del Carmen: 5:45 a.m.
Catch ferry from Playa to Coz: 6:00 a.m.
Ferry arrives in Coz: approx. 6:45 a.m.
Raul will pick us up right at ferry pier (he will be holding a sign)
We will be on the first dive site around 8:00 a.m.
We will dive 2 tanks at two different reefs
Boat will drop us off at a beach for surface interval (where we will have lunch) and pick us back up 1 1/2 hours later
We will dive 2 more tanks at two different reefs
Done diving by 5:00 p.m.
Raul will drop us back off at ferry pier
Catch the 6:00 p.m. ferry back to Playa Del Carmen
Ferry arrives back in Playa approx 6:45 p.m.
Car will be waiting for us at 6:45 p.m.
Arrive back at Dreams Cancun at approx. 7:45 - 8:00 p.m.
Raul also gave us the option of coming on the 8:00 a.m. ferry (so you'd have to leave Cancun at 6:45 a.m. instead of 4:45 a.m.), but it would obviously push your arrival time back by two hours. We wanted to get back to have dinner with our family, so we opted for the ungodly 4:45 a.m. departure - but you don't have to! There is an 8:00 p.m ferry back to Playa if you choose to do the later schedule.
All in all, this trip will cost us about $50.00 more each than if we arranged through a Cancun dive op. BUT we are getting 4 tanks of diving instead of 2, personalized service and we are getting a private car for transporatation directly from our hotel (not a bus from a dive shop, a public cab or multiple public buses). And MOST importantly to us - we got to pick the 4 reefs we want to dive. We already decided on them with Raul and we will be on a fast boat with no more than 6 divers.
So this can be done if you are so inclined! You can also arrange this scenario with 2 tanks of diving (either a.m. or p.m. but we figured since we were traveling such a long way, we might as well dive 4 tanks). We have dived 4 tanks in a day in the past and we know it is not a problem for us. Raul also has Nitrox tanks available.
If you need more specifics, feel free to post back here or PM me. Good luck!
P.S. Aquaworld no longer takes their own boat to Cozumel. In fact, every dive op in Cancun, that goes to Cozumel, will bus you to Playa to catch the ferry, including Aquaworld. There are no longer ANY boats (other than private charters) that go directly from Cancun to Cozumel for diving.