laikabear
Contributor
Hi everyone,
Just did 4 days of cenote diving with Playa Scuba and wanted to post a brief report since I was looking for info before going.
I went with some friends who have been diving with Klaus at Playa Scuba for years (not to be confused with Scuba Playa, a different shop). So for that reason I didn't shop around or consider other ops at all. I was going down ostensibly for a work conference in Playa del Carmen which would also allow for some dive days. I've been to Cozumel before and so I wanted to focus on cenotes only this trip.
I had about 220 dives, nitrox and advanced open water certified, plus GUE Fundies rec pass, heading into this trip. I had a few ideas from this thread and asking friends, of which cenotes I wanted to see, but was also open to ideas. On our first day of diving, I went with my 2 friends and Klaus to El Eden. This is kind of a checkout dive. I don't think they will take you directly to the more advanced cenotes if they don't know you (ones that are darker or require better buoyancy or deep dives). I loved El Eden because it has a large freshwater pool with lots of moss and beautiful freshwater fish. We did 2 dives there, the 2nd one in a different direction (Klaus called it Corales). Both were very well-lit cavern dives and had a halocline which was very interesting to experience for the first time. I wasn't aware of how blurry that layer would get (especially as the last diver in line on the 2nd dive). I found by getting a bit to the side or below the person in front of me I was able to see better.
When we arrived for the first dive, there were already many people there, but we didn't see many of them underwater once we got to the cavern zone. Many were snorkeling, or swimming. On the 2nd dive, again, we were pretty much alone underwater, maybe passed one group going the opposite way. When we surfaced, the lagoon part of the area was chock full of people. I am so glad that as crowded as it was, it didn't feel crowded underwater. The vis was very good, 80 feet maybe? The max depth was about 45 feet on both dives.
I loved the warm water under the halocline but found the freshwater layer of the cenotes (which we were in the majority of the time) to be cooler than the reef dives I did in Cozumel, as I had heard. My dive log says about 77F consistently for our dives (that doesn't sound cold at all!). I dive a drysuit locally here in SoCal but I prefer not to travel with it. I ended up taking my 5mm wetsuit and a new hood that I have, a non-neoprene 4th Element hood, which was a mistake. I thought that my 7mm hood would be overkill for these dives, but the 4th element one is short and let water go down the back of my wetsuit, and I was a little chilly, but not So-Cal cold. I think that hood will be great for warmer water (I always wear a hood), but for these dives, I would have rather had the thicker, longer neoprene hood. Other than that my gear was right for 2 dives per day. I also had 5 mm booties and my own fins rather than the full-foot fins that the shop rents out. If I were going back, I'd take the 7mm hood and I might even take my 7mm wetsuit instead of the 5mm, especially if I were going to be diving more. YMMV, I tend to get very, very cold. I'm a wimp, I know. I still would not have wanted to fuss with my drysuit though.
The second day I dove alone with Klaus as my friends wanted to do some reef dives in Playa. He suggested The Pit and a 2nd dive at the Bat Cave. The Pit was my favorite dive. It's a deep dive (we went to 128 feet) and there is a hydrogen sulfide layer at the bottom. It looks very spooky, like smoke or fog, and the vis is very low in that layer, maybe 1-3 feet. It was very cool to descend down there and look around. Then we slowly spiraled up and looked at all the little side chambers and formations. We saw some Mayan pottery Klaus pointed out that was tucked away in a little nook. The vis was unbelievable, about 100+ feet (I'm very bad at estimating that!). We could see divers way above us, way across the huge "room" of the Pit, and then way below us. Still, it was not crowded at all and the other divers were so far away that their lights were not bothersome, and actually looked really cool. It showed off how great the vis was to be able to see the other divers so far away. I would go back and see the Pit again for sure.
The 2nd dive that day was the Bat Cave, which had a long route which at times seemed pretty dark. I tried covering my light and couldn't always see the ambient light, even though we were on the gold line the whole time. However, Klaus's light was pretty bright, so perhaps that was obscuring the ambient light. Anyway, be aware, on that dive you could get to feeling like you were pretty far from the entrance. I loved that dive - the formations were beautiful and there were some mirror effects on the ceilings. We surfaced in a room with many bats and got to look at them. Mostly they were just hanging around. The Bat Cave had a ton of snorkelers but again, underwater we had the place to ourselves. It was magical. The Bat Cave was shallow - 30 feet max depth.
The 3rd day, my friend Johanne joined Klaus and me and we went to Angelita. Angelita is waaay out in BFE so be prepared for a much longer drive. We were the only scuba divers there. There was one small group of freedivers. Angelita is deep and we went to 108 feet. There is a hydrogen sulfide layer there, too, and it's the same spooky / smoky fairy tale effect. There is a tree at the bottom that emerges from that smoke that looks very creepy. Vis in the main part of Angelita (which is not really a cavern so much as a circular hole) was not that great, about 15-20 feet, on that day. I'm told it varies. Also, it was somewhat dark because of cloud cover. Angelita is kind of similar to the Pit but I liked the Pit better. The Pit's walls are sandy colored, but Angelita's are dark brown. We saw a Mayan vase here, similar to the stuff in the Pit, it was sequestered off in a little alcove.
The 2nd dive was at Casa Cenote, which is far from Angelita. There were tons of people at Casa but again, mostly snorkelers. We did see someone doing a DSD there underwater. But we mostly were alone during the dive. We just saw the crowd at entry / exit. Casa was very cool - it's like a little river and you can go under these huge mangroves. There were more fish on this dive - immature Tarpon and some little barred fish I didn't recognize. Casa was a real treat, it was so cool swimming under those trees and very different from the other cenotes. It's also very shallow, 26 feet max depth.
On the 4th day, Johanne and I went with a different guide from the shop, Sunny. He took us to Dreamgate. We did 2 dives (there are 2 routes) at Dreamgate. It's not as far from the shop as Angelita, but the gravel road to get out to the site is very long. We were the first ones at the site and only 2 other groups showed up between our 1st and 2nd dives. We passed one group on our way out but otherwise had the place to ourselves underwater. Dreamgate is highly "decorated" with many stalagtites and stalagmites and it's similar to the Bat Cave in that it's more of a tight area (not concerningly tight but you need to have good buoyancy control) and there were times when it was very dark. Again I tried covering my light for a bit and I could not always see the ambient light, but Sunny's and Johanne's lights were still on. We were on the gold line the whole time, of course. I liked Dreamgate a lot but the pit was still my favorite. Dreamgate was shallow - max depth 23 feet. There were some fish there, too, more than I saw at the Pit or Angelita.
Overall I really enjoyed my cenote dives. I don't think I'm going to rush out and take a Cave class but maybe someday... For anyone looking for recommendations, I have to say The Pit, The Pit, The Pit. Do NOT miss The Pit. And I really liked Casa and Dreamgate.
Playa Scuba rents all gear for $15 per day, including lights. I have my own gear so I just got tanks and a weight belt and weights. The shop is on Ave 15 between Calle 2 and 4 and was about 100 feet from Hotel Luna Sol where we stayed (see below). We walked over at 8AM, hopped in the truck, and drove to the tank fill station to pick up tanks, then dove, then back to the fill station to drop the tanks off, then back to the shop. Most days we were back around 1-2 PM except Angelita took longer because it's so far away. Oh, and I forgot the obligatory taco stop - if you are with Klaus, he will take you to a taco / juice spot for breakfast and a taco spot (Paco's Tacos) for lunch after. The lunch tacos at Paco's were the best tacos I have ever had, anywhere (battered shrimp). Sunny prefers a sandwich spot, but we lobbied for Paco's because it's amazing and also we are not meat-eaters, only fish.
The checkout dive day was $90 (I think) and the other days were $140 because those cenotes were farther away or premium for various reasons. We also had to pay our entry fee to the cenotes separately which vary from site to site. I think the Pit was the most ($570 pesos?) and I remember them being $300 pesos on other days.
Just did 4 days of cenote diving with Playa Scuba and wanted to post a brief report since I was looking for info before going.
I went with some friends who have been diving with Klaus at Playa Scuba for years (not to be confused with Scuba Playa, a different shop). So for that reason I didn't shop around or consider other ops at all. I was going down ostensibly for a work conference in Playa del Carmen which would also allow for some dive days. I've been to Cozumel before and so I wanted to focus on cenotes only this trip.
I had about 220 dives, nitrox and advanced open water certified, plus GUE Fundies rec pass, heading into this trip. I had a few ideas from this thread and asking friends, of which cenotes I wanted to see, but was also open to ideas. On our first day of diving, I went with my 2 friends and Klaus to El Eden. This is kind of a checkout dive. I don't think they will take you directly to the more advanced cenotes if they don't know you (ones that are darker or require better buoyancy or deep dives). I loved El Eden because it has a large freshwater pool with lots of moss and beautiful freshwater fish. We did 2 dives there, the 2nd one in a different direction (Klaus called it Corales). Both were very well-lit cavern dives and had a halocline which was very interesting to experience for the first time. I wasn't aware of how blurry that layer would get (especially as the last diver in line on the 2nd dive). I found by getting a bit to the side or below the person in front of me I was able to see better.
When we arrived for the first dive, there were already many people there, but we didn't see many of them underwater once we got to the cavern zone. Many were snorkeling, or swimming. On the 2nd dive, again, we were pretty much alone underwater, maybe passed one group going the opposite way. When we surfaced, the lagoon part of the area was chock full of people. I am so glad that as crowded as it was, it didn't feel crowded underwater. The vis was very good, 80 feet maybe? The max depth was about 45 feet on both dives.
I loved the warm water under the halocline but found the freshwater layer of the cenotes (which we were in the majority of the time) to be cooler than the reef dives I did in Cozumel, as I had heard. My dive log says about 77F consistently for our dives (that doesn't sound cold at all!). I dive a drysuit locally here in SoCal but I prefer not to travel with it. I ended up taking my 5mm wetsuit and a new hood that I have, a non-neoprene 4th Element hood, which was a mistake. I thought that my 7mm hood would be overkill for these dives, but the 4th element one is short and let water go down the back of my wetsuit, and I was a little chilly, but not So-Cal cold. I think that hood will be great for warmer water (I always wear a hood), but for these dives, I would have rather had the thicker, longer neoprene hood. Other than that my gear was right for 2 dives per day. I also had 5 mm booties and my own fins rather than the full-foot fins that the shop rents out. If I were going back, I'd take the 7mm hood and I might even take my 7mm wetsuit instead of the 5mm, especially if I were going to be diving more. YMMV, I tend to get very, very cold. I'm a wimp, I know. I still would not have wanted to fuss with my drysuit though.
The second day I dove alone with Klaus as my friends wanted to do some reef dives in Playa. He suggested The Pit and a 2nd dive at the Bat Cave. The Pit was my favorite dive. It's a deep dive (we went to 128 feet) and there is a hydrogen sulfide layer at the bottom. It looks very spooky, like smoke or fog, and the vis is very low in that layer, maybe 1-3 feet. It was very cool to descend down there and look around. Then we slowly spiraled up and looked at all the little side chambers and formations. We saw some Mayan pottery Klaus pointed out that was tucked away in a little nook. The vis was unbelievable, about 100+ feet (I'm very bad at estimating that!). We could see divers way above us, way across the huge "room" of the Pit, and then way below us. Still, it was not crowded at all and the other divers were so far away that their lights were not bothersome, and actually looked really cool. It showed off how great the vis was to be able to see the other divers so far away. I would go back and see the Pit again for sure.
The 2nd dive that day was the Bat Cave, which had a long route which at times seemed pretty dark. I tried covering my light and couldn't always see the ambient light, even though we were on the gold line the whole time. However, Klaus's light was pretty bright, so perhaps that was obscuring the ambient light. Anyway, be aware, on that dive you could get to feeling like you were pretty far from the entrance. I loved that dive - the formations were beautiful and there were some mirror effects on the ceilings. We surfaced in a room with many bats and got to look at them. Mostly they were just hanging around. The Bat Cave had a ton of snorkelers but again, underwater we had the place to ourselves. It was magical. The Bat Cave was shallow - 30 feet max depth.
The 3rd day, my friend Johanne joined Klaus and me and we went to Angelita. Angelita is waaay out in BFE so be prepared for a much longer drive. We were the only scuba divers there. There was one small group of freedivers. Angelita is deep and we went to 108 feet. There is a hydrogen sulfide layer there, too, and it's the same spooky / smoky fairy tale effect. There is a tree at the bottom that emerges from that smoke that looks very creepy. Vis in the main part of Angelita (which is not really a cavern so much as a circular hole) was not that great, about 15-20 feet, on that day. I'm told it varies. Also, it was somewhat dark because of cloud cover. Angelita is kind of similar to the Pit but I liked the Pit better. The Pit's walls are sandy colored, but Angelita's are dark brown. We saw a Mayan vase here, similar to the stuff in the Pit, it was sequestered off in a little alcove.
The 2nd dive was at Casa Cenote, which is far from Angelita. There were tons of people at Casa but again, mostly snorkelers. We did see someone doing a DSD there underwater. But we mostly were alone during the dive. We just saw the crowd at entry / exit. Casa was very cool - it's like a little river and you can go under these huge mangroves. There were more fish on this dive - immature Tarpon and some little barred fish I didn't recognize. Casa was a real treat, it was so cool swimming under those trees and very different from the other cenotes. It's also very shallow, 26 feet max depth.
On the 4th day, Johanne and I went with a different guide from the shop, Sunny. He took us to Dreamgate. We did 2 dives (there are 2 routes) at Dreamgate. It's not as far from the shop as Angelita, but the gravel road to get out to the site is very long. We were the first ones at the site and only 2 other groups showed up between our 1st and 2nd dives. We passed one group on our way out but otherwise had the place to ourselves underwater. Dreamgate is highly "decorated" with many stalagtites and stalagmites and it's similar to the Bat Cave in that it's more of a tight area (not concerningly tight but you need to have good buoyancy control) and there were times when it was very dark. Again I tried covering my light for a bit and I could not always see the ambient light, but Sunny's and Johanne's lights were still on. We were on the gold line the whole time, of course. I liked Dreamgate a lot but the pit was still my favorite. Dreamgate was shallow - max depth 23 feet. There were some fish there, too, more than I saw at the Pit or Angelita.
Overall I really enjoyed my cenote dives. I don't think I'm going to rush out and take a Cave class but maybe someday... For anyone looking for recommendations, I have to say The Pit, The Pit, The Pit. Do NOT miss The Pit. And I really liked Casa and Dreamgate.
Playa Scuba rents all gear for $15 per day, including lights. I have my own gear so I just got tanks and a weight belt and weights. The shop is on Ave 15 between Calle 2 and 4 and was about 100 feet from Hotel Luna Sol where we stayed (see below). We walked over at 8AM, hopped in the truck, and drove to the tank fill station to pick up tanks, then dove, then back to the fill station to drop the tanks off, then back to the shop. Most days we were back around 1-2 PM except Angelita took longer because it's so far away. Oh, and I forgot the obligatory taco stop - if you are with Klaus, he will take you to a taco / juice spot for breakfast and a taco spot (Paco's Tacos) for lunch after. The lunch tacos at Paco's were the best tacos I have ever had, anywhere (battered shrimp). Sunny prefers a sandwich spot, but we lobbied for Paco's because it's amazing and also we are not meat-eaters, only fish.
The checkout dive day was $90 (I think) and the other days were $140 because those cenotes were farther away or premium for various reasons. We also had to pay our entry fee to the cenotes separately which vary from site to site. I think the Pit was the most ($570 pesos?) and I remember them being $300 pesos on other days.
