Isla Mujeres

[jackyd]

I am planning a trip to Isla Mujeres in early june and need a little advice.

How good is the diving? Good enough to keep us occupied for a couple days? The sleeping shark cave looks interesting but wondering if it got blown out from the hurricanes?

Is early june too early for whale shark action? I know its on the leading edge of the season.

Does anybody know a good cenote dive operator in close proximity to isla mujeres? Am I correct in that this is worth spending a day doing?

This one might be a long shot with this crowd but does anyone know about spearfishing on the island?

Thanks in advance,

Jack

 

[Mike]

Jack are you asking about Isla Mujeres in Mexico or is there another one? If it's Mexico, cenotes are on the main land, you'll be separated by a ferry ride and a long ride on the main land. With 500 dives under your belt, you're probably going to find the diving mediocre. Sleeping shark cave is a fantasy, don't even bother with it. You can probably keep yourself occupied for a couple of days of diving there, but don't expect too much. As far as I know, the east side of the island is outside the marine park and should be able to spear fish it.

Do a search for Isla Mujeres and read the stuff you find, there isn't too much to go through but you'll get a good idea about the place.

 

[Allison Finch]

Well the quality of diving would depend on where you have dived before. If all of your diving has been in a quarry, then you will likely have a good time. I personally found the diving pretty poor.

 

[jackyd]

Did either of you snorkel with the whale sharks? That is kind of the main draw for me, although not scuba.

As I understand it, the best place to dive with whale sharks in the world.

Are the cents a bust as well?

I've dove a lot of world class stuff so I def won't be blow away, but my game plan is to hit whale sharks one day, centotes one day, night dive, and thats it probably for scuba. So my expectations are tempered and I won't need it to keep me occupied 4 tanks a day for 2 weeks.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

The diving off Isla Mujeres is mediocre at best. If you catch the whale sharks in season (June - Sept) then that's different.

Personally, I'd stay on the mainland. Your dive op (we use Alvaro from AlwaysDiving.Com in Cancun) can run you over to the Isla for the whale sharks. If I were staying on the Isla and wanted to dive, I'd find an op that would take me to the mainland sites.

The cenote dives are great, but they're a long day from Cancun. Even longer from Isla Mujeres. There's a ton of threads about diving the cenotes. Personally, I don't think a trip to the area is complete without a couple tanks in the cenotes.

 

[DandyDon]

Did either of you snorkel with the whale sharks? That is kind of the main draw for me, although not scuba.

As I understand it, the best place to dive with whale sharks in the world.

Are the cents a bust as well?

I've dove a lot of world class stuff so I def won't be blow away, but my game plan is to hit whale sharks one day, centotes one day, night dive, and thats it probably for scuba. So my expectations are tempered and I won't need it to keep me occupied 4 tanks a day for 2 weeks.

I snorkeled with Whale Sharks out of Holbox for two days. Love it. I hope early June is not too early. You can find more on the Mexico forum.

Cents? Some of the Cenotes are outstanding dives, but a ferry ride from IJ and 80+ miles drive down to Tulum would make that a challenge. We've done it after a ferry from Cozumel, but Playa del Carmen is halfway between Cancun and Tulum. I guess it can be done, but it'll be a 12 hour trip.