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Me and my girlfriend are planning our september holiday, We have two weeks to spend and we want to dive a lot.
The priorities for the holiday are:
-Diving : beauty of the place, rich uw fauna/flora, avoiding too crowded dive boats
-Relax : quiet natural place, no disco or crowded bars (this we can have at home)
We are deciding between Akumal, Mexico and Roatan
Akumal
Pro : Cenotes (always wanted to dive there)
Atztec ruins
Not so turistic
If not diving one day there is a lot to explore, just rent a car
Possibility of taking a Dirf class, very hard here in europe
Roatan
Pro : Nice all inclusive village (anthony key resort)
Wonderful place
Dolphins
Someone who was already there pls give us some advice, we never went to Caribbean so is not so easy to decide.
We went to Akumal last Dec and are going back again this year. The area is wonderful - very laid back, relaxed, safe, affordable etc. We rented a condo on Half Moon Bay (Vista del Mar and dove with Akumal Dive Adventures next door). About 7 restaurants and a couple bars within a 10-15 min walk. Akumal is quiet with no real nighlife aside from a couple fun beach bars. Only about 1/2 hr to Tulum and 1/2 hr to Playa del Carmen if you want to go over to Coz for a day.
The ocean diving was nice, but not spectacular. The current is very light so it's easy drifts. We didn't have great weather so the site selection was limited. Avg depth was about 70 ft. Healthy reef, nice big stuff (rays, baracuda, turtles) and a pretty selction of the usual smaller tropicals (blue tang, angels etc.) We've heard the ocean dives are normally much better. We'll see this year.
This was our first time doing cenotes so we went with Hidden Worlds and did Dos Ojos and Bat Cave. Great experience! Only the 2 of us and a very good DM. Don't let the crowd at the shop or the crowded jungle truck fool you, you won't be diving with a dozen people. They space out the groups really well and we didn't see more then 4 with a DM. Seemed most of the people were snorkellers.
I'd say that if you want diving, non-touristy, uncrowded with relaxation and topside diversions, and the chance to also experience a cenote, Akumal is a great choice. If you want deep, spectacular wall dives, this won't be a good choice for you.
Although I haven't been to Anthony's Key, I've been to Cocoview a couple of times. It's a nice place off the beaten track, and you can dive your brains out. There's 24 hour shore diving combined with 2 boat dives per day.
The resort has about 25 rooms, so it's never crowded. Food is great, and the folks that run the place are very friendly.
Whichever one you choose, I hope it turns out to be a memorable vacation for all the right reasons.
-BlueHole- once bubbled... Me and my girlfriend are planning our september holiday, We have two weeks to spend and we want to dive a lot.
The priorities for the holiday are:
-Diving : beauty of the place, rich uw fauna/flora, avoiding too crowded dive boats
-Relax : quiet natural place, no disco or crowded bars (this we can have at home)
We are deciding between Akumal, Mexico and Roatan
Akumal
Pro : Cenotes (always wanted to dive there)
Atztec ruins
Not so turistic
If not diving one day there is a lot to explore, just rent a car
Possibility of taking a Dirf class, very hard here in europe
Roatan
Pro : Nice all inclusive village (anthony key resort)
Wonderful place
Dolphins
Someone who was already there pls give us some advice, we never went to Caribbean so is not so easy to decide.
It's been almost 20 years since I stayed at Akumal, but I don't think it's changed too much. I just returned from CoCoView in Roatan a few weeks ago. I didn't stay at AKR, but visited one day.
My suggestion, is this: If you only had one week, it's a bit of a tossup, with the edge to Roatan for better diving than Akumal.
However, since you have two weeks, there is no doubt that you should duplicate my trip of many years ago: one week Akumal, one week Cozumel.
I would suggest going to Akumal, diving a day or two in the ocean, a day or two in Cenotes, relax a day or two, see ruins a day or two. You MUST see Chichen Itza. Tulum is OK, but do not miss a chance for Chichen Itza. Amazing ruins.
Then take the ferry from Playa Del Carmen to Cozumel. Book a hotel south of town to avoid the crowds there if you wish, also they are closer to the dive sites. I LOVE Fiesta Americana, especially the 'casitas' which are larger rooms in small townhouses set back in the jungle. I like renting a car for the week to explore restaurants at night or to go to a beach restaurant for lunch. Spend the week diving every day.
While I liked CCV and Roatan, I think two weeks there would be more boring and repetitive than the Mexican choice. I've been to Coz 9 times and plan on going back again soon. I've been to Roatan once and doubt if I'll bother to go back for quite a while.
Splitting time between Cozumel and Akumal would be a perfect, especially since BlueHole is travelling all the way from Switzerland. You'd get the best of the Yucatan.
There's lots of good general info, condo and hotel info too, at www.locogringo.com. We've used them a few times for condos and transportation.
agree with geebee. best overall experience to combine akumal and cozumel. however, if you want to stay in one place for 2 weeks with the main objective being the diving you don't want to do akumal. the ocean diving there will barely keep you interested beyond a couple of days.
I've been in both places and would recommend both, but having 2 weeks to spend i would advise either Akumal + Chinchorro or Roatan + Utila.
As said before, 2 weeks at Roatan might be too much. I've combined a week at CoCoView plus a week at Utila. I've found a great package at Roatan Charters for the 2 weekd, I've just arranged the flight from Europe to the US.
Try to contact them...
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