Akumal and cenote dive?

[thefirststep2000]

I and my bf are going to do some cenote dive during Dec 28 and Dec 29.

Dec27 night we are going to stay in Playa Del Carmen, so I guess it's easy to find a shop can bring us to cenote on Dec28 from PDC.

But I also heard Akumal is very beautiful, people can see sea turtles even when they are just snorkeling. Wondering if it true? And if it worth to stay in Akumal for the night of Dec28? Will dive shops come pick us up in Akumal for the cenote dive? ( I figure if we stick in 1 dive shop, we can probably get better price)

Thanks a lot for your help,
F

 

[ibj40]

Last December, we stayed in Playa del Carmen and dove with Armando, from Abyss Dive Shop, who took us all the way down to Angelita for a dive, which is beyond Akumal. On the way back, he drove us around Akumal to show us the development in the area, and some of the eco-friendly resorts that have been built around there.

Can't guarantee it, but it would seem that if he went that far out of the way, from Playa del Carmen, to dive the cenotes, that coming back to you in Akumal wouldn't be a problem.

 

[driftwood]

There are a couple of resident turtles that hang out at the north end of Akumal Bay and some healthy schools of fish around the coral heads. Outside of some very shallow shore dives, I feel that you would be wasting your money on ocean dives in the area.

For my time and money, I would stay in PDC for the whole time you are diving. It's only a 30-40 minute drive to get to some of the cenotes from PDC.

 

[elletek]

Akumal is a beautiful area and not as commericalized as PDC. Yes, I would suggest at least one full day (spend the night) in Akumal to snorkel with the sea turtles and visit the reef to snorkel with barracudas, stingrays, eagle rays and a wide variety of fish. One or two hours is not enough time to snorkel. I spent 3 - 5 hours daily for a week snorkeling the area and still did not see it all, but saw some fabulous sealife.

Dive with Natalie & Ivan will pick you up at your hotel/resort and drive you to dive in a cenote or ocean.
Dive With Natalie & Ivan, Akumal, Riviera Maya, Mexico PADI MSDT Master SCUBA Diver Trainers

You could stay at Akumal Caribe or Las Casitas and just walk out to the water and see the tortugas!
Beachfront Hotel - Hotel Akumal Caribe
Las Casitas Akumal

Some nice videos of Akumal are here
Las Casitas Akumal | Facebook

 

[TSandM]

It really depends on what your idea of a good time is. PDC is a city -- it has a lot more restaurants and bars, if you like night life. Akumal is much smaller and quieter, with fewer choices of places to eat, but also not the bustle or the heckling of the city shops.

I have only done one open water dive in Akumal, and I would not spend the money to dive there again, but snorkeling in the shallow reefs at Puerto Aventuras can be a blast, so I would suspect it would be true at Akumal as well.

Akumal is much closer to the tour cenotes, so you would not have any problem getting a tour operator to pick you up there.

 

[mdalseg]

Staying in Playa del Carmen this time of year is great because the Bull Sharks are migrating through as well. If you're into shark dives and also need to line up a cenote dive i'd recommend Phantom Divers. Laura at the front desk is always a great help. I've been to two cenotes with Mario; Dos Ojos and Chak-mool. Ill be there the same time as you actually in a few weeks and plan to do the Bull Shark dive this time

 

[Old Perfessor]

Akumal is a beautiful area and not as commericalized as PDC. Yes, I would suggest at least one full day (spend the night) in Akumal to snorkel with the sea turtles and visit the reef to snorkel with barracudas, stingrays, eagle rays and a wide variety of fish. One or two hours is not enough time to snorkel. I spent 3 - 5 hours daily for a week snorkeling the area and still did not see it all, but saw some fabulous sealife.

Dive with Natalie & Ivan will pick you up at your hotel/resort and drive you to dive in a cenote or ocean. Dive With Natalie & Ivan, Akumal, Riviera Maya, Mexico PADI MSDT Master SCUBA Diver Trainers

I just returned from a 4 day diving trip to Akumal with my 16 year old son. We contacted Ivan prior to our arrival and made arrangements to dive with him and his wife Natalie, who is also an instructor. They operate in conjunction with Akumal Dive Center. I can't say enough good things about our experiences with them.

My son is a relatively inexperienced diver. He was certified when he was 12, had only 18 dives with last being in June 2008. Ivan spent 1.5 hours with my son before our first dive, going over equipment and refreshing his memory on the basic diving skills. We spent 2 days in the ocean with Ivan and Natalie and one day at the Dos Ojos cenote with their friend Mauro. The personal service they provided made our overall experience and visit just perfect. Ivan even fixed a faulty power inflator on my son's SeaQuest BC (a 20 year old hand-me-down from me). I highly recommend that you contact Ivan divewithnatalieandivan@yahoo.com
if you are planning a trip to Akumal, particulary if it is your first time.

 

[elletek]

I just returned from a 4 day diving trip to Akumal with my 16 year old son. We contacted Ivan prior to our arrival and made arrangements to dive with him and his wife Natalie, who is also an instructor. They operate in conjunction with Akumal Dive Center. I can't say enough good things about our experiences with them.

My son is a relatively inexperienced diver. He was certified when he was 12, had only 18 dives with last being in June 2008. Ivan spent 1.5 hours with my son before our first dive, going over equipment and refreshing his memory on the basic diving skills. We spent 2 days in the ocean with Ivan and Natalie and one day at the Dos Ojos cenote with their friend Mauro. The personal service they provided made our overall experience and visit just perfect. Ivan even fixed a faulty power inflator on my son's SeaQuest BC (a 20 year old hand-me-down from me). I highly recommend that you contact Ivan divewithnatalieandivan@yahoo.com
if you are planning a trip to Akumal, particulary if it is your first time.

Happy to hear you had a positive experience with Natalie and Ivan. They are wonderful people and run a top operation. We've used them twice, and the next time we are in Akumal we will reserve with them again.

It's really cool that Ivan fixed your 20 year old inflator.