Diving in Playa Del Carmen and Cozumel

[browneye253]

Sorry to jump into someone's thread but I'm looking for the same info as I'll be there March 2-9. There is a lot of talk about Cozumel are the cenote dives boring? They seemed really interesting to me, but nobody seems to be talking about them. This will be my first time to dive while on vacation. It will also just be myself as my dive partner backed out at the last minute. Any tips to help out a newbie?

[markmantei]

Thanks for all your insight.

I have taken the Colectivo when I was in Riviera Maya a few years ago and I thought it was great. I take the names you all have provided and go talk to them on the first day I am there and see which best suits the diving I want to do and gives me the best feeling.

Good plan. Everyone has their favorites but you need to decide what works best for you. One of the questions you may want to keep in mind is which shops do baited (or feeding) shark dives. I'm sure you can do your own research and decide what is important to you, but some shops are certainly more "aggressive" in the way they conduct their bull shark dives. Just something to keep in mind if it is a concern to you.

[markmantei]

Sorry to jump into someone's thread but I'm looking for the same info as I'll be there March 2-9. There is a lot of talk about Cozumel are the cenote dives boring? They seemed really interesting to me, but nobody seems to be talking about them. This will be my first time to dive while on vacation. It will also just be myself as my dive partner backed out at the last minute. Any tips to help out a newbie?

Just depends on what interests you. My wife is not a fan and prefers the ocean diving with all the associated ocean life, although I believe it also has to do with a little bit of claustrophobia (though more discomfort than fear). In my limited experience you will not get the animal life with the cenotes, instead you get rock formations. That said there is something magical about the dive with the sunlight illuminating through various cracks, interspersed with darkness pierced only by your torch light, it is a very different diving than ocean diving. I would certainly recommend it as something to at least try in most every divers career. While it is not cave diving (I think they classify it as "cavern" diving), there are certain times when clearance can become a little tight, so if you want to work on something before your trip, buoyancy control would be the skill to focus on.

[wmperry]

I love diving the cenotes and would be happy doing a weeklong dive trip of nothing else! But I am also happy to drift along just admiring the coral formations instead of focusing on marine life. Definitely a 'structure' diver. If you only want to see tons of life while diving you should still try to do a trip to the cenotes -- absolutely gorgeous, but you probably wouldn't want to do multiple days. Or you would get the bug and turn into a cave diver.

[TSandM]

There is a lot of talk about Cozumel are the cenote dives boring? They seemed really interesting to me, but nobody seems to be talking about them.

If the photos you have seen of the cenotes appeal to you, you will love the dives. As said, you don't do them for the life, as caves are energy-poor environments and have very little. You do it for the formations, the crystal clear water, the halocline effects, and the beauty of the light streaming down from the open water.

Lifted from an advertising site:

[PARADISE HUNTER]

In Cozumel I would recommend either Raul with Bottom Time Divers or Jeremy with Living Under Water. Both run small groups on covered, fast pangas. Very nice guys with great captains.

PH