Puerto Morelos or Akumal, Mexico

[oceanvideos]

Puerto Morelos or Akumal? Which would be better for 3 days of diving. My husband and I want to avoid the crowds of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. We would like to stay at a quiet little place on the beach and do 2 days of ocean diving and one day of cenote diving. We are both experienced divers. Does anyone have recommendations for places to stay and good dive operators? Also, can we do any shore diving from Puerto Morelos or Akumal?

 

[lthomas132]

We stayed at Akumal last fall at one of the AI resorts, they're everywhere!, since my wife doesn't dive any longer. No shore diving that I know of. Never stayed at Puerto Morelos, but I know that Akumal is very close to the better cenotes, a must dive. I dove with Bahia Divers - Bahia Divers Dive Center, specialized in private group diving and Cenotes - Dive at the Mexican Caribbean. They picked me up at the AI, although it was supposed to be against the AI's rules-they want you spending your money there. Fabio picked me up himself, took me to his shop just down the road, small shop right on a beautiful, private beach. Have fun!

---------- Post added April 27th, 2012 at 06:53 AM ----------

My dive buddy & I are staying at a small hotel in PDC - HOTEL CIELO ~ PLAYA DEL CARMEN * MEXICO the first week in June. This way we don't have to rent a car or take buses. Our dive shop - Yucatek Divers - Yucatek Divers, Playa del Carmen is just down the street. Easy cenote & reef diving, & cheap!

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Keep this to yourself, as we don't want crowds rushing to Akumal, but Akumal is THE PLACE. It is my wife's and my favorite place on the planet. Look into a condo ( Las Casita right on the beach, or the Hotel right in Akumal. The website to use for booking is locogringo.com. Akumal Dive Shop is terrific. Rates are low. But note: diving is off small boats- out for a dive, back in, switch tanks, out for a second dive. Cenote excursion will leave from the shop, to which you can walk in about 2 minutes from hotel or condo. The beach at Akumal is the best. I have been there a bunch, most recently November 2011. Private message me with any questions, but do go to locogringo.com and also hit the Akumal dive shop web site. Good diving, tons of turtles. No shore diving , but the best snorkeling in Maya Riviera. Turtles, rays, eels, all in a remarkable warm, and calm Akumal Bay. (But don't tell anyone else)
DivemasterDennis

 

[wetsetdivers]

Hi Oceanvideos, I agree Akumal is lovely, but I have say that I believe the diving we have here in Puerto Morelos is even better. Of course, as a dive shop (Wet Set Diving Adventures) in Puerto Morelos, I admit to being biased. We bought our dive shop here based on how good the diving is. We also use small boats to take groups of 6 divers max out to a variety of sites that include a great military wreck, stunning shallow reef dives (inside the Puerto Morelos reef marine park), deeper drift dives on the reef, and, of course, also offer trips to cenotes in the area. We also pride ourselves on the top quality service we offer... you will never have to carry your tanks or gear to/from the boat, all our divemasters are all instructors, and our boat captain has been working with dive boats from more than 10 years.

Puerto Morelos is a delightful small town, with stunning beaches and plenty of friendly locals. It used to be a tiny fishing village, and still has a lot of that sleepy town feel to it. The nice thing is that we are a little bigger than Akumal, which offers a nice variety of restaurants and lots of live music. And we are ideally located 20minutes from Cancun airport, making transfers a doddle. There are a few small hotels and guest houses to choose from, or a couple of all-inclusive resorts a short distance along the beach from the town.

I hope you'll check us out, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have - diver@wetset.com Whichever place you choose, you'll have a fabulous trip to the Mayan Riviera! Lindsay

 

[TulumScuba.com]

I think Akumal is the right choice. Diving in both are quite good, much more divesites to choose in Akumal and lots of sea turtles.
For visiting cenotes Akumal is a better location as well, its way closer than Puero Morelos. Also, in case of bad ocean weather or rain you can do cenotes for 3 days....belive or not, many times the ocean is too rough for letting small boats to go out.

if you need any help contact me on tulumscuba@gmail.com, we pick up people from the hotel and do cenotes tours. Jeff has beedn here since 97 and know every single hole with water worth seeing, I fall in love in cave diving only 2 years ago and both of us are working as an independent dive shop, with no hussle and crowds, no groups and MUST be back on time. we have passion what we are doing and we do not work in a busy money oriented dive shop.
the truly recomandation in diving there is Akumal Diving: Dive Vacation Packages, Akumal Dive Resort, Akumal Dive Center and ask for Shaleh.
good luck
have a nice time
gosia

 

[Rhodesaz]

I've been going to Akumal since 95. I second Tulumscuba and use Shaleh and Akumal Dive Adventures.
I would stay at Vista Del Mar, right next door to the dive shop. They have both hotel and condo's. Go for the condo. Rent a car to get there and use it to go to as many different places to eat as possible.

Stayed at an AI once (couple of miles down the road). Used Locogringo, never again!!! (That's all I'll say on them)

There is no shore diving in Akumal Bay or Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay is a great snorkeling location, all tho much rockier then Akumal bay.

We have never dived in Puerto Morelos, so I can not speak to that!

 

[moody mermaid]

Akumal has become one of my favorite places to be. Still fairly laid back and not as crazy as much of that coast.
I've had good experiences with the Akumal Dive Shop, though they can be a little resistant to going out if they don't have the number of divers they want. To be fair, that's a pretty small number.

 

[TSandM]

I don't know Puerto Morelos, but I have stayed in the bungalows at the Hotel Akumal Caribe. It was a quiet and pleasant place to stay. The rooms have a refrigerator, and internet access. It's a minimal walk to the restaurant or bar/snack bar at Lol Ha, or across the road to Turtle Bay (one of my favorite places in the Riviera Maya to eat). There are a couple of other restaurants in Akumal, but they're a bit of a hike or drive.

I've only done one open water dive there, and I was not blown away. We went with Akumal Dive Center. It was a bit of a challenge, loading the boat by wading out with all of our gear! There was a lot of algae growth on the reefs. There may be better sites than that one -- as I said, that's the only OW dive I've ever done in the area.

A friend of mine lives down there and gave me a recommendation for Natalie and Ivan for a friend who was coming down to do open water diving. The report I got from my friend was very positive.

 

[divinglife]

Not to go against the grain on this one, but I think a week in Puerto Morelos would be lovely!!! It's a small town but has some great quaint little restos and cafes. The shipwreck is AMAZING and there are some little known sites there that are really great. We took a group diving there recently and did "Aquarium" as a second dive and were SHOCKED at the amount of fish (and we've lived in the are for over 5 years).
In Akumal (particularly if you are planning on renting a car) I would check out Solimon Bay. It is private, out of the way, and really beautiful. Mostly rental homes and condos but also a gorgeous boutique hotel called Ja****a.

 

[reddiver970]

I just got back from Akumal. The reefs we dove on were OK, definitely not Cozumel but better than I was expecting. We only got three dives in due to windy conditions and the small boats they use. We used Akumal Dive shop and everyone I dealt with there was great. I also got to do a couple of dives at Dos Ojos cenote that place is AMAZING. I plan on doing more cenotes next time for sure