Riviera Maya Diving

[kaimpson]

I am planning a trip to the Riviera Maya - staying at the Aventura Spa Palace. I have made 8-9 trips to Cozumel to dive, but have never been to the mainland. Dive Aventuras seems to be the dive operator that I am looking for, but I would like to get some opinions from divers who have been to this area.

I am not interested in cenote diving, only ocean diving. Diving is relaxation for me, and I prefer slow, enjoyable dives to observe marine life.

Thanks - any information is appreciated!!

[michaelp68]

The Mayan Riviera is a pretty big place.

I'm not familiar with your resort, but if your result is in or close to Puerto Morelos, I'd recommend getting in touch with Dive Puerto Morelos. My wife and I used them and had a great experience. Nice and relaxed ocean diving in very small groups.

http://www.divepuertomorelos.com/

Have fun.

Michael

[pink_fins]

We stayed at the spa this past spring. You are going to love it. Food is great and free drinks all you like.

Snorkel in the lagoon. There are a few fish to see.
AVOID all the time share stuff unless you really want to learn about it.

We had a private guide pick us up 3 days in a row and he took us where ever we wanted. Dove 6 cenotes and loved the grand cenote the best. e-mail me if you want to know more about our guide. It was the way to go.

We used our big suit cases to haul gear to the main gate. Wheels really helped us get around. It is a big place.
gail

[scubawife]

Haven't been to Aventuras, but I've been going to Akumal for a Dec week for 3 years now and love it. We rent a condo on Half Moon Bay and dive with Akumal Dive Adventures. Akumal and the East End of Grand Cayman are our favorite trips and the 2 that we've been repeating for about 3 yrs. Akumal diving is nice, easy, drift dives with healthy reefs. You won't find deep diving, walls or ripping current. You will find dives between 40 -80ft, avg around 60-70ft, with lots of marine life (schools of 10+ friendly gray angels, lots of turtles, eels, rays, barracudas and the usuals like parrots, tang, etc.), and beautiful hard and soft coral. Sites are within a 10 min boat ride. ADA does 3 dives a day at 9:00, 11:30 and 2:30, singled tanks returning to the shop between dives. Our condo is a few buildings up the beach so we usually head back for a snack and to warm btwn the first 2 dives, and we have lots of time for lunch before the 3rd dive.

We also usually do a day or two of cenote dives. Two days if ocean conditions aren't great, otherwise just the last day of our trip is spent hiring a guide and doing 2-3 cenote dives. A great way to rinse the gear!

The area is very different from Cancun or Cozumel. Laid back, not overrun with tourism, AI's and timeshares (at least that's still the case in Akumal).

Enjoy!