Playa del Carmen march 19-26

[enhydralutris]

Third vote for Geofish. Just got back from a weeklong trip in PDC and did three days of diving with them: 2 days ocean, 1 day cenote. Never had more than 5 divers per DM. They were great--total pros.

I'm a cold wimp and wore a 5mm plus beanie in the ocean and a 7mm in the cenotes w/hood. Others were wearing 3mm shorties and were fine. All depends on your cold tolerance!

I've never done any cavern and was a bit nervous, but Tomas gave me a detailed briefing plus a refresher on light signals before the cenotes dives, and I felt very comfortable. And he will indeed take you for tacos afterwards!

Am happy to answer any questions about them as well.

 

[ylaviolette]

Could you confirm which type of boat Geofish uses? We are leaving friday for PDC;
my wife gets seasick easily and even if I'd rather dive with a smaller group, not sure if I want to get on a small boat from the shore (Alberto's Abyss, etc). Otherwise could you recommend a dive shop that uses larger boats while taking small groups and/or multiple DMs ? I've found Phocea, seems like a decent option, what do you think?

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

Our boat is 30 feet. That is a very common size boat for this area. It is not small (fits 12 people), but there are other shops that have bigger boats. The thing is, most of the shops that have bigger boats also have a smaller boat and unless they have a big big group, they won't use their bigger boat. Good luck on your search and she can also take Dramamine or Gravol(non-drowsy......i think) for the motion sickness. Take care.

 

[Ozwald]

Thanks for all the replies. I will be using Geofish based on the rec's from this board as well as their unbelievable response time to my emails !

 

[Comstockfire]

I got my OW with Pluto Dive and did 2 cenote dives with them...had a blast!

 

[enhydralutris]

ylaviolette, I would also add that the ocean was pretty flat, at least the days I was there. I get seasick pretty easily here in the NE and have to use the patch up on boat dives up here, but in PDC I just took a chewable Dramamine about an hour before boarding the boat and was totally fine.

 

[sebasdess]

Heading down to playa march 19 for a week. There is going to be myself (aow, deep, nitrox and wreck certified). My bud is just ow. Looking for some nice easy diving and perhaps some cenote diving. Prefer afternoon dives maybe a full day and one afternoon.
also, what are the water temps at that time of the year? Would a 3 mil be fine.

Anyone have any suggestions as far as shops that are reputable and safety conscious ?

I did a lot of dive with Scuba Diving Riviera Maya - V.I.P. Diving

This is a team of 2 instructors, speaking english, french and spanish.
This is a little shop and they provide transportation from your hotel to the dive site. They have nice dives in Xpu-Ha (better than Playa Del Carmen imho) and as this is a really small shop, they can arrange a dive trip for you depending on what you would like to do.

My father and his buddy did their AOW with them and after they came back from their trip, they recommend me to do my DM with them. I didnt regret my choice at all... and I even came back this year just for fun! hehe!

Oh! And regarding water temperature... it will be at 24-25 Celcius (about 76 farenheint), so you will be more than confortable in your 3mm if you are diving in canada! haha!