Need Help With Some Itinerary Planning (playa Del Carmen/cozumel)

[Matthew love]

Hey guys and gals!

might have a group of 4 divers interested in going to Mexico..

Would love to sneak a ferry over to Cozumel for half a day of diving maybe.. anyone have any ideas on operators to use? Possible to do Cenotes in the AM in Playa Del Carmen and an open water in cozumel in the afternoon?

Ideally we'd come in July 2nd, dive the 3rd-5th, off day the 6th travel back to the US on the 7th. On our off gas day we were thinking about snorkeling with the Whale Sharks.

Been looking at Scorpio divers, any reviews?

 

[mmmbelows]

You'll get plenty of dive operator suggestions, and using the search function for scorpio divers will give you somewhere to start

My only comment is in regard to the cenote in the morning cozumel in the afternoon, that seems like that one would be a tough one to accomplish to me

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I don't see how you'll get both morning cenote diving and afternoon diving in Cozumel. The boat ride isn't short, and there's a fair bit of driving.

I would suggest skipping Playa Del Carmen. Spend most of your time on Cozumel and come over for a day or two of diving in cenotes. See about having a dive op pick you up from the ferry terminal to whatever cenotes have been selected.

 

[Matthew love]

Thanks guys..

Looks like Scorpio offers Cozumel directly from PDC..

 

[jmb]

Unless it has changed recently. Tank Ha has been the only place in PDC that takes their boat directly over to Cozumel rather than using the ferry and making arrangements with an operator from Cozumel. Tank Ha also offers cenote diving as well as ocean dives. I've been diving with them many times over about a dozen years and have always received excellent service and had very enjoyable dives.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Unless it was REAL calm, I'd worry a bit about taking a dive boat across the channel from PDC to Cozumel. I've been on a couple of rough Ferry crossings where passengers were heaving over the rails. And the gasoline costs for a 12 mile boat trip across the channel while fighting a constant South to North current has got to make that dive trip expensive. If diving is the primary focus, I'd skip PDC and stay in Cozumel. You can take an afternoon day trip to PDC for the cenote dive. As to Dive Ops in Cozumel, check out the Cozumel Forum. You'll see lots of recommendations. My personal favorite high-end Op is Aldora - HP Steel 120 tanks, Nitrox, everyone dives their computer, long SI at a beach club, all allow for very long dives. But there are a lot of other very good Dive Ops on Coz - Blue XTSea, Living Underwater, Dive with Martin (my favorite budget operation - low cost, but well run with some very good DMs), and many more. Figure out what you want - Big tanks? Small fast 6-pack boats? Valet service or bare bones budget? Something for every taste, and you'll find a lot of useful info on the Cozumel Forum.