4 Reasons to dive Playa Del Carmen

[Salt]

Just got back from vacation there in mid-November and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of diving available:

1) local reef dives - coral reef and I believe there is a wreck around, although I didn't dive it. While not the best in the Caribbean, the water is warm and the visibility is good. Saw the usual reef fish, turtles, morays, sting rays, and an eagle ray.

2) Cozumel drift dives - you can easily take the ferry over for the day for about $20 round trip. Cozumel is known for its drift diving. While I didn't see a lot of marine life on my particular dives, the drift diving was fun and the coral was nice.

3) cenote dives - what really sets the area apart. (Also available from Cancun and Tulum). These really are something different and unique. Basically freshwater cavern diving. Little to no current. Nothing too tight. Can usually see an overhead opening. Dos Ojos is the most famous and rightly so for the fantastic light, but there are a half dozen other ones around. Angelita is another famous one. It's quite trippy: a deep pit with an opaque sulfur gas cloud that you descend through. *Note: make sure your shop has 5mm wetsuits available for the cenote dives as the water is quite a bit cooler than the ocean.

4) bull shark dive - in season, bull sharks come to the area for unknown reasons. You can hang out on a sandy bottom at about 60 feet watching them swim around. They are beautiful.

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[Edit: I said shore dive in the original post for #1. I meant ocean dive to distinguish it from the ceynotes.]

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

The last 3 reasons look very tempting. Not convinced about reason # 1.

 

[KDAD]

Where did you stay? Where are the shore dives that you did? Were they from the local beach or off of a resort beach? How far out was the reef and how deep was it?

 

[Dhboner]

#5 Erik Rosenstein...Erik owns "Beyond Diving" and apart from being safe and having the best rental gear in Mexico he is hilarious and will show you the best time of your life.

 

[JohnnyC]

The Playa shore dives suck. Numbers 2, 3, and 4 are all excellent reasons however!

 

[KDAD]

Salt, thanks for the clarification. PDC is a regular destination for large family trips with many non-divers and trying to get some great diving is always a goal.

 

[tridacna]

#6. The ferry to COZ is out of service.

 

[DjDiverDan]

#6. The ferry to COZ is out of service.

Since when? And for how long? There are three different companies that run Ferries between PDC and Cozumel, with alternating schedules. Unless the Port has been shut down due to weather (and it takes some heavy weather to make the Ferry Crossings unsafe), I find it very questionable that all three Ferry companies shut down at the same time.

 

[tridacna]

My comment is a (poorly disguised) attempt at a joke. Better to dive Coz on a bad day than PDC...

 

[ibj40]

Just got back from vacation there in mid-November and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of diving available:

1) local reef dives - coral reef and I believe there is a wreck around, although I didn't dive it. While not the best in the Caribbean, the water is warm and the visibility is good. Saw the usual reef fish, turtles, morays, sting rays, and an eagle ray.

2) Cozumel drift dives - you can easily take the ferry over for the day for about $20 round trip. Cozumel is known for its drift diving. While I didn't see a lot of marine life on my particular dives, the drift diving was fun and the coral was nice.

3) cenote dives - what really sets the area apart. (Also available from Cancun and Tulum). These really are something different and unique. Basically freshwater cavern diving. Little to no current. Nothing too tight. Can usually see an overhead opening. Dos Ojos is the most famous and rightly so for the fantastic light, but there are a half dozen other ones around. Angelita is another famous one. It's quite trippy: a deep pit with an opaque sulfur gas cloud that you descend through. *Note: make sure your shop has 5mm wetsuits available for the cenote dives as the water is quite a bit cooler than the ocean.

4) bull shark dive - in season, bull sharks come to the area for unknown reasons. You can hang out on a sandy bottom at about 60 feet watching them swim around. They are beautiful.

------
[Edit: I said shore dive in the original post for #1. I meant ocean dive to distinguish it from the ceynotes.]

We dove PDC once, after having been on Cozumel for a decade (and for me, over twice that). Having stayed in PDC previously in transit, I will suggest that if you are interested in diving, it is a transit point.

On each of your points, we now, (1) if we are diving the Yucatan main land, go to Puerto Aventuras. Primarily, the distinction is that our boat departures are from a dock, versus the beach access at PDC.

On your point (2), yes, if you want to do wall/drift drives, CZM is your destination, and staying in PDC is inefficient for that, and you should just go ahead and book your trip to CZM.

On point (3), most of the centoes are clearly South of PDC, and if you want to be close to that opportunity, cut down the daily commute, and stay somewhere closer, such as Puerto Aventuras or Tulum.

On your point (4), the bull shark dive in PDC is a "created" event, which has actually endangered those sharks to locals who have taken the opportunity of the local dive community feeding them for the "thrill" of diving. We did this dive, once, and saw it for what it was, and will never do it again. As to a corollary, on a normal dive, about three years ago, we experienced a bull shark "researching" our group during a dive in Puerto Aventuras. If you want to see bull sharks, go to the Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica, and do it over there, where they are free-swimming, and not fed.