Dive centre/instructor recommendations for Mexico

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Andybr6

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My partner and I are looking to go to Mexico next year - Tulum most likely - to do our Cavern and Intro to cave diver training. We are based in the UK and do not know anybody who has trained there so I wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations for specific schools or instructors.

We are both Sidemount and Helitrox divers and trained under the TDI programme, however are less concerned with the training agency (although GUE take issue with my vapeing!) and more interested in finding a good and recommended instructor.

Thanks!
 
I've had the same question recently. The recommendations I'm seeing consistently around the Yucatán cave diving world are Protec in Tulum and Natalie Gibb with Under the Jungle in Playa del Carmen.

In my opinion Third Dimension is the best in the area due to the multiple agencies the owner (Kelvin Davidson) is an instructor and Instructor trainer for. Kelvin can teach GUE, IANTD, TDI, and NSS-CDS courses. He has tons of experience in OW tech diving (he ran a land based operation in Truk for many years) and cave diving (he's been in Tulum for many years). He and his two other instructors take their GUE training and integrate it into classes they teach for other agencies. They also teach in bm or sm.
Protec is who I used for years, but the quality of customer service dwindle some and we had a bad experience with Rob Bartlett who is associated with Protec Playa. I'm pretty vocal about people avoiding Rob. He's got a bit of an attitude issue and a big head. He's well loved by some, but unless you're giving him your money he can be an ass.
I've never heard a bad thing about Natalie at Under the Jungle. I prefer to be in Tulum rather than closer to where UTJ is, so haven't really used them.
I forgot about mentioning Jon Kieren and Roger Williams. Both have tons of experience, but are newer to Mexico than some of the other instructors. They both have extensive Florida experience, so they can give you insight on the differences between FL and MX cave diving. Jon is a fundies instructor so can bring some of the GUE details into class.
Honestly I would be quicker to recommend any of the above instructors than most cave instructors I see every week in Florida. We have some instructors here that are on the same par as the above (like Ken Sallot), but I also think Fl is more of a crapshoot in the quality of instructors compared to those I named in MX.
 
I've never heard a bad thing about Natalie at Under the Jungle. I prefer to be in Tulum rather than closer to where UTJ is, so haven't really used them.
I forgot about mentioning Jon Kieren and Roger Williams. Both have tons of experience, but are newer to Mexico than some of the other instructors. They both have extensive Florida experience, so they can give you insight on the differences between FL and MX cave diving. Jon is a fundies instructor so can bring some of the GUE details into class.

Roger's setup is a rather convenient place. I've never trained with him (as being a Florida diver I felt it best to train in Florida), but the only thing you have to worry about is dinner, and even then you can arrange that. Which means for those long training days you have it easy... well easier. I dove with him between Apprentice and Full; and again after stage. He took me to places that challenged me without pushing my boundaries too far. I highly recommend him.

Jon is working on his Cave 1 instructor cert, so if you ask him to he can have you do all the GUE procedures so you can more seamlessly work with DIR divers.

That being said for fun diving I prefer to stay in PDC, more dining choices, and it feels more local (when you are more than a block or two from 10th ave) than Tulum which feels very touristy any place near the main drag.
 
That being said for fun diving I prefer to stay in PDC, more dining choices, and it feels more local (when you are more than a block or two from 10th ave) than Tulum which feels very touristy any place near the main drag.

I'm the opposite. I'm not a fan of Playa. Too hustle and bustle. I grew up in a big city, I want to be in a quiet little town on vacation. You can definitely find "real" mexico in tulum, just move off the main streets. The tourists don't like going off the main drag.
 
When people ask me for recommendations in Mexico I have four names: Jon Kieren, Kelvin Davidson, Roger Williams, Natalie Gibb. I've worked directly with Jon and Roger and worked with former students of Kelvin and Natalie. You won't go wrong with any of them.
 
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