Diving Akumal, Tulum, Cozumel?

[fjd]

i dove both Cozumel and Akumal. i think the consensus would be that Cozumel offers better diving than Akumal, in terms of variety of dive sites and things to see underwater.

as someone mentioned, with a newly certified diver, you may want to stay and do most of your diving this time around at Akumal and perhaps do a day trip to Cozumal. but i would definitely recommend that you do a dedicated trip to Cozumel the next time around.

i used 'Dive with Martin' at Cozumel, which i would recommend. at Akumal, i dove with 'Akumal Dive Center', which was a mistake. depending on where you will stay, i would look into 'Akumal Dive Shop' (shop vs center, it can be confusing), or 'Akumal Dive Adventures.'

i stayed at Hotel Akumal Caribe and had a rental car. a good location to be doing some afternoon trips to Mayan ruins and other interesting spots.

you will have a great time there!

 

[fjd]

just re-read your original question/post.

so you would be staying in Soliman Bay. Akumal is about 15 min drive north from Soliman Bay on Highway 307. Akumal Dive Shop is located in Akumal. Akumal Dive Adventures is located in Half Moon Bay, which is another 10-15 min drive north on 307 from Akumal.

i am not sure whether there are any dive shops in Soliman Bay.

 

[Grover48]

I had a bad experience upon arrival at Akumal Dive Shop. I was ignored and no one would answer my questions about their dives. I was told to go to the dock and get on the boat because it was the last dive for the day. No verification of my card or my skill level/qualifications. I left and went to Akumal Dive Center.

I dove with Akumal Dive Center and enjoyed the service. I dove Chac Mool cenote on a 2 tank dive and was pleased with the whole adventure.

 

[driftwood]

We also had questions about the Akumal Dive Shop's approach to safety. We did ten (10) dives with them several years ago and have no plans to dive with them again. In talking to one of the old cave divers in the area, Hilario's Well is named after him, his choice of Akumal dive shops was the Akumal Dive Center.

 

[browntrout]

just re-read your original question/post.

so you would be staying in Soliman Bay. Akumal is about 15 min drive north from Soliman Bay on Highway 307. Akumal Dive Shop is located in Akumal. Akumal Dive Adventures is located in Half Moon Bay, which is another 10-15 min drive north on 307 from Akumal.

i am not sure whether there are any dive shops in Soliman Bay.

Half Moon Bay is less than five minutes from the Dive Shop or Dive Center and you don't go back out to 307 to access it you just continue north past the Akumal Dive Shop.

 

[scubawife]

I had a bad experience upon arrival at Akumal Dive Shop. I was ignored and no one would answer my questions about their dives. I was told to go to the dock and get on the boat because it was the last dive for the day. No verification of my card or my skill level/qualifications. I left and went to Akumal Dive Center.

I dove with Akumal Dive Center and enjoyed the service. I dove Chac Mool cenote on a 2 tank dive and was pleased with the whole adventure.

There is no dock in Akumal. If you went to a shop that uses a dock it wasn't Akumal Dive Shop, Dive Center or Dive Adventures. (Shop and Center moor their pangas in Akumal Bay. Dive Adventures is in Half Moon Bay in "North Akumal.")

 

[Grover48]

OK.

Wrong Term from many years of sailing. Maybe I saw a wooden walkway and assumed it was a dock. I should have said waterfront.

It was Akumal Dive Shop. I went no where except back out the door and to the car. I did not even try to dive with them after the events of that meeting. I was not favorably impressed. I was a brand new, freshly certified diver with no dives since my certification 1 week prior. I was not comfortable with that type of operation.

 

[thorndog]

I don't know why you would go all the way to Akumal to dive when some of the nicest dives in the area are right in front of Soliman Bay.
I did a couple of dives there a few years ago with Maya Diving and enjoyed them a lot. One was called Manhones and had a weird kind of smooth rolling rock bottom in one area and then an area with a small 10 or 15 ft wall with tons of schooling fish. The other one I think they called arcos and we saw tons of fish including one weird frogfish of some sort that I have been unable to identify from the fish ID books. Mostly they dive a bit south from Soliman in Tankah and sometimes further down towards the ruins. I like the fact that noone else seems to be diving on the reefs they go to and they give great service. Real pros.They would alsoi be by far the closest shop to Soliman now that Chris has closed Lucky Fish in Tankah.
Happy diving and let us know how it goes.

 

[thorndog]

Another two cents worth....
If you are gung ho on diving in Akumal, I would recommend Akumal Dive Adventures as you will likely get more personal service there.
It's a long way to Cozumel from Soliman and with a beginner in tow you wouldn't be able to dive any of the really good sites there.
Another thought, definitely don't miss the cenotes. You can decide whether your beginner is up to it after he's done a few dives. At the very least you should go to Casa Cenote as it's known, although I noticed in a book that it's officially known as Cenote Manatee, not sure why since there are definitely no Manatees there. It's a lovely spot and very suitable for beginners and can give you a little taste of what the others will be like. I don't want to get into a long description of it since I type slowly, but it is right by the ocean and in the mangroves and has a beautiful halocline as well as fresh and saltwater critters. I have some beautiful photos of it I should post if I can figure out how :-}
Other than that, Gran Cenote, Carwash, Dos Ojos and Ponderosa are all pretty easy dives.
Soliman Bay in summer... aaahhh.... sounds pretty close to heaven to me.
Have fun and safe dives.

 

[still new]

While you are there go into Puerto Aventuras and dive with Aquanauts, I have dived with them for two years now and they are great. If you want to dive a Cenote have Carlos take you to Chak Ha. I did my first Cenote dive there three weeks ago WOW I'm sold on them. Carlos is great and very safe. I did one dive in Akumal last month and I must say I was a bit disappointed, I had asked for the Motorcycle Reef and the DM couldn't find it. I wanted to have my pic taken sitting on the motorcycle at 40 feet. My second love is riding my bike. I dove Coz three years ago with Blue Angel and they are great as well, and I did my rescue open water dives with John Flanders through GEO Divers. If you stop in at Dive Playa don't let talk you into a Shark dive as ther isn't any Sharks now.