Diving Cozumel For One Day From The Mainland.

[LizSpinks]

We're staying south of Playa del Carmen April 18-25, and diving there, but we want to do one day diving in Cozumel. We're already booked in with non-diving friends, so please no torturing us by saying "stay in Cozumel" - we just can't this time.

I don't think the earliest ferry can get us there for some shop's 7:30am start times, so I'm looking for suggestions for a 2-tank dive in the morning, that works with ferry times, or early afternoon.

We want a small (hopefully fast) boat with shade. We're happy rolling back into the water. Small dive group. Drift diving. We love valet diving and will be renting everything other than masks.

We're both at 27 dives. Have our AOW. Have dove Akumal and Cozumel before. Pretty fair buoyancy and OK on air (have managed a 70 min dive). We last dove 9 months ago, but will work out the kinks in Akumal.

The operation we certified with is gone (Buena Ventura), so not sure who would suit us, and would really appreciate any and all suggestions. We loved our experience with them. Mario was our instructor (and we thought he was awesome) and I know he's at Blue Magic now, but probably does more instructor stuff than DM-ing.

What else? If it's bad weather or port gets closed we could come back a later day as long as the dive op in question can be flexible with those things.

Thank you in advance for any tips!

Liz

 

[gopbroek]

That was true until a year ago Feburary when Barcos Caribe started up a new ferry in competion with the UltraMar / Mexico Waterjet Duopoly. They have a 6:45 ferry that arrives at the pier around 7:30. If you have pre-setup with your dive shop including forms and copies of your certs you should not have a problem making an 8:00 AM boat. I dive with Tres Pelicanos which is a 8 minute walk from the pier and provides transportation to the Marina, which departs the shop around 7:45 to 7:50 which is a pretty easy connection to make. 3P allows you to dive your tank and I have averaged,over the last 400 dives with 3P, better than 70 minutes a tank (AL80).

 

[backprop]

3P also does two tank afternoons. That's what I'd do if I wanted to make the crossing without rushing to catch the morning boats. Then dry off, walk around town, and catch the sunset over dinner before heading back.

 

[jimw]

In early Feb., the earliest ferry to Playa from Coz was at 5:45am when the earliest posted time was 6am. Lots of locals knew of it as they were there to board. Things do change all the time it seems. A ferry cam in at Coz before we left, so it must have left Playa around 5am.

 

[nodakdive]

Deep Blue leaves at 9am from a pier just a few blocks from the ferry pier.

 

[mstevens]

Deep Blue leaves at 9am from a pier just a few blocks from the ferry pier.

Yes, and depending upon how many there are in your party, they may be able to arrange a bit later.

We dive with them often and are not morning people.

 

[illusionistDG]

Mexico Blue Dream can arrange dives that will work great for you. You will leave Playa del Carmen, cross the channel, do two dives in Cozumel and ride back to Playa del Carmen, all in the same boat! I did it when I was there in February.

Enjoy!

 

[LizSpinks]

Thanks for all the responses! That really helps.

Barcos Caribe on their site list 6:45 a.m. as their first departure from Playa, so that could definitely get us diving in the morning.

gopbroek, thanks for telling me about Barcos Caribe ^ and reminding me to sort all paperwork out in advance. I'll check out 3P.

backprop, your suggestion might work well. We (a couple) are traveling with another couple who don't dive and their young daughters (6 & 3). They want to see Cozumel, but I don't know if dragging them on the 6:45am ferry is fair. Don't know how much there would be for them to do that early in the day. But I know kids can be early risers, so we'll chat with them about options.

jimw, we'll double check ferry times right before we leave and once we're there in case of any ferry changes or earlier trips, thanks!

nodakdive, mstevens, I'll check out Deep Blue, along with 3 Pelicanos. Thanks for the suggestion.

illusionistDG, thanks for the tip. I'll look Mexico Blue Dream up in case our couple friends bail on Cozumel. How bumpy was the crossing? It does sound like it could save some time if all we want to do is dive this time. I know our friends want to see a bit of Cozumel - town and island

I did a bit of a search in the threads here before posting and didn't exactly find this info discussed, so when I'm back I'll do a post on how it went - or add to this thread.

Getting really excited now! Thanks again, guys!
Liz

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Aldora uses steel 120 tanks for insane dive times. Our last dive was 90 minutes for a fast drift. Their pier is about 1/2 block from the ferry pier. They left at 7:30 but it is a Mexico 730....usually someone was 10 minutes late or so and no one ever got left. They are a little higher but when you figure in the longer dives, it works out to be cheaper than most others using an upgrade to an aluminum 100 tank.

There are several dive shops within walking distance of the ferry pier as well. The best service we have ever had was with blue magic which is about 2 or 3 blocks away. An easy walk and I think they left their shop at 8. They pay for transportation to the marina. Just incredible service, more like diving with friends, than a business

Dive with Martin would take a cab ride, but the rental gear is included in their price. One of the oldest operators on the island for a reason. We chartered our own boat for 400 for 4 divers and our boat was waiting on us when we got there. We dove on our schedule and it was great. Staggering the time also put us on the reefs with very very few other divers which was great. We literally owned the ocean for a couple of hours.

I believe Christi at blue XTSEA has a later departure dive for cruise ship divers as well. I'm sure others do too, but Christi is a huge supporter of this site and deserves an email inquiry to see if they can accommodate you.

Email several operators and I'm sure you can get something worked out. We have always found that all operators will work with us happily for any special requests.

Safe travels.
Jay

 

[kerrycorcoran]

Dive with Martin is a very flexible shop. You might contact them to see if they could make special arrangements.