Diving in Cancun and Cenotes

[La Maurita]

Hola!
My husband and I are headed to Cancun Feb 8-16th....
We were given a good deal on lodging and airfare to Cancun
otherwise we would be staying in Cozumel!
We still want to get in as much diving as possible. I have been
reading the threads here and they are fantastic.
I need help deciding on a dive operator to use in Cancun.
Can anyone help? We want to dive the newly sunken wreck
and a few reefs, and a night dive
We are planning to take one trip to Cozumel on our
own and get in a two tank morning dive and possibly a
shore dive in the afternoon then heading back to cancun
later in the evening.
We are also planning a trip south and diving the cenotes,
visiting tulum, Xcaret and back to cancun....

We need dive operator suggestions for all these trips as
we like to be on our own so going with a cancun operator to cozumel or the cenotes seems too structured and expensive too!
Any suggestions on planning these trips and operators will be absolutely fantastic! Thanks.

 

[Ontario Diver]

hey-o

I hope that you have a great time. I didn't dive in Cancun but did dive in the Akumal area.

If you want to dive in a Cenote, this is the operator that I dove with and had no problems with: http://www.hiddenworlds.com.mx
(My guide was Chino and he claimed to have over 1000 dives logged in the caves - his bouyancy control was the best I have ever seen)

A really nice place to snorkel is in Xel-Ha www.xelha.com.mx

Given a choice, I would go to Chichen Itza before Tuluum. There is more to see. There isn't much in Tuluum, unless you are really interested in Mayan history/architecture.

 

[La Maurita]

Xel-Ha.....is that a place we can shore dive? We were looking for a fairly interesting place to shore dive with depths of no more than 30-40'. See..... we want to mess around with some new equipment we got (long bottom time on one tank) but still see and practice photographing fish, coral and other things....
I heard there was a large bay like this somewhere along the
road to tulum.
Hidden Worlds seems to be the dive operator choice for cenotes.....

 

[kru]

Go with Solo Buceo. They are down on the beach next to El Camino Real. I've been diving with them for 15 years. Sometimes the boats are a bit crowded, but if you ask them for special services they will accomodate you. Try to dive an older wreck called the Tulum.

 

[Ontario Diver]

Originally posted by La Maurita
Xel-Ha.....is that a place we can shore dive? We were looking for a fairly interesting place to shore dive with depths of no more than 30-40'. See..... we want to mess around with some new equipment we got (long bottom time on one tank) but still see and practice photographing fish, coral and other things....
I heard there was a large bay like this somewhere along the
road to tulum.
Hidden Worlds seems to be the dive operator choice for cenotes.....

Xel-Ha is a large bay - sand bottom mostly 8-10 ft deep. Excellent fish life but only snorkeing allowed. It is a Nature Park so be prepared to see a lot of Tourist folks. The restraunts are good. Lots of Blue Tangs, Sargent Majors, Trumpetfish, Angelfish, - and other non brown/green fish. There is a 5' Barracuda that frequents the area (well a year ago ). I don't remember any coral but a lot of rock outcropings.

The resort I stayed at was the Bahia Principe. Just offshore of the southern beach area was a nice inshore reef. Check out www.bahiadivers.com (but it seems not to be working) for the local dive store. There is a small road south of the resort that goes to the beach, and the beach is public property in Mexico. The surf and surge can be very rough, so be careful.

 

[ChuckBarrier]

My wife and I just returned from Playa del Carmen where we stayed at the Copacabana (new in 2001). The hotel was very nice and they arranged diving for us at Dive Paradise. Dive Paradise was the operation that they recommended and we stayed with their reccomendation. The cenote we dove in was called Chuk-Mool and was extremely cool. The divemaster knew where to take us and the scenery was absolutely beautiful.
We did not dive the cenotes in Tulum but have heard that they are great as well.

 

[La Maurita]

Thanks for the note! So was a 3mm wetsuit warm enough for the cenote dive?
How was Dive Paradise?
I heard if you are claustraphobic that these cavern dives
are not good....it is really bad? I am slightly claustraphobic.
How long was your dive at the Cenote? One tank?
Thanks again!

 

[ChuckBarrier]

A 3mm suit is all you need and it will be supplied by Dive Paradise. All their equipment is in good shape. We had our own mask, fins....no need for snorkel. This was a two tank dive. The feeling of being closed in was not apparent at all. We did surface inside a cave which was kind of cool....the tree roots were coming down out of the ceiling into the water ! Water temp is a constant 76 degrees. Lunch is provided as well as drinks and water.

 

[bjp63]

My wife and I are heading to Cancun in April for 11 days.

We've never been there before so I bought the 2002 Frommer's guide (from amazon.com), which is an excellent resource in combination with the internet.

My wife doesn't dive so I thought a hotel in Cancun was the best way for her to have activity choices while I am diving. We're staying at the Presidente Inter-Continental.

After reading Frommer's and visiting numerous dive shop sites, I decided to go with AquaWorld. Dive itinerary includes caverns, wrecks, and Cozumel. (AquaWorld shuttles you from Cancun to Cozumel) They have specially priced packages available with internet booking. I thought the price was excellent (especially compared to Maui!) ~ $600 (w/tax) for 12 dives, which includes obtaining my Advanced certification and camera rental for my photography elective.

 

[ScubaDave]

Well I dove with AquaWorld and never will again! Huge boats tons of people and only 30 Min *mandatory* bottom time - I came up with 1900 PSI!!!!!!! Boy was I pissed. The boat was full of people being certified (except us). I too am going back to Cancun but will *not* be diving with AquaWorld.