Diving Mexico Recommendations

[JohnWoods]

Thanks everyone! I will take a read through the Coz forum as well. I think I've boiled it down to staying on Coz but I have a couple more questions:

--I changed my mind and would like to get a couple dives in the Cenotes (though it may just be me), is this something that can be arranged with a dive op in Coz including transport etc? I assume these are all on the mainland as opposed to on the islands.
--Is it possible to dive Isla Mujeres dive sites from Coz? I would love to explore different dives sites but would prefer not to have to change accommodations, unless you guys think it's worth a split? We are looking at 7 full days of diving (with one day on arrival and 2 days at the end with no diving before flights). Are there enough dive sites and variety around Coz not to get bored of the diving?
--Do dives need to be booked well in advance in Coz? My experience in Belize, Panama, and the Bahamas is that you can generally show up the day before to secure your spot on the boat for the following day (and that's the way we prefer to do it in case we want to change dive shops during the trip).
--We are definitely planning to get an Airbnb. Is there any area in Coz that is recommended? Prefer to be close to the restaurants, dive shops, etc of course.

I dive Cozumel every year , it's been fantastic. PM me and I'll give you my recommendations. I've also dived Isla and Peurto Morelos and have some advice there as well if you want.

 

[horn34]

Thanks everyone, I'm still digesting all the info.

Does anyone have any thoughts about staying on Coz vs Playa Del Carmen? It seems the dive ops in Playa would be able to dive most of the Coz sites anyway, with the added bonus of being closer to the Cenotes? Any reason to stay on Coz over Playa for a ~10 day trip?

I've done it both ways in the past 5 years, staying in Playa and diving Coz, then staying in Coz and diving cenotes. Never again. You want to stay where you do most of your diving.

A 45-50 minute boat ride every day is a PITA, and most PDC dive ops don't go to Coz reefs, they send you over on the ferry where you meet a dive op they contract with. As mentioned, a round trip from PDC to Coz burns a lot of gas, which costs more than 2X what we pay in the US. Either way, you spend about an extra 2 hours every day on a boat that you could spend doing something else.

 

[NTJB]

I've done it both ways in the past 5 years, staying in Playa and diving Coz, then staying in Coz and diving cenotes. Never again. You want to stay where you do most of your diving.

A 45-50 minute boat ride every day is a PITA, and most PDC dive ops don't go to Coz reefs, they send you over on the ferry where you meet a dive op they contract with. As mentioned, a round trip from PDC to Coz burns a lot of gas, which costs more than 2X what we pay in the US. Either way, you spend about an extra 2 hours every day on a boat that you could spend doing something else.

Thanks, that's extremely helpful. How many dives would you recommend in the cenotes? I am thinking I will mostly want to dive the ocean but I've never dived cenotes before. On your advice, I'm thinking of staying in Coz and doing the trek/ferry to the mainland just for one or two days to dive the cenotes. That way, I am mostly still on Coz except for a couple excursions to Playa.

I will get in touch with dive shops soon, but do you know what the typical schedule is for cenote dives? Is it 2 tanks in the morning and 2 tanks in the afternoon? Do most people (think "recreational tourist divers") just dive it once and leave or is it something you can dive over and over again to see different things? I suspect I will want ~4 dives in the cenotes personally to get a feel for them, I'm wondering if that's doable in one day.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

typically cenotes are one or two per day. mornings are best otherwise they get overgrown with snorkelers.

 

[horn34]

Thanks, that's extremely helpful. How many dives would you recommend in the cenotes? I am thinking I will mostly want to dive the ocean but I've never dived cenotes before. On your advice, I'm thinking of staying in Coz and doing the trek/ferry to the mainland just for one or two days to dive the cenotes. That way, I am mostly still on Coz except for a couple excursions to Playa.

I will get in touch with dive shops soon, but do you know what the typical schedule is for cenote dives? Is it 2 tanks in the morning and 2 tanks in the afternoon? Do most people (think "recreational tourist divers") just dive it once and leave or is it something you can dive over and over again to see different things? I suspect I will want ~4 dives in the cenotes personally to get a feel for them, I'm wondering if that's doable in one day.

How many cenotes dives you do is really gonna depend on how much you like them. I did my first in Dos Ojos 5 years ago due to a port closure (which is a great excuse to do a cenote). I enjoyed it, but much prefer reef diving. Nowadays, I generally only do cenote dives when weather or port closures are screwing up my reef dives.

A typical cenote dive day while staying in Coz:

1. Wake up early, take the 7am ferry to Playa.
2. Your cenote op will pick you up at the ferry (CenoteXperience in this case)
3. Drive to the cenote op, fill out paperwork, get a wetsuit if needed, discuss dive plans
4. Drive south to your cenotes and dive. This will generally take about 4-6 hours. Most ops do a 2 or 3 tank dive day. CenoteXperience will tailor your dives to fit.
   
5. Drive back to PDC and get dropped off at the ferry.

 

[tarponchik]

<a href="Staying in Sian Ka'an, Akumal, Tulum, recommendations for dive operator">Staying in Sian Ka'an, Akumal, Tulum, recommendations for dive operator</a>

 

[SandyRobinson]

...get a wetsuit if needed, discuss dive plans

For exposure protection, in my experience cenote temperatures have been 77/78 degrees in Feb, May, and October thru December.

 

[NTJB]

We've decided to stay on Cozumel and do the day trips (maybe 2) to the mainland to dive the cenotes and check out the ruins in Tulum.

One quick question...do most of the dive shops offer nitrox certification? I never got around to it and would like an idea of how long it takes, what it costs, and if it is worth it for the week of diving we will do. Would it be smarter get nitrox certified back home before we leave?

 

[horn34]

We've decided to stay on Cozumel and do the day trips (maybe 2) to the mainland to dive the cenotes and check out the ruins in Tulum.

One quick question...do most of the dive shops offer nitrox certification? I never got around to it and would like an idea of how long it takes, what it costs, and if it is worth it for the week of diving we will do. Would it be smarter get nitrox certified back home before we leave?

Pretty much all of the dive shops will take your money for a Nitrox/EAN course, but don't waste vacation time doing it in Mexico, do it at home.

The online PADI course can be done in a few hours, then you just need to go into a dive shop for the practical part, which takes about an hour. No diving required.

And skip the Tulum ruins, go to Coba instead. Tulum is hot and boring. Coba is in the jungle and has a nice big pyramid to climb.

 

[tarponchik]

Tulum is hot and boring.

It is not, if you get there early, right before opening. It is not huge, so by the time it gets hot and hordes of tourists arrive, you'll be out of there.