Greetings from Elmwood Park, NJ

[KDAD]

Beautiful picture! She looks incredibly familiar....just like a woman I met at Taj Maha this past Sunday (the14th). Would be funny if it was her!

Too funny if it were her! That picture is from Chac Mool which we dove on Saturday. On Sunday, Feb 14 we also dove Taj Maha so you may have seen us there. We were parked next to the gazebo where the maps are and were kitting up there before and after the dives.

 

[Jose Torres]

Welcome! I'm new here too. Everyone here has been warm and helpful so far! We haven't been diving in Cozumel yet, but we just returned from Akumal. The cenotes are amazing! We did a bit of ocean diving (rough waters last week). Highly recommend bull shark diving in Playa del Carmen if you get the chance. I loved every second!

Hi!

Thanks for the tips, not sure when I might get to dive on mainland Mexico, but I now have places to check out, how was getting out to the cenotes? Was it long rides and hiking or pretty easy to get to from the main hotel areas?

 

[Diverlady13]

Hi!

Thanks for the tips, not sure when I might get to dive on mainland Mexico, but I now have places to check out, how was getting out to the cenotes? Was it long rides and hiking or pretty easy to get to from the main hotel areas?

There are several cenotes to dive right in the Akumal area and also cenotes farther out, including in the Tulum area. Drives were maybe 15 or 20 minutes from the dive shop (we used Blue Experience) to the cenotes we dove. When we go back in June, we'll plan to dive more of the cenotes. We want to dive Angelita and the Car Wash which are about an hour from where we were in Akumal. We dove El Pit, Dos Ojos, Eden, and Tajmaja and there was no hiking involved. It's all very organized by the land owners with parking adjacent to the cenotes. Mostly it was just a few yards between where we parked and where one enters the cenote. You do have to walk down steps for most of them, but not very far. At El Pit the steps which were a bit steep, but not bad. Alternatively there is a rope above the the opening where someone can lower your bc down and you can put it on in the water. This worked great for me since I have an old shoulder injury that I try to baby a bit.

Guides are required in the cenotes, so you do need to hire someone prior to heading out. We rode with our guide, so never needed to rent a car. Eduardo, the owner of Blue Experience, is fantastic and picked us up at our resort every morning! He would have been our guide as well, but wasn't able to dive until yesterday (doctor's orders) due to having had covid a few weeks prior to our visit. He hooked us up with a friend of his, Chino, that is a very good guide.

 

[KDAD]

Cenotes are easy to get to from where ever you are staying. Can be Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Akumal, Tulum, or anywhere in between except some of the larger time share resorts (see below). Go with a shop local to where you are staying and they will get you there. Rides can be as short as 20 minutes; cenotes further away can be 45 minutes. Drive time is comparable to boat rides in ocean diving. Once parked it is a short walk down a few steps to some great diving.

If you are staying in a resort the dive shop most likely will not be allowed to pick you up there and you will have to take a cab to a previously agreed upon spot, which might be the dive shop or, in my case, at the fill station.