Trip Report My Puerto Aventuras diary

[Dan]

Hey Dan. Thats the Natalie that I was waiting to hear from. Weather permitting she will be picking me up here Saturday to introduce me to the Razor and start my refresher course.

Cool! Say hi from me when you see her. Show her this picture:

 

[uncfnp]

Day 4

Not likely (I hope!) to have any interesting stuff to report. We have taken Natalie’s advice to sit tight in the complex by 2pm and she is boarding up the shop as a precaution. Chairs, tables and kayaks are all off the beach. We have plenty of water and snack and all electronics charged and ready including our small travel charger.

Dive Aventuras went out on the first dive of the day. Eric is listed for the 11 am single tank dive but not sure they will go out.

Right now its a near dead calm, winds and waves. Only the swallows are active.

 

[gfaith]

@uncfnp are you going to update this thread with details? I would
like to know how it all went.

 

[uncfnp]

@uncfnp are you going to update this thread with details? I would
like to know how it all went.

I started to update several times with restaurants and such but ended up just not having the heart for it. The second half did not go as well as the first.

To sum it up.

Restaurants

I did not find one that matched Cozumel for local flavor. Had several meals at The Pub. They were all ok but nothing special. Also ate twice at La Caleta. It was recommended to me from a fellow diver. He was from South America and apparantly the Chilean empanadas there are excellent. The owner is known to spear his own fish. It was our first try at empanadas (appetizer). The fish was excellent and a large portion at a good price. By this time I was craving a red meat so ordered the Angus burger. It was large with all the trimmings. Good but not great. The fries were excellent. Eric liked the empanada so we went back a second time and he had that as his entree. I had the ribs. Good flavor but a bit dry.

My favorite meal turned out to be the little Italian eatery, Paparazzi Pizza. The veggie pizza was excellent. Thin and crispy crust. Fresh tomatos and lots of cheese.

The condo.

Wonderful view and location. Attentive management and staff. Best rental condo we have stayed at. Would definitely recommend. The pictures on the site are wide angle is slightly distorted but it really is a nice as it seems.

Condo la Gran Vista, Quinta Maya unit A301 , Puerto Aventuras Mexico beachfront 2 bedroom vacation condo rental

Ocean Diving.

Eric really seemed to enjoy his dives. He was very pleased with Dive Aventuras and highly recommends Alex, his guide for most of the dives. None were under 60 minutes. Some close to 70. And having a 5 minute boat ride was a nice change from our usual.

My SM/Into review

Natalie with Under the Jungle has to be on of the best and certainly the most detailed instructors I have had the pleassure to work with. We spend the morning of the first day putting a Razor together then a bit of classroom. I now have a much better understanding of sidemount systems, pros and cons. There is no comparison that the Razor fit me much better then the Hollis, more adjustable and overall lighter. The afternoon was playing around in the rig in the small area of open water at Taj Mahal.

Next morning it was a bit more classroom then practicing some basic skills at Ponderosa. By mid afternoon I was not feeling well, I was so tired I could not focus or concentrate. In fact, I felt so ”off” that I ended the day and cancelled the plans for our last day. I was very upset. I began questioning my ability to cave dive although Natalie reassured me and indeed encouraged me to continue in the future. The next day I spent entirely in the condo, mostly sleeping, with a few stomach issue but not severe. Nothing to explain by behavior the day before. I didn’t even make it into a cenote.

So the next day, my last day I spent mostly on the balcony of the condo or the beach, rethinking all my diving plans. The one thing I did take away from Nat’s class is the ability to put together a minimalist sm rig (I still have the links gfaith), better kicks and more awareness and respect for cenote diving.

 

[drrich2]

Sorry to hear you had a setback. Glad you guys still got value out of your trip and something to build on.

Putting aside the issue of taking a class under a particular instructor, how do you feel about that place as a dive destination choice? Think it should get more attention than it does? Do you plan to go back?

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @uncfnp

Sorry to hear about the disappointing 2nd half of your trip. We've all had experiences like that, it will get better.

Good diving, Craig

 

[uncfnp]

Hi Richard!

The complex was very safe, the beach and facilities lovely and the staff excellent. If you want ultra safe on a mainland Mexico trip I highly recommend Puerto Aventuras. If you want someplace still very safe with a little more of the local flavor, then Tulum or Akumal.

I definitely enjoyed touring the Mayan ruins and glad I did this.

As for the area and diving, I would not go there with the main objective to dive unless it was cenote then absolutely I recommend the area and PA.

If you are looking for a family get away with some diving, then yes. I recommend it for this. With the harbor just down the beach, its a quick walk to the boat, minutes till you splash, then back at the condo for family activities by the time they are up and ready to go.

But it is one of the few areas I have traveled that I didn’t leave with plans to return - unless it is to dive the cenotes

 

[ibj40]

Next morning it was a bit more classroom then practicing some basic skills at Ponderosa. By mid afternoon I was not feeling well, I was so tired I could not focus or concentrate. In fact, I felt so ”off” that I ended the day and cancelled the plans for our last day. I was very upset. I began questioning my ability to cave dive although Natalie reassured me and indeed encouraged me to continue in the future. The next day I spent entirely in the condo, mostly sleeping, with a few stomach issue but not severe. Nothing to explain by behavior the day before. I didn’t even make it into a cenote.

So the next day, my last day I spent mostly on the balcony of the condo or the beach, rethinking all my diving plans. The one thing I did take away from Nat’s class is the ability to put together a minimalist sm rig (I still have the links gfaith), better kicks and more awareness and respect for cenote diving.

Lisa - Your experiences with dining were consistent with what we have found over the past decade of going to PA, which is why we now rent condos and cook the majority of our own meals, which gets me to your second day quoted above.

I am curious if you might have acquired some form of digestive issue due to one of the meals you had? Your symptoms are pretty consistent with either consumption of non-treated water, or an improperly prepared component of a meal (unwashed vegetables or spoiled meat). I think many of us that have frequented Mexico have experienced the same issues, and I, for one, can usually trace it back to a specific meal.

It is too bad that you didn't get to accomplish your primary goal. Hopefully you will have a chance, soon, to return. I hope you are not discouraged, especially if your issues were none of your own doing.

 

[uncfnp]

We are very careful in Mexico when it comes to water, even to not running the toothbrush under the tap. Natalie picked up two pork tortas from a stand near the entrance to PA (I forgot to mention that in the food review, it was quite good) for lunch that day but I really can’t blame it on that. But a waiter also poured my Coke Light on ice a night earlier, before I could say something. I hesitated but then drank it without asking the source of water. If anything it was probably this.

Other areas we travel, we rent and I cook. But our first trip to Cozumel was a B&B and we both developed an obsession with the food there. So I now refuse to cook in Mexico. If we do return I will have to rethink this.

 

[gfaith]

@uncfnp I am really glad you got in a Razor and worked through the setup with Natalie. I would
certainly recommend more cenotes when you are feeling better. Fatima loves SM but she is not
real hot on dark enclosed spaces. So we struggle with that a little she would be fine in Angelina
and loved the Pit. I would like to do some traverses from one cenote to another, but I am not going to push her.