PDC dive + Cenote + Chichin Itza?

[TheAvatar]

I’m doing the 5/4 deal at Scuba Club Cozumel, but I have additional time at the end.
Are there any dive sites out of Playa del Carmen that are key to see and worth tacking on to a trip that already includes 16 dives off Cozumel and 2 Cenote dives? What makes them different, unique?

Any recommendations for Chichen Itza tour companies? Trying to spend the least time on the bus and the most time walking and touring…

What I’m really trying to do is find a way to come over to Playa from Cozumel in the morning (call this day 1), and during that day and the next dive Cenote and do something else the same day (another dive?), tour Chichen Itza another day, and then get to the beach to snorkel and chill before the flight out of Cancun at 1:40PM on Day 3.

I’d also like to spend less than $400/person on all that including travel and 2 night’s food/accommodations. Also looking for recommendations on Cenote ops.

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

I would recommend Riviera Maya and Playa del Carmen Mexico Adventure Tours | YucaTreks - Far Out Adventure | Chichen Itza | Tulum | Coba for the Chichen Itza tour. Tell them PlayaCountryBoy sent ya! Also I offer one on one diving from my boat and I will take you to the best sites around Playa! We have walls to the north and sloping and grooved topography to the south with a wreck. Anything in particular you'd like to see?

 

[ntkriced]

I would say, do all your cenotes and diving while you are in PDC or Tulum.
You could possibly cram in a bunch of cenotes that day.

If you wanna be really efficient, you could rent a car in PDC after the ferry, do cenotes around Tulum (1 hr from PDC) all day and drive to Chichin after the cenotes (2+ hours).

There's a hotel next to the ruins in Chichin. You can roll out of bed, walk to the park and hire a private guide. Sleep again at Chichin Itza and stay for the light show or drive to Cancun that night (another 3+ hour drive).
That way you spend the least amount of time on the road.

There are car rental companies where you can pick up in PDC and drop off at CUN airport. Last summer, we took a car from CUN to Chichin to PDC. It worked out well.

-nt

 

[jpassov]

I can highly recommend PlayaCountryBoy! My girlfriend & I dove with him last month and couldn't have been more pleased.
The wreck dive Mama Vina is definitely worth seeing! Here is a link to the video that Jason (PlayaCountryBoy) took of us.
Enjoy!
YouTube - John and Sara at "Mama Vina" shipwreck and Los Arcos

 

[driftwood]

I agree with Jason regarding Yukatrek's tours. Vans instead of a large bus and they know how to break up the day doing different things.

 

[carolrose]

I would recommend renting a car and driving to Chichen Itza yourself. I'd recommend picking up the car at night, and getting a very early start in the morning. Usually a rental is 24 hours, so you could pick it up at 7:00 one night, and return it at the same time the next night.

The site opens at 9:00am, and I'd leave early enough to arrive by then. Most of the big tours don't get there quite that early, and you'll have a chance to walk around some and take pictures while it's still really quiet there, and not as hot as it gets towards the middle of the day.

We used a map from mapchick Mapchick's Maps and Can-Do Travel Guides but it was a very easy drive and we probably didn't even need the map for the most part. We stopped at Valladolid on the way back, and at a cenote to swim, and it made for a nice day trip.

Renting a car, you're completely on your own schedule for everything and can stop just because something looks interesting, or you feel like it which was great too.