places to dive in cancun

[lynnemari]

Boy I am glad I joined this web site! I have posted some questions on trips I am in the middle of planning, but now have questions on a trip we are already set to go on. We are going to cancun May 21st. We will want to dive there. I thought cozumel was an easy trip from cancun but have read maybe not? How long does it take to get to cozumel from the hotel zone in cancun? What is the best way to dive there if you are staying in Cancun, reccommended dive operators ect.
Who is a safe Padi dive operation in Cancun? And is diving in the cenotes an advanced cave dive? My husband and I haven't done any cave diving but have dove alot in Roatan wall dives.We are open water certified.
Thanks for all your help, this is a great web site!
Lynne :mermaid:

 

[AmyJ]

Boy I am glad I joined this web site! I have posted some questions on trips I am in the middle of planning, but now have questions on a trip we are already set to go on. We are going to cancun May 21st. We will want to dive there. I thought cozumel was an easy trip from cancun but have read maybe not? How long does it take to get to cozumel from the hotel zone in cancun? What is the best way to dive there if you are staying in Cancun, reccommended dive operators ect.
Who is a safe Padi dive operation in Cancun? And is diving in the cenotes an advanced cave dive? My husband and I haven't done any cave diving but have dove alot in Roatan wall dives.We are open water certified.
Thanks for all your help, this is a great web site!
Lynne :mermaid:

Hi there...

I can't really answer your questions, but thought I'd share some thoughts. I haven't been to either Cancun (other than the airport, which is not really IN Cancun) or Cozumel.

But I can tell you there is some pretty nice diving on the mainland side, south of Cancun, down towards Playa del Carmen and Akumal. So, if you have trouble getting to Coz, you might want to consider those options. I have heard some people even prefer it over Cozumel, but can't speak from experience.

Playa del Carmen is a fun place to spend some time and there are lots of great beach sites, all up and down that area. I hope you have a great time!

 

[JohnF]

Boy I am glad I joined this web site! I have posted some questions on trips I am in the middle of planning, but now have questions on a trip we are already set to go on. We are going to cancun May 21st. We will want to dive there. I thought cozumel was an easy trip from cancun but have read maybe not? How long does it take to get to cozumel from the hotel zone in cancun? What is the best way to dive there if you are staying in Cancun, reccommended dive operators ect.
Who is a safe Padi dive operation in Cancun? And is diving in the cenotes an advanced cave dive? My husband and I haven't done any cave diving but have dove alot in Roatan wall dives.We are open water certified.
Thanks for all your help, this is a great web site!
Lynne :mermaid:

Coz is only a day trip from Cancun with time for a couple of dives and some shopping. A number of dive ops schedule regular bus/ferry packages for about $125 US. You leave at breakfast time and get back in the evening. Easy to arrange.

I haven't tried each of these but the ones I haven't tried come highly recommended by others. My fave has closed up unfortunately. Aquaworld is the big guy on the block. They use larger boats and tend to attract quite a few occasional divers (read shakey) but if you don't mind crowds they really do a decent job and have nice modern stable boats with friendly dive leaders. Scuba Cancun and Solo Buceo get good reviews from a lot of folks folks. Don't be put off by Scuba cancun's rundown shop and boats. They are by many accounts one of, if not the, best in the area. I've talked with one of the owners and was very impressed with her concern for safety. One possible problem is that most of the dive ops are at the north end of the hotel zone but the transit options are cheap and efficient.

You can do guided cavern dives, again thru the dive ops. They will arrange day trips for this as well. The price is slightly over $100. usually these can be arranged through the resort as well. Most have a dive shop on site. Another option is to rent a car or take the bus and arrange your own guided tour through one of the shops in the Akumal area. It's less than an hour's drive from the Hotel zone on a good highway.

Guided cavern dives do not require a special cert and are very neat if you aren't claustrophobic.

Have fun

JohnF

 

[JMD123]

I did my advanced O/W with with Scuba Cancun. They are really cool. And very knoledgable. I went with them to cozumel also, It a day trip you leave at around 8 am and get back at 5. The fary to cozumel is fast airconditioned and luxurious. It really supprised me how cool it was. I will say I thought the diving in Cancun was just as good as cozumel. You can take the bus from most hotels right to the front door of scuba cancun

Hope that helps.

 

[JMD123]

Oh one other thing do the night dive its great.


Jonas

 

[atlas750]

I agree make sure to do a night dive.

 

[catbrown]

I am biased I love the diving in and where I live in Puerto Morelos but I often send divers to Coz for a day trip just to see the difference.
The easiest and cheapest way to do this is to catch a bus from Downtown Cancun (10 mins in taxi from hotel zone) to Play del Carmen this takes 30 mins cost 32 pesos and drops people off at Puerto Morelos on the way, lucky you! The buses are large, aircon and very comfy and run every 10-15mins. Then you catch the ferry to Coz (40min tripUSd18 return) they are usually hourly. Most dive shops are then in walking distance, we would normally make an advance booking on yr behalf. There is also a service which is all inclusive - private transport , lunch etc. for a higher price. As with some other dive shops there are packages that seriously reduce your costs that include a reef dive, wreck dive, cenote dive, coz dive, night dive and so on. There are also trips to Akumal and areas further South. Have a look around the area at different dive spots and you will get a lot more out of your vacation as well as great diving. :dazzler1:

 

[landlubber]

I did my advanced O/W with with Scuba Cancun. They are really cool. And very knoledgable. I went with them to cozumel also, It a day trip you leave at around 8 am and get back at 5. The fary to cozumel is fast airconditioned and luxurious. It really supprised me how cool it was. I will say I thought the diving in Cancun was just as good as cozumel. You can take the bus from most hotels right to the front door of scuba cancun

Hope that helps.

i agree the diving in cancun although relatively shallow(deepest it gets is around 50 ft)is as nice as coz.but be forewarned tale a motion sickness pill(gravol)before diving is highly reccomended in cancun the last trip i went out on(april 4 2004)4 of the 8 divers on the boat were feeding the fish after the 1st dive.worked out great for my girlfriend and i as only us 2 and 1 other dude went out on the 2nd dive.i tried to tell the sick people that staying on the boat would only make them feel worse+u can hurl through a reg. but they stayed on anyways.also all the diving in cancun is drift diving,it can be intimidating at 1st but once u get used to it it is quite nice as u really save on air cause u don't kick too much.

 

[Charlie99]

i agree the diving in cancun although relatively shallow(deepest it gets is around 50 ft)is as nice as coz....but be forewarned tale a motion sickness pill.

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While diving in Cancun is nice, no way is it as nice as Cozumel. Cancun tends to be relatively low profile reefs. Cozumel has awesome coral formations.

My logbook entry for C-55 minesweeper has 75' max depth, with a lot of time spent at 70'. Since most Cancun reefs are only 10' tall or so, the reef dives are pretty close to square profile and I spent a lot of time in the 50-60' depth range.

Scuba Cancun is a good, safe operation, but geared towards infrequent and new divers. Very, very heavy handholding and babysitting.

Solo Buceo didn't babysit as much, but I stopped diving with them after 2 days. The first day one of the two DMs missed the reef while the other DM and her group spent the dive swimming upcurrent. Then the 2nd day they gave me a tank that gunked up the reg inlet filter with a white paste -- probably aluminum oxide from a tank with saltwater inside.

Most Cozumel diving is on the west side of the island, which is protected from the most common winds and swells. Cancun dive spots are not as sheltered and usually have higher swells and waves. As Landlubber notes, seasickness prone divers may want to take some motion sickness pills.

---------------

My advice is enjoy some nice dives in Cancun if you are there on vacation with a bunch of non-divers, but for a dive vacation definitely head over to Cozumel.

As others have noted, most Cancun dive shops will arrange a daytrip with diving in Cozumel. They also regularly run trips down to the cenotes an hour or two down south on the mainland. Both are excellent daytrips. While Cozumel is great diving, if my sked forced me to pick just one excursion, I'd go with the cenotes since it is a quite different sort of experience.

 

[vfib2]

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Scuba Cancun is a good, safe operation, but geared towards infrequent and new divers. Very, very heavy handholding and babysitting.

i have to differ on this, i dove with Scuba Cancun and they didnt hold my hand. it was great