thumbsplitter
Contributor
Itinerary Summary: We spent 5 days in Cozumel diving (14 dives), and then took the ferry and a rental car to Tulum where we spent an additional 5 days. From Tulum we did an additional 2 cenote dives, as well a visiting the above ground sites of Tulum, Coba’, Punta Laguna, and the Sian Ka’an bioreserve.
Cozumel hotel and diving: We stayed at the Blue Angel Resort but did our diving with Blue XTSea. The Blue Angel was a perfect level of comfort, while still being a hotel that mostly caters to divers. One of our favorite things about staying at Blue Angel was the restaurant, which meant that we didn’t have to seek out a restaurant for lunch or dinner on four-dive days. It took about 15 minutes to walk into town from the hotel, but most of the time we just took a taxi, which was cheap at around 70 pesos ($4) for 4 people. The staff at the Blue Angel Hotel were great, and extremely helpful.
I know Blue XTSea has been review quite a lot in this forum, so I will only briefly reinforce the positive comments. The dive boat picked us up every morning from the Blue Angel dock. Pedro (DM) and Nevo (Captain) were great fun to dive with and really took our safety very seriously. I would also seriously recommend doing night dives as the two night dives we did were some of the best I have ever had. On one dive alone, we saw 6 octopuses and as many eels (sharp-tailed and spotted morays).
Tulum and Hotel: After 5 days of diving on Cozumel, we took the ferry across to Playa del Carmen, rented a car, and drove down to Tulum (about a 1 hr drive). We stayed at Posada Luna del Sur (PLdS). PLdS is along the main road in Tulum and is not as fancy as the resorts that are found along the beach. It was clean and quiet, and a good value, but you should understand that it is not a “resort” hotel (for example there is no pool). They also do not allow young children; a plus in our book, but a problem for families. If you do stay at PLdS, I highly recommend the nearby restaurant Burrito Amor for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Cenotes: While in Tulum we did a two-tank day trip with Natalie Gibb at Under the Jungle (formally Diablo Divers). I will write a separate review for Nat and her shop, but my short summary is that she one of the most fantastic dive guides I have ever dived with! To be clear, this may not be true for everyone. Nat is an accomplished cave diver and is not into divers who do not take cenote diving seriously. But if you have good buoyancy, an interest in the natural science of the cenotes, and a desire to try a completely different type of diving, I highly recommend her. We did cavern dives (less technically demanding than true cave dives) in both Ponderosa (AKA: Jardin del Eden) and Dream Gate. The former has some beautiful light effects as you transition from the cavern to the cenotes, and a nice halocline. The later had an incredible number of stalactites, stalagmites, and columns, and has to be the closest thing to true cave diving you can get, while still staying within the cavern zone. If you dive with Nat, make sure to leave the whole day open. Although it was only two dives, the extensive dive briefing, long/shallow dives, and a lunch break for excellent tacos (included), ate up almost all of our day. If you decide to dive cenotes with someone other than Under the Jungle, make sure to do your research first; I heard some scary stories about less qualified ops.
Other attractions: From Tulum, we also did several non-diving activities. The Mayan ruins at Coba’ were quite impressive, and a little less touristy than the ones at Tulum. We also went on a birding trip in the Sian Ka’an bioreserve with Miguel Amar from Mexico Kan Tours. Miguel was a little pricy compared to some other guides, but he is a wealth of knowledge for people interested in birding. A bonus of this trip is that part of it takes you through the Ruins of Muyil. Not as impressive as Tulum or Coba’, but there was almost no one else there while we were birding.
I hope this report helps those of you who are planning an upcoming trip. Feel free to post questions.
--Thumbsplitter
Cozumel hotel and diving: We stayed at the Blue Angel Resort but did our diving with Blue XTSea. The Blue Angel was a perfect level of comfort, while still being a hotel that mostly caters to divers. One of our favorite things about staying at Blue Angel was the restaurant, which meant that we didn’t have to seek out a restaurant for lunch or dinner on four-dive days. It took about 15 minutes to walk into town from the hotel, but most of the time we just took a taxi, which was cheap at around 70 pesos ($4) for 4 people. The staff at the Blue Angel Hotel were great, and extremely helpful.
I know Blue XTSea has been review quite a lot in this forum, so I will only briefly reinforce the positive comments. The dive boat picked us up every morning from the Blue Angel dock. Pedro (DM) and Nevo (Captain) were great fun to dive with and really took our safety very seriously. I would also seriously recommend doing night dives as the two night dives we did were some of the best I have ever had. On one dive alone, we saw 6 octopuses and as many eels (sharp-tailed and spotted morays).
Tulum and Hotel: After 5 days of diving on Cozumel, we took the ferry across to Playa del Carmen, rented a car, and drove down to Tulum (about a 1 hr drive). We stayed at Posada Luna del Sur (PLdS). PLdS is along the main road in Tulum and is not as fancy as the resorts that are found along the beach. It was clean and quiet, and a good value, but you should understand that it is not a “resort” hotel (for example there is no pool). They also do not allow young children; a plus in our book, but a problem for families. If you do stay at PLdS, I highly recommend the nearby restaurant Burrito Amor for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Cenotes: While in Tulum we did a two-tank day trip with Natalie Gibb at Under the Jungle (formally Diablo Divers). I will write a separate review for Nat and her shop, but my short summary is that she one of the most fantastic dive guides I have ever dived with! To be clear, this may not be true for everyone. Nat is an accomplished cave diver and is not into divers who do not take cenote diving seriously. But if you have good buoyancy, an interest in the natural science of the cenotes, and a desire to try a completely different type of diving, I highly recommend her. We did cavern dives (less technically demanding than true cave dives) in both Ponderosa (AKA: Jardin del Eden) and Dream Gate. The former has some beautiful light effects as you transition from the cavern to the cenotes, and a nice halocline. The later had an incredible number of stalactites, stalagmites, and columns, and has to be the closest thing to true cave diving you can get, while still staying within the cavern zone. If you dive with Nat, make sure to leave the whole day open. Although it was only two dives, the extensive dive briefing, long/shallow dives, and a lunch break for excellent tacos (included), ate up almost all of our day. If you decide to dive cenotes with someone other than Under the Jungle, make sure to do your research first; I heard some scary stories about less qualified ops.
Other attractions: From Tulum, we also did several non-diving activities. The Mayan ruins at Coba’ were quite impressive, and a little less touristy than the ones at Tulum. We also went on a birding trip in the Sian Ka’an bioreserve with Miguel Amar from Mexico Kan Tours. Miguel was a little pricy compared to some other guides, but he is a wealth of knowledge for people interested in birding. A bonus of this trip is that part of it takes you through the Ruins of Muyil. Not as impressive as Tulum or Coba’, but there was almost no one else there while we were birding.
I hope this report helps those of you who are planning an upcoming trip. Feel free to post questions.
--Thumbsplitter
