Playa del Carmen + Cozumel?

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OceanApricot

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I'm looking to dive a cenote (particularly something that will give me a taste of cavern diving) near Playa del Carmen and get some reef diving in somewhere as well. I heard you can take a quick ferry out to Cozumel but I was wondering if it's worth it to make the journey out there or if i should stay near Playa del Carmen and dive the reefs there?

I was also told it'd be good to get my advanced open water cert before diving a cenote, what's the consensus on that?
 
I'm looking to dive a cenote (particularly something that will give me a taste of cavern diving) near Playa del Carmen and get some reef diving in somewhere as well. I heard you can take a quick ferry out to Cozumel but I was wondering if it's worth it to make the journey out there or if i should stay near Playa del Carmen and dive the reefs there?

I was also told it'd be good to get my advanced open water cert before diving a cenote, what's the consensus on that?
Cozumel definitely has better reef diving worth going over for.

As to AOW and cenote diving, it's not required for most commonly visited cenotes except for The Pit (which is deep). However, I'd suggest that you have both very good buoyancy control and are comfortable diving in darker environments using lights before diving cenotes.
 
The reefs on on the mainland side are different than Cozumel. I have not dived PDC but around Akumal which was more tongue and groove structures. I did this in June a few years back in Akumal and it was green turtle mating season. I don't know if they congregate around PDC but I think so. If you want walls, bigger structures and I think more life, then Cozumel is where you'll need to go. We also waded out on Half Moon bay through sargasso to get to a boat. If you have a dock then better.
I would think AOW is better but I don't know your skills. I know those that were OW and dove some of the cenotes.
Photo from Akumal
Akumal June 2015 Green Turtle 005.jpg
 
You didn't ask for recommendations, but I'll offer GoDiveMex anyway as a shop that can cover all your bases. My wife and I did six dives (two on the PDC reef, two on the Cozumel reef, two cenotes) with them back in March 2025 with only five previous dives under our belts. They took very good care of us. We're going back to dive with them in December.

See also this trip report from @xan last month.
 
aow is not required for diving the cenotes. but as suggested above, having good buoyancy is a plus. being comfortable in a low light overhead environment is key. but you may not know your tolerance until you try it.
dos ojos is a good one to try if you are not sure. there is plenty of light. many others are quite dark.
pls contact matt at tank ha in playa del carmen if you decide to go over to coz. i believe they still run their own boat across to dive coz.
i would prefer this to the ferry option. way less hassle for just a day trip. but thats just my opinion.
 
I'm looking to dive a cenote (particularly something that will give me a taste of cavern diving) near Playa del Carmen and get some reef diving in somewhere as well. I heard you can take a quick ferry out to Cozumel but I was wondering if it's worth it to make the journey out there or if i should stay near Playa del Carmen and dive the reefs there?

I was also told it'd be good to get my advanced open water cert before diving a cenote, what's the consensus on that?
I highly recommend Nicolas from Cenote Xperience, great guys that have a small local dive shop in Playa Del Carmen. I have been diving with Nico since 2011.
They dive the cenotes and do ocean dives out of Playa and over to Cozumel.

The cenotes have different levels of difficulty, so just be honest level of experience.
 
I'm looking to dive a cenote (particularly something that will give me a taste of cavern diving) near Playa del Carmen and get some reef diving in somewhere as well. I heard you can take a quick ferry out to Cozumel but I was wondering if it's worth it to make the journey out there or if i should stay near Playa del Carmen and dive the reefs there?

I was also told it'd be good to get my advanced open water cert before diving a cenote, what's the consensus on that?
not much of a reef in PDC so yes take the ferry. You have plenty of cenotes along the highway in PDC less than 30 min drive.

Be safe
 
I'm looking to dive a cenote (particularly something that will give me a taste of cavern diving) near Playa del Carmen and get some reef diving in somewhere as well. I heard you can take a quick ferry out to Cozumel but I was wondering if it's worth it to make the journey out there or if i should stay near Playa del Carmen and dive the reefs there?

I was also told it'd be good to get my advanced open water cert before diving a cenote, what's the consensus on that?
I’ve been diving in both Cozumel and on the mainland for years. For reef diving, there is no comparison; Cozumel is much, much better. You didn’t say how long your trip is, but if you want several days of reef diving, you should find a place to stay on Cozumel and dive there, taking the ferry to the mainland for a day of cenote diving. If you are already planning on staying in Playa, and you only want to dive on a reef for a day or two, then you can take an early ferry to Cozumel and come back in the afternoon. It’s about an hour each way counting the boarding and disembarking.

As far as the cenotes go, a popular one for new divers is Chac Mool and it’s fairly close to Playa. Tajma Ha and Ponderosa are two others, although the cavern line at Taj is not as beautiful as it used to be because they did some construction in the area which clouded the water and silted the rock formations. It’s been a year since I’ve been in Taj so I don’t know the current condition.

As a few people have mentioned you don’t need AOW to dive in the cenotes, but you need to have good buoyancy and trim control, and be comfortable in an overhead environment. Even though technically the cavern lines conform to OW standards (supposedly, they do push the limit IMO) it is a very different world and you must feel comfortable in darkness and be able to follow your guide carefully. The safety record of these cavern dives is very good; they’re very popular and most OW divers enjoy them. But, it is an unpleasant experience for some, so keep that in mind.
 
Totally worth taking the ferry to Cozumel to dive.
The reef diving from Puerto Morales south of Playacar used to be really good. The offshore diving in this zone is pretty good, but does not compare to Cozumel.. The reef is too deep in Coz for snorkeling
 

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