Playa del Carmen as a Base for Cenotes and Cozumel

[KDAD]

I have an opportunity to buy into a condo in PDC. Access to diving is only a partial consideration of following through with it. Only from the aspect of access to diving how do you feel of PDC as a base to cenotes, Cozumel, and the local PDC diving. Looking for input especially from those who dive cenotes from PDC, take day trips to Cozumel from there, or dive there regularly.

Are the cenotes too far away to be practical?
Can you get on the ferry, go to Cozumel, make some dives, and head back over or is it too much to consider?
Can I shore dive PDC or get friendly with a boat and dive PDC regularly and not get bored with it?

 

[divingx]

Didn't do a lot of shore dives in Playa del Carmen. I always stayed in PDC and rent a car when I flied to MX for cave diving.

 

[KDAD]

Is staying in PDC and driving down for caves doable or more trouble than its worth? I realize the PDC is not ideal for either cenotes or Cozumel but at least if they can be done without too much extra work it might be a consideration.

 

[rick00001967]

I have an opportunity to buy into a condo in PDC. Access to diving is only a partial consideration of following through with it. Only from the aspect of access to diving how do you feel of PDC as a base to cenotes, Cozumel, and the local PDC diving. Looking for input especially from those who dive cenotes from PDC, take day trips to Cozumel from there, or dive there regularly.

Are the cenotes too far away to be practical?
Can you get on the ferry, go to Cozumel, make some dives, and head back over or is it too much to consider?
Can I shore dive PDC or get friendly with a boat and dive PDC regularly and not get bored with it?

so lets try to tackle this one thing at a time.

you have a change to "buy into a condo" ? not sure exactly what that means ? are you possibly buying your own unit or are you considering buying one along with someone else and sharing it ? i only ask as we went thru the same choice recently. i have been watching the market pretty closely since last fall and would be willing to discuss this further if you wish.

i think playa is a great location for access to cenotes and cozumel. unaware of any significant shore diving there. if you find any pls share.
that said, obviously tulum would be closer to the cenotes but tulum would be a different world than playa. whether that is good or bad is a matter of opinion.

playa makes it easy to ferry over to coz for a long one day trip or a one / two night getaway. you also would have the option to dive with tankha as they run a boat across to coz.

playa is not exactly known for its diving. it is hit and miss. typically it is mediocre. but i am sure if you had a place there you could get in good with your favorite shop and get discounted rates if yu dive regularly.

 

[Streydog]

When the ferries are running on their normal schedule I believe the first one arrives in Cozumel around 7:50 AM. Just depends on your dive shop and where they leave from. Ad another hour to get back. It is really not too much of a hassle for much better dives.

I didn't do any shore diving in Playa , it would probably use up a lot of gas to get out to a reef. I went out with on dive op that had contracted a shared boat, there were two other ops using the same boat. It was 3 DM with no more than 2 other divers each. I wonder if it would be possible to just pay a captain a fee for the rides. There is not a lot of variety diving in Playa but it is worth diving. Many of the shops in Playa provide transportation to the Cenotes.

The location of the condo in Playa could make a big difference.

 

[KDAD]

Condo is NE Playa on 46th street near where they keep (dive?) boats moored. My brother in law owns it with two partners who want to sell their shares so we would end up with 1/2 each. Unit will be a rental with personal use when not rented.

46th street does seem a bit far north but it is easy enough to get to the highway from there. I haven't been in a few years though.

 

[rick00001967]

yes 46th is at the north end of where most tourists stay. some very nice units in that area though. playa is not that huge. it is easy to get around. obviously if you wanted to be very close to the ferry (ie: short walking distance), then 46th is far.

if you decide to buy half of the unit and share with your brother inlaw (and i assume your sister) i hope it works out well for you. there are certainly benefits to being partners and sharing costs etc. my only advise (even though i wasn't asked haha) is to be very careful. the last thing you want is to destroy a family relationship if things go sour.

as i mentioned, we recently went through this. but we decided against sharing. i felt the pros did not outweigh the possible cons. just be sure you have everything done all nice and legal and in writing. you dont want arguments later about who gets the nice bedroom or bathroom haha or who gets the unit during prime time when one of you wants to rent instead etc etc

also keep in mind that the market is VERY soft there right now. it was a buyers market before covid and we have seen significant drops in property values there since covid hit and the peso weakened. so make sure you know what the actual current value is, not what the seller THINKS it should be worth.

i'm done. i've stuck my nose in far enough. lol

 

[KDAD]

Thank you, @rick00001967. I don't mind the extra info - it would all need to be considered anyway and is helpful and appreciated.

 

[wedivebc]

There are quite a number of cenotes between PDC and Tulum and quite a number more just outside of Tulum most less than an hours drive of PDC. Cozumel is an easy day trip with plenty of time for a leisurely 2 tank dive and a couple of post dive cervezas before getting home in time for supper. Have fun over there I'm envious.

 

[CanadaDan]

I've done cenotes from both PDC and Tulum. While Tulum is decidedly closer to most of them PDC wasn't too far of a drive. Getting to Coz from PDC is easy, day trips are more than feasible. As mentioned above almost every shop offers guides with transportation to either destination.

I haven't done a lot of boat diving from PDC directly but I would suspect that it would get a little repetitive. Given the areas fame for drift dives I would suspect shore-diving would be problematic. No experience with that though.... I've never tried to do any shore diving in Mexico unless you count cenotes lol.