beth_castroll
Contributor
Between 9/5 and 9/11 Steve and I did 9 dives in 7 days with Geofish Divers in Playa Del Carmen. Steve, Morgan, Thomas, the boat crew and especially Marco did a fantastic job at showing us the local reef and Taj Mahal Cenote while staying within our dive budget.
All the equipment we rented from the shop was in good condition and the water was so warm, 83 degreees, that no wetsuit was needed with the exception of the 73 degree Centoe dive in which I wore a 5mil shortie. Excluding the first day dives, which were shared with some Discovery Divers and served as a check out dive, we didn't dive with more then 4 divers on any one dive.
After not diving since December 08 we started off with 2 shallow reef dives. Moche Shallow and Jardine. We didn't dive deeper then 45 feet and enjoyed 45-minute bottom times on both dives. These were nice easy dives with small walls, no drift, plenty of life and a pleasure to practice our rusty skills on. We came up after the second dive feeling very happy and alive.
Our next dive, Los Tortugas, was our first real drift dive in the 30 or so dives we've done since learning to dive 2 years ago. I found it very fast and kind of felt like George Jetson shouting for Jane to stop this crazy thing. I learned you can't fight the current to see things you missed while drifting by. I had no real problem, just a new experience. We were 74 feet for 35 minutes. We saw only one Tortugas, but saw a school of Tarpon. maybe 15 of them, the biggest being about 7 feet long. Very exciting! Second dive that day was Barracuda Reef, also a drift dive. I was a little more comfortable at the slower speed of this drift. 46 feet for 47 minutes. Nice finger reef that was home to a big stingray and a scary barracuda.
The 5th dive was the most challenging dive we've done to date. We were diving the Momma Viña wreck, a drift dive with quick decent to 93 feet. We needed to descend quick enough as to not allow the current to sweep us past the wreck. We descended very fast. Too fast for another couple on the boat who had problems equalizing and aborted the dive. We waited for them on a towline for about 500-700PSI and then continued on without them. We saw a BULL SHARK shortly after, out about 500 yards from the right side of the front of the wreck! Never felt in danger but was really excited to see the shark in the distance. We communicated with several other dive ops but the 3 of us, including Marco the dive instructor, were the only ones to see it. We were told it was odd to have seen it at all as it is not currently Bull Shark Season and the dive operator suggested this spotting was a result of sharks not migrating because other Dive Ops fed the sharks in order to keep them around for Bull Shark Dives. The current was strong as we ascended enough to get in the wreck and look out the windows. Coming back out of the wreck I was fighting hard not to be swept away in the current and called the dive. When we got back in the boat the woman who aborted her dive during decent was sucking on oxygen and covering her ears. She tried to descend while having ear equalization issues and broke the capillaries in her nose. She was fine, but it tweaked us all out a bit, that and the shark, and the current. We cancelled our second dive and went back to the shop.
The shop took every good care of all of us. No one was ever in danger but they went way out of the way to ensure we were all safe and that no one had a bad experience. They suggested a trip to the hyperbolic chamber, but it wasnt needed. They even compd the day's dives and sent the couple with the equalization issue on a tour of the ruins. Geofish didn't have to do this and I was really happy we chose Geofish to dive with. They were 100% professional and stand up kinda shop.
The next day we did 2 very relaxed wall dives and saw so much life, Barracuda again and Sabalos. We followed a beautiful hawkbill turtle for a long time down a reef finger; saw more barracuda and eels and rays. Both of the dives were long. Like 48 feet for 52 minutes. Highly enjoyable.
Our final dives were at Taj Mahal Cenote. We originally intended to do Dos Ojos but we were insured that Taj Mahal was less traveled and had more decoration. We were very pleased with all the stalactites and stalagmites and saw tons of sea urchin fossils and a huge brain coral fossil. Thomas our guide was very knowledgeable and displayed pristine cenote safety while showing us a good time.
All in all I would highly recommend Geofish Divers.
Geofish Dive - Scuba Diving, Snorkeling & PADI Instruction in Playa del Carmen & Cozumel, Mexico
I would not recommend the hotel we stayed in so I won't mention their name.
We had fantastic food everywhere we went. I highly suggest El Fagon for 7 peso El Pastor Tacos, HC Monterrey for Steak Arrcharra, and La Pesca for Shrimp Cocktail and grilled Snapper. All these restaurants were around 30th ave near the Mega. We never ate for more then 30 bucks a meal, most being around 10 dollars.
Not sure if Id go back to Playa as it is too much a city for my vacation tastes but if we did Id dive with Geo again for sure.
BTW on the flight home someone stole my dive watch out of my luggage. Word to the wise; take that kind of thing on the flight with you. Homeowners insurance deductible was too high to replace the watch. Bummer.
All the equipment we rented from the shop was in good condition and the water was so warm, 83 degreees, that no wetsuit was needed with the exception of the 73 degree Centoe dive in which I wore a 5mil shortie. Excluding the first day dives, which were shared with some Discovery Divers and served as a check out dive, we didn't dive with more then 4 divers on any one dive.
After not diving since December 08 we started off with 2 shallow reef dives. Moche Shallow and Jardine. We didn't dive deeper then 45 feet and enjoyed 45-minute bottom times on both dives. These were nice easy dives with small walls, no drift, plenty of life and a pleasure to practice our rusty skills on. We came up after the second dive feeling very happy and alive.
Our next dive, Los Tortugas, was our first real drift dive in the 30 or so dives we've done since learning to dive 2 years ago. I found it very fast and kind of felt like George Jetson shouting for Jane to stop this crazy thing. I learned you can't fight the current to see things you missed while drifting by. I had no real problem, just a new experience. We were 74 feet for 35 minutes. We saw only one Tortugas, but saw a school of Tarpon. maybe 15 of them, the biggest being about 7 feet long. Very exciting! Second dive that day was Barracuda Reef, also a drift dive. I was a little more comfortable at the slower speed of this drift. 46 feet for 47 minutes. Nice finger reef that was home to a big stingray and a scary barracuda.
The 5th dive was the most challenging dive we've done to date. We were diving the Momma Viña wreck, a drift dive with quick decent to 93 feet. We needed to descend quick enough as to not allow the current to sweep us past the wreck. We descended very fast. Too fast for another couple on the boat who had problems equalizing and aborted the dive. We waited for them on a towline for about 500-700PSI and then continued on without them. We saw a BULL SHARK shortly after, out about 500 yards from the right side of the front of the wreck! Never felt in danger but was really excited to see the shark in the distance. We communicated with several other dive ops but the 3 of us, including Marco the dive instructor, were the only ones to see it. We were told it was odd to have seen it at all as it is not currently Bull Shark Season and the dive operator suggested this spotting was a result of sharks not migrating because other Dive Ops fed the sharks in order to keep them around for Bull Shark Dives. The current was strong as we ascended enough to get in the wreck and look out the windows. Coming back out of the wreck I was fighting hard not to be swept away in the current and called the dive. When we got back in the boat the woman who aborted her dive during decent was sucking on oxygen and covering her ears. She tried to descend while having ear equalization issues and broke the capillaries in her nose. She was fine, but it tweaked us all out a bit, that and the shark, and the current. We cancelled our second dive and went back to the shop.
The shop took every good care of all of us. No one was ever in danger but they went way out of the way to ensure we were all safe and that no one had a bad experience. They suggested a trip to the hyperbolic chamber, but it wasnt needed. They even compd the day's dives and sent the couple with the equalization issue on a tour of the ruins. Geofish didn't have to do this and I was really happy we chose Geofish to dive with. They were 100% professional and stand up kinda shop.
The next day we did 2 very relaxed wall dives and saw so much life, Barracuda again and Sabalos. We followed a beautiful hawkbill turtle for a long time down a reef finger; saw more barracuda and eels and rays. Both of the dives were long. Like 48 feet for 52 minutes. Highly enjoyable.
Our final dives were at Taj Mahal Cenote. We originally intended to do Dos Ojos but we were insured that Taj Mahal was less traveled and had more decoration. We were very pleased with all the stalactites and stalagmites and saw tons of sea urchin fossils and a huge brain coral fossil. Thomas our guide was very knowledgeable and displayed pristine cenote safety while showing us a good time.
All in all I would highly recommend Geofish Divers.
Geofish Dive - Scuba Diving, Snorkeling & PADI Instruction in Playa del Carmen & Cozumel, Mexico
I would not recommend the hotel we stayed in so I won't mention their name.
We had fantastic food everywhere we went. I highly suggest El Fagon for 7 peso El Pastor Tacos, HC Monterrey for Steak Arrcharra, and La Pesca for Shrimp Cocktail and grilled Snapper. All these restaurants were around 30th ave near the Mega. We never ate for more then 30 bucks a meal, most being around 10 dollars.
Not sure if Id go back to Playa as it is too much a city for my vacation tastes but if we did Id dive with Geo again for sure.
BTW on the flight home someone stole my dive watch out of my luggage. Word to the wise; take that kind of thing on the flight with you. Homeowners insurance deductible was too high to replace the watch. Bummer.
No surge in Playa.
