Akumal Diving?

[krukster86]

I have been planning a Mexico trip for this winter for quite some time. It is a mixed bag of 4 divers and 6 non-divers. We decided to stick to the mainland.

We are working with a travel agent to get a package deal and it looks like there are quite a few affordable options in Akumal and PDC. I have contacted several PDC dive shops that I liked, however Akumal I am unfamiliar with.

Googlemaps shows that they don’t really have too many dive shops around there. Is Akumal bad for diving? We would like to do 1 day of Cenotes, 1 day at Cozumel and 2-3 days of Ocean diving off the mainland. Also, do these dive shops typically shuttle people from resorts, or do we need to pay a cabbie?

I guess another related question:
I have some recommended dive shops marked down for reference. When the gf and I dove in the Dominican Republic, the dive shop shuttled us to and from the resort at no added cost. So far none of the recommended dive shops offer this service (you need to taxi it over there). We are already almost exceeding our budget on this trip and we are thinking of doing the excursions through the resort affiliated dive shop to eliminate the taxi cost. Any stories about these resort based dive shops? Are they ripoffs/cattleboats/not run well?

 

[DivemasterDennis]

2 shops right in the village on the beach. Akumal Dive Shop is top notch. Diving is good. Boats are small and a little primitive- one tank and back to shore to change out. Most sites 10 minute boat ride or less. Very reasonably priced. It's one of our favorite spots.
DivemasterDennis

 

[nimoh]

I dove with Akumal Dive Center last year, and had a great time. They have two 6 person boats and run day trips to cenotes (they provide the transportation to and from the shop).

One of my favorite things about Akumal, is the snorkelling you can do before or after your dives. There is a lot of coral very close to shore, and usually a few turtles around.

 

[krukster86]

Cool! I also received a very encouraging email from Bahia Dive Shop:

We are located in the wonderful Xpu-ha beach, just 10 minutes driving north far from akumal . As we are a private managed center, we can organize your activities as you prefer. We offer you free, round trip transportation from your hotel and the diving center
I describe you here our activities:
Every day we board our boats directly from the beach, and head towards one of the 15 different dive spots including also wreck diving. There is an amazing variety of colourful fish and coral. All our dive trips are guided by highly qualified and experienced dive masters and instructors with a maximum of 6 divers per boat. We have a nice wreck dive not far from our base that for sure we can organize for you. Price for two tanks is 80 USD.
We also can offer you this other options:
CENOTE DIVING (CAVERN DIVING). Crystal clear water, hundreds of spectacular formations (stalactites, stalagmites, columns, etc.), amazing natural light and colour effects, curious fresh water fish like guppies, mollies, catfish. Our highly qualified guides are full cave diving certified and have a lot of experience. Groups are a maximum of 4 divers per guide. Maximum depth of 40 ft (12 m), with incredible visibility, no current, hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites on every dive. Water temperature about 76f/ 24c. 2 tanks dive is 110 USD.
COZUMEL ISLAND. We pick you up and head to Playa del Carmen where we take the ferry to Cozumel. Once on the island, we board our boats, for a two tank dive trip. The first dive we do at one of the famous walls, at a maximum depth of 90 ft (30 m). Fly through huge coral formations, sponges, gorgons, fans, etc. Second dive is at about 50 ft (16 m), with great visibility and hundreds of multicolour fish. Price is 160 USD
In all the dives you will be with one of our guide, if you have any health problem and you inform us the day before the activity don’t charge anything.
The dives are chosen in function of the diver group and looking to not repeat the same dive site .
About package if you diove 3 or more days let me know which dives you prefer to do and i will prepare a package for you

 

[spc751]

What hotel are you staying at? I will be in that area this winter and am in contact with Bahia Divers and Blue Experience. Both shops will pick me up at my hotel. I just have to decide between the two.

Both shops appear to be good. I have been told that with Blue Experience you just dive then they fit you into a package based on your diving instead of having to pick a package before you start diving. Geofish in PDC did this for me last winter and it was nice not having to decide how many dives I wanted to do the day I arrived.

Bahia Divers Dive Center, specialized in private group diving and Cenotes - Dive at the Mexican Caribbean

Blue Experience Diving, Akumal

 

[krukster86]

Good to hear! I hope you enjoy your stay.

Actually we have not yet decided on the hotel. We have been meeting with a travel agent and we are going to pick the best hotel for the $$$, which could be in PDC or Akumal. We won't really know until mid September.

 

[driftwood]

Go with PDC. There are a lot of good AI's in Playacar but I would stay at the Royal (intersection of 5th Ave and Constituyentes, heart of the tourist zone). Also you would be in walking distance for the ferry over to Coz. The ocean diving is better as well. Another reason to choose PDC is that you can go with a European plan instead of doing the AI thing. There are a lot of very good places to eat in PDC along 5th and 10th Ave.

 

[lthomas132]

Cool! I also received a very encouraging email from Bahia Dive Shop:

We are located in the wonderful Xpu-ha beach, just 10 minutes driving north far from akumal . As we are a private managed center, we can organize your activities as you prefer. We offer you free, round trip transportation from your hotel and the diving center
I describe you here our activities:
Every day we board our boats directly from the beach, and head towards one of the 15 different dive spots including also wreck diving. There is an amazing variety of colourful fish and coral. All our dive trips are guided by highly qualified and experienced dive masters and instructors with a maximum of 6 divers per boat. We have a nice wreck dive not far from our base that for sure we can organize for you. Price for two tanks is 80 USD.
We also can offer you this other options:
CENOTE DIVING (CAVERN DIVING). Crystal clear water, hundreds of spectacular formations (stalactites, stalagmites, columns, etc.), amazing natural light and colour effects, curious fresh water fish like guppies, mollies, catfish. Our highly qualified guides are full cave diving certified and have a lot of experience. Groups are a maximum of 4 divers per guide. Maximum depth of 40 ft (12 m), with incredible visibility, no current, hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites on every dive. Water temperature about 76f/ 24c. 2 tanks dive is 110 USD.
COZUMEL ISLAND. We pick you up and head to Playa del Carmen where we take the ferry to Cozumel. Once on the island, we board our boats, for a two tank dive trip. The first dive we do at one of the famous walls, at a maximum depth of 90 ft (30 m). Fly through huge coral formations, sponges, gorgons, fans, etc. Second dive is at about 50 ft (16 m), with great visibility and hundreds of multicolour fish. Price is 160 USD
In all the dives you will be with one of our guide, if you have any health problem and you inform us the day before the activity don’t charge anything.
The dives are chosen in function of the diver group and looking to not repeat the same dive site .
About package if you diove 3 or more days let me know which dives you prefer to do and i will prepare a package for you

Did 3 days of reef diving and 1 day of cenotes with these folks; Fabio is the manager. Lots of fun & good people. Picked me up & took me back at the AI that we were staying at even though the resort said it wasn't allowed. One of the days Fabio's vehicles wasn't at the shop so he paid a taxi to take me back. They have their own beautiful beach away from any of the resorts. Highly recommended!

---------- Post Merged at 06:26 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:55 AM ----------

I failed to mention that I dove with a young DI, Hendrick, pretty young DI in training, Lisa, & another pretty young lady that didn't know goggle from a mask or flippers from fins, Julie, newly certified. Needless to say, the DI stayed very close to her for a couple of reasons! You guessed it, I'm the old, fat man in the middle.