Back to Diving after 3 years - Playa Del Carmen advice

[juggler]

Hello everyone,

So I used to live in Australia and then moved to Texas and havent dived in 3 years. I suspect I am a bit rusty. I did a mini refresher last year but that was in a pool and I have done nothing since.

My friend and I are going to Playa Del Carmen and I want to take the opportunity to get back into diving. My friend has never dived before so will be doing his Open Water. I am AOW certified but intend to limit myself whilst I get back into the swing of diving again. Only plan on shallow dives.

My question is:

Can anyone recommend a good diving company for us to go to for our dives? I would like to do a few shallow simple dives while my friend does his Open Water. Then maybe a couple of dives together after that. I dont live far from Mexico so can come back to the region another time for more advanced stuff as confidence and skill return.

Happy to pay more for a reputable company with safety being the key. I have been researching and saw one company say that it was ok for an OW diver to go do 30m depth if they were comfortable. My instructor back home would have had me back on the boat if I tried that on a dive when I was only OW certified.

I realise this is a question a lot of folks ask but the answers I always find are that it "depends on what you want to do". Given the above, who would you recommend?

We just want a safe company to dive with, I have unfortunately had a bad experience 6 years ago when I dove more often so am a bit more cautious now.

Thank you in advance!!

Juggler

 

[Dhboner]

Scuba Diving Playa del Carmen, Cenotes and Cozumel - Beyond Diving Small, boutique operation with the best rental gear in Mexico. Erik treats divers like family. He is very safe and a lot of fun. Feel free to message me if you want any more information.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I have to admit a strong bias in favor of Cozumel, since I've been going there for 25 years. IMHO, the diving available off of Playa Del Carmen, or Akumal, or anyplace on the mainland Yucatan for that matter, can't touch what is available on Cozumel. And even if you are staying in Playa Del Carmen, you can catch the Ferry over to Cozumel for a day trip. As to shallow, easy dives, Columbia Shallows and Palancar Gardens are two of my very favorite easy dives on Cozumel, and both have hard bottoms that range from 30-45 feet. But even as a beginner, once you are certified you needn't limit yourself to those shallow dives. With the visibility that Cozumel has, a 60 or even 80 foot dive is very comfortable; you'll feel like you are in daylight on a sunny day.

There are quite a number of very good, very safe Dive Ops on Cozumel. My favorite is Aldora, though with HP Steel tanks, like the Steel 100s and 120s that it offers, it is really more focused on the advanced divers that want LONG bottom times - 90+ minute dives. But check out places like Dive with Allison, or Blue XTC, or Tres Pelicanos, or Dive with Martin (or many others - look at the Cozumel Board for recommendations), all of which can offer a personalized service to meet your needs. As for getting certified while on vacation, why on earth spend vacation time in a classroom? I would strongly recommend that your friend either get certified before going, or find a local dive shop to complete the course work and pool work before leaving, and get a referral to a dive shop in PDC or Cozumel to do the certification dives.

 

[Charles2]

Diving in Playa Del Carmen is OK and it has better beaches. My wife likes to go there at least once per year. Most of the resorts along the beach have on-site dive operators that make for really convenient diving. This would be especially good for your friend to complete his OW. We have stayed at Riviera Maya All Inclusive Resort | Occidental Resorts several times. Their dive operation is https://www.prodivemex.com/?gclid=CMCiq-2vsckCFYQ6aQodwp0DOw and can do any or all of your friend's OW. I would recommend that your friend contact the dive operation and get the e-learning done before going to Playa. ProDive also operates at several other of the big resorts. Nitrox is free there so be sure to have your friend include that certification with his OW.

I, too, strongly favor Cozumel for the diving; however, if you believe that your skills are up to it, the Cenotes are just a little south of Playa and are some great dives. You might try that while your friend gets certified.

Be sure you explain your diving skills and concerns to whichever operation you choose. They are all about making sure you have a pleasant experience.

 

[Salt]

My friend and I just got back from Playa. We dove a few days with Charles Bernier of Maya Scuba. He is an excellent guide and very safe. Not sure if he teaches an OW class but worth checking out.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I highly recommend Nicolas from CenoteXperience They are a small op, just Nico and his brother Martin. They are great guys and excellent dive guides. I have been diving with them for the past 5 years and wouldn't dive with anyone else.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I doubt that Cenote diving is appropriate for a brand new diver, or a relatively inexperienced diver who is not completely confident in his basic skills. After all, while not cave diving (or at least it is not supposed to be), it is still cavern diving, with a hard surface overhead during extended parts of the dive. This means that in the event of a panic attack, or an equipment failure, going direct to the surface is not an option. I think I had nearly 150 dives under my belt before I went into a Cenote, and I was still a little nervous about the hard overhead environment. And while I guess I understand the appeal of Cenotes to some, I personally found them barren and boring - I'd much rather spend my time underwater looking at the amazing life on a coral reef than staring at dead limestone formations. But to each his own.

 

[Dave_lucas]

Sounds like there are plenty of choices but I will add another one.

Blue life (Frank is here on SB)

They took safety seriously and did a great job when we did our referral dives for OW while in Playa I feel that we received the same quality or better training than we would have received at the local shop we did the classroom portion with and they are a quality shop.

We did one boat dive off playa (Jardines & mochee) and one person in our party found out they are really sensitive to motion sickness so we finished up our remaining dives in Cenotes and we never went in an overhead environment.

Casa Cenote and ??? It was a real cool experience getting to experience diving off the boat and in the Cenote

We liked our instructor so much we took him out to Cozumel with us for a day (Carlos Cortez).

We had a bunch of different options of places to go and they even picked us up at our hotel for less that a cab would have cost. I kind of wish we had done one of our dives in Akumal as suggested by Frank but will save that for another time.

I would agree that the coral is better in COZ but playa can be a fun place to get wet.


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[NYCNaiad]

jfyi: You can stay in Playa and take the ferry early morning to Cozumel (or vice versa) asking the dive shop to pick you up at the pier. I did that daily for a week when I attended a wedding and wanted to spend my nights with the wedding party in Playa, but do some diving in Cozumel. The ferry ride is around 45 minutes so it's not bad at all.

 

[Riko Lopez]

HI Juggler, If you are looking for a place with an instructor with 15 years in the dive industry, who knows exactly what are your needs as diver, and knows how to give a serious but fun Open water course for your friend....i may recommend to visit my Dive Shop: Risas Diving. Risas Diving Netherlands | Duiken in Playa del Carmen met Risas Diving