Bahia Principe Dive Shop Tulum

[sharknut]

hi, i realize this thread is bit old but me and a couple freinds are staying at the tulum resort and i was just wondering how far out the reef is from the beach? is it within swimming distance, thanks

 

[vancouverdiver]

I dove BP back in 2006, so this info is a bit dated. If you are an experienced diver, you might find the reef rather boring, I didn't see much at all. However, it is still too far to swim to from shore. I also found the DM rather unattentive and if you are a beginner diver, that might be an issue. On the other hand, I did a bunch of cenote dives with them and the DM that does the cenotes was excellent. It was also very convenient to dive through the shop.

 

[Mark Derail]

Good Day
I stayed at the Bran Bahia Akumal /Tulum. I learned to dive in a variety of pools over the last few years. I was scared to death to actually dive in the ocean. Jeff (the instructor) taught me and went with me on my first dive in the ocean and to Manatee cenote. He was great. His brother Matt (instructor) Santiago (instructor as well as the manager and the owner were all wonderful. I did the certification course (1st llevel) and will go back in February to complete the second level. They were all really nice people, very attentitive and very safe. You will have agood time if you go there. I actually spent some time with Christian and Santiago and taught boxing. They gave me a disk of my diving and the owner gave me a dive shop hat. GO HERE AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY YOU DID.
Al

February 2011 - my girlfriend and I did our PADI Open Water referrals at this resort. We brought our own BCDs, wetsuits 3/5 mils and fins.

Overall I'd rate it a 4/5, when considering it's MEXICO !!! that pretty darn high rating. Also, remember to tip *properly*.
The manager gave us a dedicated lockbox for storing our gear all week long.

We also did Cenotes (beginner, Dos Ojos) and a 2-tank deep & shallow in Cozumel, off the "wall". As well as boat-to-dive trips, into Paradise Reef. The Cenotes dives were awesome, and in the local reefs we saw plenty of manta rays and turtles.

 

[Mark Derail]

hi, i realize this thread is bit old but me and a couple freinds are staying at the tulum resort and i was just wondering how far out the reef is from the beach? is it within swimming distance, thanks

The only reefs that you can swim to, are cordoned off. Off limits to give them a chance to grow. We always took a boat ride out to dive at 50+ feet, perhaps a mile or more out.

When I was in Puerto Rico in 2004, many places were shore dives.

Something to consider when going to Mexico - exchanging GEAR for dives. The DM's and instructors have to buy their own gear, usually at a disadvantage.

So bringing a spare full-body high quality wet suit, as an exchange, that might cost you 200$. However costs in Mexico 30-50% more.

I plan on going back to this resort in 3yrs or so, I will contact the manager at Scuba Quatic and work out a deal. Gear in exchange for boat trips & tanks.

 

[scuba art]

Jay, hello welcome to the wonderful world of diving. I'm also staying at this property in late Jan.(the newer G.B.P. Sian Ka'an part) the same shared beach/dive outfit, anyway getting your open water cert. should be done with a outfit more suited to personal attention, typically dive outfits (out of hotels) tend to be full of resort course first timers with very little pool instruction . They rarely have enough dive guides for these groups that the boats take out(the rule is 1 instructor for every 4 divers) I've seen 20 divers on a boat where only 3 or 4 were real divers.. the rest are people who only an hour before were in a "shallow" swimming pool with a regulator in their mouth for the first "ever".... now, 2 instructors are babysitting 16 people that dont even know how to clear their mask let alone any real issues.. you know, the skills you've been learning for weeks..so how are you gonna do your skills with that going on all around you. Even if they send a instructor just for you he'll still be sidetracked with others...so my advise" stay away". I got my open water cert in paal Mul with " DIVEMEX" They were very relaxed and very one on one but thats too far to go everyday. I dive with "DiveXplor" now-a-days, no question the best "period" they are "dive guides' just you or your group. They pick you up from your hotel and drop you off, if you wanna know how to get weighted properly and really learn to do safety stops( its alot harder than it looks in the open ocean) they will teach you how to read your computer also how to breath correctly and to have better trim in the water. A big issue getting certified while on vacation is "time", if the weather is bad they dont dive and the day is lost and it really screws up the schedule and they get backed up...thats no good , If the weather is bad and your with DiveXplor they just go to one of the many cenotes in the area and you'll do your skills here, no lost time! The resort dive out-fit cant do last minute cenotes because they farm this out to off property dive guides. If you really want to learn what takes most divers many trips to figure out you'll call Geraldo & Anna at DiveXplor I promise you ...you wont regret it. The hotels gives them alot of grief about picking up guest(BECAUSE THE HOTEL DOSENT GET ITS SHARE) so sometimes you gotta meet them outside of the main gate of your resort(PICK-UPS are un-heard of in diving) so its a real special thing. They will even take along members of your family if you want" no-charge" these are real people who live here, they are warm and will become your dive freinds. Look them up on tripadvisor and see what other say about them, I wish I could dive more with my original open water instructor as they are like your father in some weird way but he's not as good as Geraldo ...Tell them Bobby and Vicki from chicago told ya...have fun B.V. just goggle DiveXplor they are out of Playa Del Carmen.

 

[Pez de Diablo]

Another option in the Akumal/BAhia Principe area are the dive shops in Akumal which is only 5 min by taxi from the resort.

I personally use Akumal Dive Shop and really like the layout of the shop and the staff. When I do an open water course, open water referal or tech training and need a boat, they are the people I go to.

Akumal Dive Center is located a couple hundered meters south of the Dive shop and they seem very nice as well. At the Akumal dive Center you can find Natalie and Ivan who work out of the shop. They do their own thing and hire space on the boats. Natalie is an instructor from Canada and we did our instructor course together, her husband Ivan is also an instructor. If you book with them you are going to get excellent training and personal service while located only 5 minutes from your resort. You can find a link to their site at: Dive With Natalie & Ivan, Akumal, Riviera Maya, Mexico PADI MSDT Master SCUBA Diver Trainers

I hope this helps,

Dennis

 

[lthomas132]

We stayed there last year & I went to the dive shop to check it out. Totally unfriendly, uncaring people. Plus their prices are much higher than off site. Most of the dive shops close to the hotel will pick you up at the lobby. I went with Bahia Divers - www.bahiadivers.com, both cenote & reef diving, great people, small dive shop on a private beach

 

[Mark Derail]

Ya I also found at first, 35$ per dive - then I considered. A boat trip, two tanks for 70$. I ended up buying in bulk, a 10-pack, which brought the price down some 30%.

I actually paid MORE money for a 2-dive boat trip to Molokini & Lanai (two separate trips) when I was in Maui, HI (Oct 2011).

So it's all relative. I liked the staff, they were friendly enough - I suspect it had EVERYTHING to do with my NOT being cheap - I bought 10-dive packs for the 3 of us (30 dives) on top of the PADI OW referrals to become certified, and tipped 15%.

(Edit)
BTW - I'm not accusing anyone here of being cheap - it's just something I noticed, REALLy noticed, if you want good service in all-inclusives, you have to tip bigtime. I dropped about 3k$ in diving at this resort and tipped in the 400$+ range.
For 30 dives and 2 referrals. Referrals where 450$ each, included full gear, no price redux when you have your own gear.

We were given lockers for the week - so we didn't have to carry all our gear every day, just a nice walk to the beach.​

So when the manager takes the time to welcome you personally and know you by your first names, I guess the rest of the staff pick up on that.

IOW - expect to pay more in a all-inclusive resort - and expect to pay less where there is competition if you stay at a regular inn, in either Cancun, PDC, Cozumel or Tulum. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Haraga]

My boy and I have been there a couple of times diving. I cannot say enough about Carlos Langner. Safe and accommodating. Wonderful experience. Keep an eye on billing. The woman taking the money doesn't speak English well and there can be some confusion.

 

[Pegger]

I found this older thread and we are going to the Bahia Principe Tulum in July and was wondering if anyone had any current info. of any of the dive operators close to the resort

Regards,
Steve