Best Yucatan Diving?

[weboflies]

YUcatan I mean. How embarrassing...

Going to be on the Yucatan in June, and planning to do some diving. Is Cozumel the tops, or are there other dives around the area I should not miss? I was planning to do all my diving in Cozumel, but if if anyone has a better plan to suggest, please do.

Also, I am an AOW diver. Are there any cenotes I can dive without my Cave Diving cert?

 

[Saagax]

Hi,

Most part of the Yucatan peninsula on the Caribbean side has cenotes, I know of a couple that you can dive without previous experience.

Other than Cozumel you can dive Plava del Carmen, Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Holbox and I'm sure there are some other places that I don't know about.




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[diversteve]

less embarrassing now...

 

[TSandM]

Cozumel has huge walls and, at least when I dove there, the best viz I've ever seen. But the reefs off Puerto Aventuras are very lush and colorful as well.

If your primary purpose is open water diving, I'd say Cozumel is it. But I know at least some of the operators there can arrange a day of cenote tours on the mainland. They are commonly done for people without cave certifications. My personal opinion is that one ought to be a reasonably experiences open water diver, with a sense of how you react if you have any kind of problem, and with good buoyancy control and reasonable trim, before doing the tours. But they'll take anybody. Just make sure your guide follows the rules: No more than four clients to a guide; guide with a Full Cave and at least OW divemaster cert; guide in full cave gear; EVERYBODY has his own light, and you don't leave the gold line.

 

[Wineaux]

I just got back from Playa del Carmen Sunday night. It was beautiful weather there, you are going to love it!

I didn't do any Cozumel dive as I was staying in Playacar and I thought that Cozumel had stronger current drift dives but I did one at a site called Tortugas that had a fast current and it was awesome. Felt like I was flying and we saw a bunch of turtles. Now I can't wait to go to Cozumel and dive the sites over there!

The best dive, hands down though, was the Cenote dive. Wow. I'm still blown away by how beautiful it was. We did Dos Ojos which I highly recommend. Lots of formations, 'cave like' areas where you're in darkness and areas you go through where the light shines in. So beautiful. Go in the morning before it gets too packed with afternoon divers. We only saw divers in other sections, never ended up crowded or grouped up. I'm AOW with about 30 dives, my buddy was certified many years ago and hadn't dived in almost 20 years. We did our Playa del Carmen dives first (4 day, 1 night) to get ourselves settled and comfortable and did the cenote last. If you have good trim and buoyancy control you'll be fine in the Cenote. There we no 'closed in' areas at Dos Ojos, it was very open (for being in an underwater cavern). I'm hooked and cannot wait to go back and do another one!

Have a great trip!

ETA to agree with TS&M (who I have learned everyone should pretty much do as she says) about going with a reputable guide, etc. We were lucky that it was just me, buddy and guide, as well as it wasn't very busy.... even through we saw a lot of divers above ground, we only saw lights below and only passed a couple divers going the other direction once.

 

[Blue Life]

Hi W!

I am so glad you will be visiting this amazing paradise and that you are interested in our beautiful underwater world. We have amazing and very unique cenotes in this area. I would love to help you plan for your diving trip. Please let me know what are you interested in and I will get a schedule together for you.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Karla

 

[gopbroek]

If you want to be adventurous, check out Xcalak and XTC dive center. They have some great local dive sites, in particular LA Poza (hang out in a ball of 300-500 Tarpon) and LA Chimminea.It is about a 4 hour drive south Playa (very end of Mexico) on good roads.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Akumal. And yest, they have guided cenotes dives you can do there safely.
DIvemasterDennis

 

[Reidkon]

Definitely Akumal! We love diving there but nothing beats Cozumel for diving in Mexico. There are more activities on the mainland and Cozumel diving is more expensive.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Cozumel (great) will probably be the main event but depending on how long you stay you can venture forth on day trips and cenote dive, visit amazing Mayan temples or swim with whale sharks. I really liked the cenotes and temples ( I did Coba Tulum and Chitzen Itza) but I come back for Cozumel diving. Great dining on Cozumel too...nightlife only so so....have to bring your party with you. You could easily do two weeks in Cozumel or one week on the island and one based elsewhere.

I used Aldora Divers on my last trip March 2014 and liked them and the bigger tanks. Nitrox came in handy...btw.

Tons of good recommendations on Coz and Mexico on scuba board.