Cancun or Cozumel?

[annlaur]

I haven't dove the cenotes but have yet to meet any diver who's done it and didn't love the experience. Many dive ops on the island can make trip arrangements for you, or you could go on your own with your family to the ones that combine diving/snorkeling : take the ferry in the morning, rent a car, stop at a cenote to dive while your wife and kid snorkel, then visit either the ruins of Coba or Tulum, spend time on the beach, snorkel with turtles in Akumal or go shopping in Playa del Carmen…

The place with the water structures in town that Jackie is referring to is MargaritaVille.

 

[catone]

Great info, thank you all for your help!

 

[driftwood]

Thank you all for your suggestions!
My wife made all my tormenting decision making process very easy saying that we'll go wherever the best diving is, so we decided to go to Cozumel. She chose the Palace, seems like a great place to relax while I'm gone diving. I wish we had known it was that easy to fly into Cancun and then go to Cozumel, we would've saved some good money on airfare
As far as diving goes, is there a "must see" or "must do" dive? Should I even try to dive the cenotes?

Coz has the reefs as it's claim to fame and the mainland has the cenotes. Both are world class dives and worth the time and effort. For my money, I pass on the reef diving off the mainland. If you have better than decent buoyancy control give the cenotes a shot. You should note that the cenotes are a lot colder than the ocean dives. I like a 5mm for the cenotes.

BTW, I do know one dive who can't stand the cenotes. The overhead just creeps my wife out.

 

[beth_castroll]

I have dove in all 3 locations.
Without a doubt Cozumel has the best diving but if I had non divers in my party I'd go to Playa del Carmen.
There are plenty of nice dives with short boat rides to the reef.
You can hit the cenotes and bring the non-divers with you so they can snorkle while you dive.
Short trip to Tulum Ruins.
Nice white sand beaches in town.
Better food.

With that said we will be in PDC Jan 13-16 with the husband's company at some all-inclusive which I am not a fan of and might get a dive or 2 in before we begin our REAL dive trip on the 16th in Cozumel where we hope to get 10+ dives and our AOW in before the 23rd.

 

[mikepeluso]

here is a list of cozumel reefs, what you should expect to see at each of them and the depth/skill level for them.
Cozumel Insider - Cozumel Dive Site Map - Reef Map - Condition Reports

 

[kwinter]

Definitely do a cenote dive. They're on the mainland. Pack everyone up early and take the ferry over to PDC. Leave the wife and kids to go shopping or any if the other activities there while you do your cenote dive. You can either arrange it with your dive op in Coz or you can make arrangements with a shop in PDC to pick you up and go from there. Check out the shops that specialize in cave diving. They are usually a better overall experience even if they are a few bucks more. It will probably still be less expensive than doing it through your Coz dive shop. The ferry is cheap.

 

[Jackie]

The palace actually provides trips to the mainland one or twice a week to their other resorts. When you check in they will tell you what day it is. The wife and child can do that and you can do the cenote.
this way there is no charge for the ferry etc. at least it all used to be included.
the only downside to the Palace is that you get the timeshare pitch. But you will get this anyhow no matter where you are. just keep saying no.

 

[catone]

Is it possible to book my dives once there or should I reserve in advance?

 

[Mike]

You should reserve in advance.

I'd skip the cenote dives, been there, done that. Mostly just diving in a cave like setting, boring to me. Having a limited amount of dive time on your vacation I would maximize it with diving in Cozumel, you'll still only get a taste of it, no need to dilute it even more with an entire day spent on the logistics of getting back to the mainland and driving to the remote cenote locations. Cozumel has plenty to offer and if you get the bug to dive cenotes, I'd save them for a time when you're already on the mainland.

 

[Martina Brandl]

I would definitely recommend Playa del Carmen to you. It's a beautiful place and a excellent starting point for many attractions here at the riviera maya, not only for diving. but especially for diving it's great, because you can dive right here at the reefs or go to cozumel,which is really beautiful and not far away and also your kids can snorkel there and make their experiences under the water. but the most special thing here in playa del carmen is also diving in the cenotes. i think you have to try that! it's beautiful and completely different. if the sun shines its like a lightshow under water and the stalagmites and stalactites are really impressing. and you can also snorkel in cents which is a good option for the rest of the family. So truly come to playa del carmen. beautiful beach, restaurants and perfect destination to visit akumal, tulum (mayan ruins) or the great parks like xcaret or xel-ha which are perfect for families to discover the mexican nature and also culture! At the moment i work at a diving base called diversity diving here in playa del carmen. i can only recommend that one to you. You can visit our homepage Playa del Carmen Scuba Diving | Diversity Diving in Playa del Carmen, Mexico to get more information about it. We offer many packages which include diving in cents and cozumel an also here in playa. so just have a look at it. i"m new here from germany but the people here are fun and the most important issue is to reach that the client has fun and feels safe! so i think it would be a nice place for you to go with your family, because we also offer snorkeling tours!