WOODMAN
Contributor
Okay, here's my $.02 worth. You have two main themes running through this thread, as I see it. One, you want to find a good cheap place to finish your diving certification and get started on your diving adventures. Also, you have a fascination with the Mayan ruins and would like to explore further here. And all this on the cheap, of course.
Well, you have zeroed it down the the area around Cozumel, and rightly so. This stands to give you the most of what you are looking for. You could hardly find a better place to start your diving career, and operators who stand ready to finish your certification abound. We all have our favorites, so I will not recommend one in particular here, but I do know a few that stand out, IMHO. True, shore diving is pretty scarce, but there are a few places where you can make a stab at it. Boat diving is the order of the day, and seeing as how the place nearly always has some degree of current, it is sure nice to have that boat following you and waiting overhead when you come up. All boat dives are divemaster led, but this is especially appropriate for a new diver. Sure, there are some very deep areas with yawning coral canyons to drift over, but there are many more much shallower areas with incredible marine life and coral to dazzle you. Just tell them what you want and what you can do, and they WILL accommodate you. For more (MUCH more) information on this area, go down to the Cozumel forum here and look around and ask a few questions. You will find more than you ever wanted to know, and then some.
Now, as to your second obsession
D)- Mayan ruins... Tulum is certainly the most accessible from Cozumel, and there are any number of ways to get down there and look around. Dedicated tour buses, privately hired taxis or vans, public transport, etc, etc. But my favorite is to rent a cheap car and (apologies to Frank S.)- do it myyy wayyy! This way you can avoid the sponsored stops at the tourist traps that the tour buses always rook you into, and you can go see what you want to see. Of course, this means you have to do your homework and know where you are going, at least to some degree. Also, you can branch off from Tulum and go visit Coba if you like, which is a much bigger site and more accessible. Did I mention that most of those famous ruins at Tulum that everyone recognizes the pictures of are fenced off and unable to be approached closely?
Yup, you can't get close to the big stuff, and no-one seems to bother to tell you that until you find out for yourself. :mooner: Coba, on the other hand, will let you get up close to most of the ruins, and, at least the last time I was there, you can climb the main pyramid (incredible view from up there!). Now this may have changed, and if so someone here will no doubt tell us so, but I, at least, found the Coba ruins to be a heck of a lot more facinating than Tulum.
Again, visit the Mexican forums here for a wealth of information on these areas, and keep asking questions. Then screw up your courage and do it! Get on a plane and go! I promise you, you will never look back. Good luck- Woody
Well, you have zeroed it down the the area around Cozumel, and rightly so. This stands to give you the most of what you are looking for. You could hardly find a better place to start your diving career, and operators who stand ready to finish your certification abound. We all have our favorites, so I will not recommend one in particular here, but I do know a few that stand out, IMHO. True, shore diving is pretty scarce, but there are a few places where you can make a stab at it. Boat diving is the order of the day, and seeing as how the place nearly always has some degree of current, it is sure nice to have that boat following you and waiting overhead when you come up. All boat dives are divemaster led, but this is especially appropriate for a new diver. Sure, there are some very deep areas with yawning coral canyons to drift over, but there are many more much shallower areas with incredible marine life and coral to dazzle you. Just tell them what you want and what you can do, and they WILL accommodate you. For more (MUCH more) information on this area, go down to the Cozumel forum here and look around and ask a few questions. You will find more than you ever wanted to know, and then some. Now, as to your second obsession
D)- Mayan ruins... Tulum is certainly the most accessible from Cozumel, and there are any number of ways to get down there and look around. Dedicated tour buses, privately hired taxis or vans, public transport, etc, etc. But my favorite is to rent a cheap car and (apologies to Frank S.)- do it myyy wayyy! This way you can avoid the sponsored stops at the tourist traps that the tour buses always rook you into, and you can go see what you want to see. Of course, this means you have to do your homework and know where you are going, at least to some degree. Also, you can branch off from Tulum and go visit Coba if you like, which is a much bigger site and more accessible. Did I mention that most of those famous ruins at Tulum that everyone recognizes the pictures of are fenced off and unable to be approached closely? Yup, you can't get close to the big stuff, and no-one seems to bother to tell you that until you find out for yourself. :mooner: Coba, on the other hand, will let you get up close to most of the ruins, and, at least the last time I was there, you can climb the main pyramid (incredible view from up there!). Now this may have changed, and if so someone here will no doubt tell us so, but I, at least, found the Coba ruins to be a heck of a lot more facinating than Tulum. Again, visit the Mexican forums here for a wealth of information on these areas, and keep asking questions. Then screw up your courage and do it! Get on a plane and go! I promise you, you will never look back. Good luck- Woody
