Coz and Cenotes: Advice please!

[bluewatertoy]

Depending on how long you plan on being in Mexico will be the deciding factor. I was in Cozumel from Jan 5-19 and completed my Cavern Cert with Dennis from Diablo Divers. His instruction is second to none. Definately worth the effort, some of my most rewarding training to date. We ended up doing 7 Cavern Dives at 3 different sites. Taking the 8am ferry crossing every morning for the 3 days is a little tiring, but well worth the effort if you are planning on doing a lot of diving in Coz. My wife and I flew into Cancun landing at 12:15PM cleared customs, took the ADO bus to Playa Del Carmen, caught the 3PM ferry and Cervesas by 4. In my opinion flying directly to Cozumel is irrelevant. Enjoy your trip.
Kelly

 

[halocline]

I'd also recommend German with Yucatech for cavern training.

 

[Christi]

• I'm diving with Aqua Safari and Hotel Cozumel. Would they be able to set up a trip to the Cenotes for me?
• What are the best cenotes to visit?
• What are the ones I should avoid?
• How many days should I plan for the cenote portion of my trip?
• I'd also like to get my cavern cert, who would you recommend?
• Is it better to fly into/out of Cancun, or should I take the ferry and fly into/out of Coz? I don't mind schlepping gear.

I will second all of the votes for Dennis Weeks www.DiabloDivers.com and German Yanez of Yucatech Expeditions http://www.yucatech.net/specialtycavecourse.htm

German is an icon in the Cave/Technical world down here and has played a huge role in the exploration and mapping of several cave systems both here on the island and on the mainland. He stays very booked up though, so you definitely need to contact him in advance.

Dennis is also very, very good and is based on the mainland. Dennis is a super nice guy and a great instructor. I've never had a complaint from anyone I've set up with him. Advance reservations are alo needed with Dennis.

There's no special reason I use Dennis over German....both are very well respected and I can't say enough positive about either of them. Either of them are a great choice for just doing the cavern dives and/or the cavern course.

For your first cenote dives, I recommned Dos Ojos. It's the easiest entry/exit and IMO one of the prettiest. It will really be up to your cave guide to determine which he thinks is best for you after he talks to you.

The ferry across is more like 35 to 45 minutes, not 25 minutes as someone suggested above....not that it matters that much in your case, but it makes a difference for people planning around a bus schedule, etc.

AS far as how mnay days you want to plan for the cenotes, it depends on how many you want to do. You could literally spend an entire week diving different cenotes if you wanted to. So that's really a personal choice, but one day is good for 2 to 3 cenote dives.

If you plan on boat diving in Cozumel, then I would fly in and out of Cozumel unless you are saving a bunch by flying into Cancun. The cenotes that are in Cozumel are for full cave divers. However, taking the ferry over to dive cenotes is easier than taking the ferry over to Coz to meet the morning boat departures. Again, thats' a personal thing.

 

[DandyDon]

Dos Ojos...! Two Eyes, I think. I totally forgot the name of the one we did until Christi mentioned it. (slap forehead) Yeah, easy enough and lovely. Gear table and benches outside the entrance, nice open entrance with ladder, poor quality pics on my album. :blush: Hope to learn to use a camera someday.

Local porters met our van to move our gear to and from the ferries - our guide suggested $5 for the three of us, and we had to take our own weights. I slept thru both crossings, so I guess they were smooth.

 

[RLarsen]

Cenotes diving is a great experience and I enjoyed Dos Ojos, The Bat Cave and others.
My reaction is that there is more overhead environment than I expected and those dives should not be done casually. Divers doing caves, caverns and wrecks need the appropriate training, experience and expectation.
During my cenotes dives, my buddy and I were lead by an unusual character ( DM ) named Monstro ( Monster ). Short on personality, and he refused to be photographed.
The dives were pretty damn cool.
Rex

 

[DandyDon]

The Bat Cave! TY for another memory jog! Yeah, we swam from Dos Ojos to there, saw a few of the rodents huddled in one spot of the ceiling. Our DM illuminated them just briefly, didn't want to disturb them.

We'd requested the Cenotes trip in advance, and Matt from Blue Angle made a point of diving the reefs with the three of us the day before - our pre trip check-out, I suppose. Once in the dive, the environment gave strong encouragement to follow the leader very closely. Disorientation could be immediate if one lost the line and the group, and I'm sure Matt was watching our lights closely.

 

[scubawife]

I will second all of the votes for Dennis Weeks www.DiabloDivers.com and German Yanez of Yucatech Expeditions http://www.yucatech.net/specialtycavecourse.htm

For your first cenote dives, I recommned Dos Ojos. It's the easiest entry/exit and IMO one of the prettiest. It will really be up to your cave guide to determine which he thinks is best for you after he talks to you.

The ferry across is more like 35 to 45 minutes, not 25 minutes as someone suggested above....not that it matters that much in your case, but it makes a difference for people planning around a bus schedule, etc.

In addition to my Cozumel trips, I go to Akumal a couple times a year and while there, we always do a day or two of cenotes. For easy entry I don't think you can get any easier then Carwash. It is literally a few feet from gearing up behind the truck to jumping in. There are no hills or stairs to deal with. Carwash is a very nice dive too, but it is a little more challenging then Dos Ojos and Bat Cave. Dos Ojos and Bat Cave seem to be the most popular. Dos Ojos was featured in the IMAX Amazing Caves, it's spacious, and since Dos Ojos and Bat Cave are at the same site it's easy to take divers for a 2 tank trip. The couple times I've been there it's been a full parking lot and we've passed at least 2 groups in the cavern. At other cenotes we've seen 1 group at most and usually they are starting or ending their dive. I also feel a little short changed when I've done Dos Ojos and Bat Cave. Bat Cave is barely 30 min @28-30 ft. On an AL80 I've ended Bat Cave with 2000psi. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun dive, but for my time and dollars I'd like to use more then 1000psi and 30 minutes. The 30min included time spent surfacing in the Bat Cave and swimming around the entrance at the end of the dive. Actual time diving the cavern is about 25 min.

I have dived with both Dennis and German and wouldn't hesitate to use or recommend either of them again. If I was staying on Cozumel and wanted to do a cavern cert and dive the mainland cenotes I would get in touch with German and do it all with him. He's on the island so you won't have to travel for the land based portion of your course. He will do the dives with you either on the island or the mainland, whichever you want. If you want the mainland then you'll be traveling to/from with him and it's extra time to talk about the caves and go over anything you want to review.

If you just want to do a day of cenote dives as part of your vacation then Dennis would be my first choice.

 

[Harro10]

Another cenote to consider is Temple of Doom. It is an excellent dive and the step off drop into the cenote is a hoot.
After you gain some experience ask your instuctor about diving the Angelita cenote. It is further south but it is a very unusual dive. You dive through a sulfur cloud contained by a halocline and surrounded on top by clear fresh water and on the bottom by clear salt water.
Thanks DD

 

[DandyDon]

Temple of Dooom - (Cenote Esqueleto): http://www.geocities.com/cavedivingx2/TempleofDoom.html

300 yard hike, 20 ft giant stride, then climb back up 20 ft. Whooppeee...!

 

[ggunn]

If you just want to do a day of cenote dives as part of your vacation then Dennis would be my first choice.

Mine would be Mateo at Blue Angel. I don't know Dennis but I have dived Dos Ojos with Mateo, and he is great. He is an extremely experienced cave diver; he worked on the National Geographic project that mapped the caves under and around Tulum.