We are staying at the Vidanta Grand Mayan Riviera Maya for a week in November and plan to dive one day at Cozumel. Would like to have the day be as stress free as possible and time efficient as we have kids we will be leaving back at the hotel with grandparents. Wondering if there are any dive operations that leave direct from the Grand Mayan or nearby walking distance? I found a few dive operations that leave Playa Del Carmen on a speedboat so you don't have to take the ferry. Are there any disadvantages to taking the speedboat direct instead of taking the ferry and going on a full day dive? Are all the same dive sites reachable with no limitations on the amount of time diving? Anyone have experience with a specific dive operation that offers this? Or places to avoid? Prefer a small group or small guide to client ratio and don't mind paying a little extra to have a dedicated guide. Thanks in advance for the advice!
Cozumel dive from Grand Mayan direct?
- Thread starter Kzlucas
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jonhall
Contributor
The Grand Mayan is a nice resort. I'll be going again next Feb/Mar. The resort does have it's own dive op -never dove with them, but I think they just go directly out from their beach - nothing very complicated and I can't imagine, IMO, there's much to see as I have done some diving at a few sites along this part of the coast.
Regarding Cozumel (based on my knowledge from a few years ago): The closest dive op is Dressel Divers located at the Iberostar Paraiso Beach Resort. They do pick up and drop off - you have to be out front of the Grand Mayan (as you would for any other excursion picking you up.) You could also walk along the beach to the Iberostar - about 15 minutes - but there are a couple of spots where the beach narrows mainly to iron shore and the water makes it a little slippery. I did a package with Dressel, to which I added a day to Cozumel. Once you get to their shop at the Iberostar Paraiso, they provide the transportation to Playa Del Carmen and back, the ferry ticket to Coz and back, transportation to their dive shop at Cozumel Iberostar (we were picked up at the ferry pier by a Dressel boat and taken to the Iberostar) and back to ferry, a day pass so we could eat/drink while we where there (which was about 15 minutes before going out on the dive boat and about 15 minutes after our dives), and of course 2 dives. We did the surface interval on the boat. The positives were that every aspect of the day was covered, someone was with us all along the way and everything progressed without any delays. The negative was that you had to carry your own gear all along the way - the drop off point in PDC was a longish walk to the ferry, likewise when getting back from Cozumel. You may have to book/pay ahead online. At one time, I had a WhatsApp number for the Dressel at Iberostar Paraiso, but can't find it - sorry.
There are other ops in PDC that do a day trip to Coz. I believe different ops have different ways of offering the Coz dives - most involve the ferry over and back (possibly with you taking care of that transportation) and a few have their speedboat going directly across - I know what the ferry is like going across and I've been on smaller speedboats in choppy water - not saying bigger is better but might be something to consider.
One other option I'll throw out. I have also caught a taxi out front of the Grand Mayan for a 10-15 minute ride to Puerto Morelos (toward Cancun.) There are some nice dive sites there. Of course the negative is the cost of a taxi.
Regarding Cozumel (based on my knowledge from a few years ago): The closest dive op is Dressel Divers located at the Iberostar Paraiso Beach Resort. They do pick up and drop off - you have to be out front of the Grand Mayan (as you would for any other excursion picking you up.) You could also walk along the beach to the Iberostar - about 15 minutes - but there are a couple of spots where the beach narrows mainly to iron shore and the water makes it a little slippery. I did a package with Dressel, to which I added a day to Cozumel. Once you get to their shop at the Iberostar Paraiso, they provide the transportation to Playa Del Carmen and back, the ferry ticket to Coz and back, transportation to their dive shop at Cozumel Iberostar (we were picked up at the ferry pier by a Dressel boat and taken to the Iberostar) and back to ferry, a day pass so we could eat/drink while we where there (which was about 15 minutes before going out on the dive boat and about 15 minutes after our dives), and of course 2 dives. We did the surface interval on the boat. The positives were that every aspect of the day was covered, someone was with us all along the way and everything progressed without any delays. The negative was that you had to carry your own gear all along the way - the drop off point in PDC was a longish walk to the ferry, likewise when getting back from Cozumel. You may have to book/pay ahead online. At one time, I had a WhatsApp number for the Dressel at Iberostar Paraiso, but can't find it - sorry.
There are other ops in PDC that do a day trip to Coz. I believe different ops have different ways of offering the Coz dives - most involve the ferry over and back (possibly with you taking care of that transportation) and a few have their speedboat going directly across - I know what the ferry is like going across and I've been on smaller speedboats in choppy water - not saying bigger is better but might be something to consider.
One other option I'll throw out. I have also caught a taxi out front of the Grand Mayan for a 10-15 minute ride to Puerto Morelos (toward Cancun.) There are some nice dive sites there. Of course the negative is the cost of a taxi.
Thank you for the reply!
I will look into the Dressel. Maybe scope out the beach walk the day before to determine whether or not to take the taxi. I haven't been back to the Riviera Maya in quite a few years. We've been going to the Nuevo Vallarta property the last few years. Getting out of the Vidanta resort areas for a taxi isn't bad but a little bit of a PIA and always seems to take more time than it should. A walk in the morning sounds much more enjoyable. We will be renting so won't have to schlep a bunch a gear around.
I generally do okay on the ocean but my wife can tend to get motion sick. Definitely something to consider on the speed boat vs ferry option. Do you happen to recall about what time you got back to the Grand Mayan after your excursion?
I have briefly looked at the Puerto Morelos diving. Seems like the general consensus is that Cozumel is more spectacular than Puerto Morelos? As much as we would like a stress free and time efficient day, with only one day to go under water, we still want to prioritize getting to the best dive sites.
jonhall
Contributor
Yes, if you have a room deep inside the property, it is a hike to get to the street out front!
Don't remember the time, but know it was late afternoon. No matter how you go about getting to Cozumel, you can count on a ~30 minute ride to Playa Del Carmen. One ferry line leaves every hour on the hour and the other every hour and a half (same on the Cozumel side), so the idea is to time it so you don't have to wait long once you get to the ferry. The ride across is 1 hour. To the Iberostar Cozumel, is another ~30 taxi ride (although Dressel had a boat waiting and we took a slow boat ride to their resort - still about 30 minutes.) Since our first dive was around 1:00 pm and counting all of the travel time, including Dressel getting us back to the Grand Mayan, I can't imagine that we got back to the resort before 7 pm. It is a longer day with Dressel, but again they have the timing of everything down and all transportation is included in the price.
Just guessing that taking a taxi on your own to a PDC dive op that leaves directly to Cozumel on their own boat, say around 9 am, will get you back to PDC by 2 or 2:30. Could be back to the Grand Mayan by 3 or so. The taxi fare is another consideration if cost is a factor.
Brodydog
Contributor
You’d have to get yourself to their shop in Playa Del Carmen but then it’s their boat directly to the dive sites with Tank-Ha. I do think the small boat ride would be a whole lot rougher than the ferry though.
tankha.com
Cozumel Direct » Tank-Ha Dive Center
Tank-Ha offers the best way to dive in the Cozumel Marine Park using a direct boat straight from Playa del Carmen. The stunning reefs and famous walls are now easy to access directly from Playa del Carmen. This means you can easily complete two outstanding dives before getting back to Playa del...
tankha.com
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