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Dive Center is in Akumal Bay. From either Akumal Bay or Half Moon Bay (Akumal Dive Adventures in out of HMB) most sites are 5-10 minutes. There are a few sites we go to out of HMB that are a little further north.
The middle reef is what's been most effected. Snorkeling in Akumal Bay or Half Moon Bay is still decent and for shore snorkeling, it's still better then many Caribbean destinations.
My girlfriend and i stayed at the Bahia Principe in Spetember '08. We did the all-inclusive thing and got a great deal, so we were happy but we both agreed that we would never return. The resort is HUGE. From what we heard, it's the biggest or one of the biggest in the Carribean and Mexico. There are 3 parts to the resort and combined there are something like 4000 rooms. That is not an error, three zeros tacked on there. We stayed at the Coba section, the other two are the Akumal and the Tulum. These are just names of the different sections, they are not located in the corresponding towns. The resort is about a 5-10min drive south on the 307 from Akumal and about 30min to Playa del Carmen, close to 1.25-1.5hrs from Cancun, depending on traffic. If you stay there, i recommend the Akumal section as it is closer to the beach and yet quite nice. The Tulum section is also right by the beach but a little dated and needs some touching up. The Coba section is the newest and nicest but it is a good 10min walk to the beach. No ocean views here. There is a golfcart train that goes around the resort at all hours to get you to the restaurants, beach, spa, bars, etc. Reminds me of the scenes in Wall-E. This was the part i disliked most. It is simply too large and does not have an intimate feeling, however that being said; the food was good with plenty of selection, the rooms were huge, well appointed, spotless, beautiful bathrooms and the pools were lovely if you like pools.(i personally don't, but they were quite nice to look at, and teak patio loungers and tables all around, not plastic). The beach at the resort was beautiful. The resort has some pretty dead coral right out front of the beach, however good to don the mask and snorkel when not at real snorkel spots along the coast. Better than nothing i guess. There is also a dive op at the resort but much like at most all-incl. resorts, stay away from them. They're mostly for beginners and VERY expensive. Big ripoff. When i was there, i didn't see the boat go out once. I dove with Akumal Dive Center, which many have mentioned already. They have good rates, good DMs and good service. They will pick you up and drop you off from Bahia for only $5 extra per day. One of the divemasters will pick you up personally in his pickup,(Cheppo was our divemaster, nice guy) if the sea looks too rough to dive, they'll ask you if you want to go to the cenotes. Nice. My recommendation is to stay in Akumal if you dive in this area, we loved the town. Very small and very authentic, not touristy. Most days we were there, there were more locals at the beach than tourists. Some tourists might not like this however, but i thought it felt much more relaxing. There are a nice group of townhouse condos right at the waterfront that are beautiful. They're called "Las Casitas". This is, we agreed, where we would like to stay had we a second chance. I have some video of a couple of my dives, i'll try to post a link. By the way, if you like turtles, this area is great as there are tons of them right in the bay. The locals even know many of them by name as they have been in this area for many years.
. So what are the options in the area? I've dove Playa, I liked it. I'm going to hit Coz a couple days, but other than that....what other reefs and dive ops are worth the time?? Hows Puerto Moreles? Puerto Adventuras? South to Tulum area?Wow...glad I caught this thread. Im heading to Playa end of April, and was thinking of diving Akumal. Now....I'm thinking no
thanks for the great feedback Buceo! Thats good advice, maybe I should just do 2 Coz days. I noticed on another thread that Tank HA does Coz trips from Playa, but from their info it only looks like mondays are OB days, every other day requires a group of 6 or more. It's a bit more expensive than the ferry route, and if Im going all the way to coz Im thinking 3-4 tank full days. I'll see if I can get anymore info on Puerto Moreles. The drive time doesnt bother me at all, I always have a car down there so it's no biggie. Mahahaul might be an option to plan my next trip around...sounds great! As far as your ratio, I was thinking about the opposite...70-30% in favor of OW. I've never done the cenote's before...so, maybe that will be my first days dive. Might change my plans if I enjoy them so much. Thanks again for the feedback!!
