Is diving too difficult in Cancun for a newly certified diver? I am referring to the currents, choppy water and swells. In that aspect, how does it compare to Coz. I am trying to plan a vacation for new divers and non divers where I can get good value for the money. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
diving in Cancun
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Unless the Party Factor figures very heavily in your plans, I think you'd get more bang for your buck, diving and otherwise, by going to Cozumel instead of Cancun.
There are more dive sites at Cozumel than along any similarly sized place along the mainland, and they are, on average, much better. As to choppiness, since the Coz dive sites are mostly in the lee of the island, the prevailing swells are shielded from most of them; such is not the case for dive sites along the mainland coast. From what I've heard, the current is pretty much the same at both spots. New divers do just fine diving Cozumel; I see lots of them when I'm there. I dove Coz as a novice, myself.
And you can easily find places on Cozumel to listen to loud Gringo music and drink tequila until horizontal and unconscious (Fat Tuesday's, Carlos n' Charlie's, Neptuno, etc.), too, if that's one of the things your group wants; they are just not as prolific there as in Cancun.
bwcooper
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We just got back from Cancun last night and had a wonderful time. My son and I had just gotten certified before we left and my other son and wife do not yet scuba, so we, too, were interested in dives for beginners that snorkelers could enjoy as well.
We dove both the Cenotes and Manchones (near Isla Mujeres) and everyone seemed to enjoy both dives immensely. We used Scuba Cancun and they did an excellent job working to meet our requirements.
On our first dive, my son and I had a Divemaster all to ourselves, which was really awesome. He helped us get properly buoyant and was very good at finding interesting aquatic life. The rest of the boat were all snorkeling and they too reported seeing a lot of fish (though they missed the turtle!)
On our second dive to Manchones, there were three other beginner divers who were doing their OWC dives. This wasn't as good since we had to occasionally wait around for them to do some of their requirements, but I really didn't mind too much as there was always plenty to look at on the reefs. We much preferred this over going out with a bunch of more experienced divers and/or being lost in the shuffle of a larger group.
As for the conditions, in general, the currents were fairly strong, though most of the diving outfits seem to use drift diving, where you just drift along with the current and then the boat comes and picks you up wherever you surface. The seas were calm--no one seemed to have any problems whatsoever with the swells or choppiness.
We dove both the Cenotes and Manchones (near Isla Mujeres) and everyone seemed to enjoy both dives immensely. We used Scuba Cancun and they did an excellent job working to meet our requirements.
On our first dive, my son and I had a Divemaster all to ourselves, which was really awesome. He helped us get properly buoyant and was very good at finding interesting aquatic life. The rest of the boat were all snorkeling and they too reported seeing a lot of fish (though they missed the turtle!)
On our second dive to Manchones, there were three other beginner divers who were doing their OWC dives. This wasn't as good since we had to occasionally wait around for them to do some of their requirements, but I really didn't mind too much as there was always plenty to look at on the reefs. We much preferred this over going out with a bunch of more experienced divers and/or being lost in the shuffle of a larger group.
As for the conditions, in general, the currents were fairly strong, though most of the diving outfits seem to use drift diving, where you just drift along with the current and then the boat comes and picks you up wherever you surface. The seas were calm--no one seemed to have any problems whatsoever with the swells or choppiness.
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