Diving in Mexico Suggestions & Tips

[diversteve]

Or do the long drive and ferry over to Cozunel for a few says from Cancun.

The right time of year there's excellent big animal diving near Loreto so maybe split your time.

A bigger concern might be that some of that drive is thru drug-cartel controlled areas.

 

[DeputyDan]

Dive Aventuras Mexico scuba diving vacation packages Puerto Aventuras

When my LDS does a trip to this area they use this dive operator.
I have not personally used them - but I can say that I had made reservations with them and had to cancel and they did not give me a hard time about it. They probably didn't like it, but they handled it properly and if I ever go to that area I will definitely use them.

 

[SandyRobinson]

A trip to Cozumel would be worth your efforts - doubt you could go wrong with any operator. As someone else mentioned, take a taxi, ADO bus, or a shuttle (I like Canada Transfers) to Playa and then take the ferry to Coz.

For a cenote experience (and a smaller city), try Tulum. I recommend ProTec Tulum and their sister shop ProRec Tulum but I am biased towards them As in Coz, probably hard to go wrong there with other shops but do your homework on guides and their qualifications. A few miles/minutes north of Tulum is Casa Cenote which is a nice cenote, and across the road are boats that will take you on a couple minute ride to some reefs - not as good as Coz but still nice.

ProTec Tulum also has a sister operation in Playa del Carmen.

If you go to Tulum, lodging options are the tourist area (and higher prices) on the beach or a more local experience in town. FWIW, I prefer the in town restaurants and lodging options.

Look forward to your report.

 

[MalteseDiver]

Now you guys are making me too excited. Thanks for all your tips and advice. Can’t wait to report back in March!

 

[MalteseDiver]

Have any of you dived with Blue Life before?

 

[yle]

We're going to start off in Mexico City and I believe we're going to road trip towards the Gulf Side of things..

Sorry I'm not from the US so might not know the locations that well I was thinking Cancun

According to a quick google query:

Driving from Mexico City to Cancun: 1000 miles, about 30 hours driving time

Flying from Mexico City to Cancun: 800 miles, about 2.5 hours flying time

Looks like there are a handful of domestic airlines that fly MEX to CUN direct for around $90. It seems driving the route would be very "adventurous", to say the least.

As for dive ops in the Cancun-PDC-Tulum-Cozumel area, you really can't go wrong. They are generally competent and provide excellent service. If you check out Tripadvisor reviews for just about any dive op in the area, you'll typically find >95% positive comments.

 

[ibj40]

Dive Aventuras Mexico scuba diving vacation packages Puerto Aventuras

When my LDS does a trip to this area they use this dive operator.
I have not personally used them - but I can say that I had made reservations with them and had to cancel and they did not give me a hard time about it. They probably didn't like it, but they handled it properly and if I ever go to that area I will definitely use them.

I'll second Dive Aventuras and add that in addition to ocean dives, they also offer dive trips to the numerous cenotes that underlie the Riviera Maya.

Weve been diving with them for over a decade.

 

[MalteseDiver]

We are in fact catching a flight to Cancun. Looking at dive centres in Playa Del Carmen to be honest. At the moment, Blue Life has caught my eye

 

[dreamwrx]

In Playa Del Carmen, I've dove with Beyond Diving. They're a small outfit that don't have their own boat but they also don't do 1 guide for 6-8 people. The people that run the shop are tech divers and are very safe. You'll be in good hands with them if you are interested in the Cenotes.

 

[Esprise Me]

I dived with Tank-Ha in Playa and would recommend them, though honestly there's a dive shop on every block and they pretty much all have stellar reviews. So maybe just pick the one closest to your hotel?