Diving the Riviera Maya -- Better Than Coz?

[Peter Guy]

I just returned from a 10 day trip to the Riviera Maya -- Puerto Aventuras (about 80 km south of Cancun). This was my 11th (?) trip to the area but the first one in which I led a group of 22 divers -- hard core cavers to very low dive number OW people. I think I can sum up the trip and diving by saying, we all had a very good time and most are trying to decide when they can return.

The group stayed at the Catalonia, Riviera Maya in Puerto Aventuras which is an all inclusive -- and all I can say is that we all were very pleased with the accommodations and the food. At the Catalonia you have a choice of a couple of buffets (which ranged from OK to very good) and several "theme" restaurants to which you get "x" number of tickets when you arrive (4 for a 6 night stay for example). The food at those ranged from good to very good.

If I take another group there, we will certainly stay at the Catalonia. The grounds, the staff, everything could not have been better.

I set up the trip with three packages -- non-diver, ocean diver and cavern class diver. Several of "us" were on the non-diver package which meant we were doing cave dives (not part of the package) while several spouses were purely "non-divers" and had a great time sunning by the pool, the beach and taking tours of the Mayan ruins.

The "ocean diver" package had three days of ocean diving with Dive Aventuras and two days of Cenote tours. The people in this group were generally low dive count divers. The last group of 5 people opted to take a three day Cavern Class in addition to the first day of ocean diving on the reefs off Puerto Aventuras.

A few observations:

a. The reef diving off Puerto Aventuras is very nice -- lots of good looking reef, not deep (60ish foot range and shallowing up) with very short boat runs from the marina to the dive sites.

b. Dive Aventuras did a very nice job of coordinating the stay at the Catalonia and doing the ocean diving. Although I did not do the Cenote tours through D.A., the next time I would. Nils and Mike run an excellent dive op and were very easy for this novice tour leader to work with.

c. Having dived off Coz a couple of times, it is my opinion that newer divers may well be better off diving on the mainland than on Coz because the dives are shallower (longer bottom times) and the currents are generally not as significant. And if you are coming with a non-diver, the schedule (done by 1 p.m. or so) give you a lot of time to spend hanging out.

All-in-all, a very successful dive trip.

 

[Carlos Danger]

I have enjoyed diving this area as well. I've had pretty good luck when it comes to encounters with larger animals, but would rate the diving in general as "ok", particularly when considering the quality of the reef systems compared to Coz. The variety, quality, and volume in Coz is on a different scale. That being said, I have really enjoyed my stays in the Riviera area. Playa is a lot of fun, plus the easy access to the Cenotes and Mayan cultural sites is a big plus. Topside is great; diving is so-so. Just my opinion.

Glad you guys had a good time. I would love to go back again sometime soon.

 

[Blue Life]

It sound like you had a great time Peter! Next time you are in the area check us out, maybe you take on the adventure of a cave training. We are a diving company that specializes in caver/cave dives and training along the Riviera Maya. At Blue Life, we have an impeccable safety and customer service record. If you want to see what our other customers have to say about us, please read their reviews on Tripadvisor –Blue Life - Playa del Carmen - Reviews of Blue Life - TripAdvisor.

It will be great diving with you!
Safe dives!

 

[ibj40]

I just returned from a 10 day trip to the Riviera Maya -- Puerto Aventuras (about 80 km south of Cancun). This was my 11th (?) trip to the area but the first one in which I led a group of 22 divers -- hard core cavers to very low dive number OW people. I think I can sum up the trip and diving by saying, we all had a very good time and most are trying to decide when they can return.

The group stayed at the Catalonia, Riviera Maya in Puerto Aventuras which is an all inclusive -- and all I can say is that we all were very pleased with the accommodations and the food. At the Catalonia you have a choice of a couple of buffets (which ranged from OK to very good) and several "theme" restaurants to which you get "x" number of tickets when you arrive (4 for a 6 night stay for example). The food at those ranged from good to very good.

If I take another group there, we will certainly stay at the Catalonia. The grounds, the staff, everything could not have been better.

I set up the trip with three packages -- non-diver, ocean diver and cavern class diver. Several of "us" were on the non-diver package which meant we were doing cave dives (not part of the package) while several spouses were purely "non-divers" and had a great time sunning by the pool, the beach and taking tours of the Mayan ruins.

The "ocean diver" package had three days of ocean diving with Dive Aventuras and two days of Cenote tours. The people in this group were generally low dive count divers. The last group of 5 people opted to take a three day Cavern Class in addition to the first day of ocean diving on the reefs off Puerto Aventuras.

A few observations:

a. The reef diving off Puerto Aventuras is very nice -- lots of good looking reef, not deep (60ish foot range and shallowing up) with very short boat runs from the marina to the dive sites.

b. Dive Aventuras did a very nice job of coordinating the stay at the Catalonia and doing the ocean diving. Although I did not do the Cenote tours through D.A., the next time I would. Nils and Mike run an excellent dive op and were very easy for this novice tour leader to work with.

c. Having dived off Coz a couple of times, it is my opinion that newer divers may well be better off diving on the mainland than on Coz because the dives are shallower (longer bottom times) and the currents are generally not as significant. And if you are coming with a non-diver, the schedule (done by 1 p.m. or so) give you a lot of time to spend hanging out.

All-in-all, a very successful dive trip.

We've been going to PA for six or seven years now, first trip (and I think third trip) we stayed at the Catalonia, and we really thought it was a good, all-around AI. Nothing spectacular, but appropriate for what we were there for, which was diving. Since the two stays at the Catalonia (and there are just the two of us), we have always rented a condo down by the marina. We love to cook, and with the new Chedraui right across the highway from the PA main gate, it is really convenient to shop and pick up everything you need on the first day. A couple of good places to eat around the dolphin swim area, as well (if you tire of the AI fare).

We've always dived with Dive Aventuras, and pleased to see that you see why. We have done all our ocean and cenote diving with them, and I agree, Nils and Mike run a great shop, and their dive guides are second to none.

While we have dived in Cozumel (me dating back to the 80's), we really enjoy the simplicity of PA diving. Might not meet the criteria for those that are looking for an "over the top" dive experience, but we have seen just about every creature you would want, from Bull Sharks to Eagle Rays, to schools of fish, to turtles, to you name it, and the reefs are very healthy as well. I think a lot of divers discount mainland diving because it doesn't have the "splash" and apparent glamour of Cozumel.

 

[TSandM]

When we go down for our own cave diving trips, we rent a condo . . . but we had a group of 22 on this trip, and the all-inclusive was perfect for making things seamless, and for offering a lot of options for our non- or less-diving folks. In addition, the Catalonia picked our people up in Cancun, avoiding rental car costs or bus fare, so that was kind of a big deal, too.

I may have had an unusual trip to Cozumel, because it was not long after Wilma, but although I thought the structure was great, I just wasn't blown away by the diving. I thought the reefs we saw this last trip were as colorful and healthy, and I enjoyed the milder currents. I also prefer to do shallower dives when they are just as good, because my gas lasts longer and I don't have to worry about decompression as much.

 

[dfx]

I just got back from a week of diving off the Paraiso beach just a bit north of Playa del Carmen... The amount of marine life we've seen was just amazing, every single dive had something special, from sea turtles just munching away within arm's reach, to large groups of lobsters sitting under a ledge, to large green moray eels swimming around in the open, to sting rays just resting in the sand, to large crabs walking along the reef, etc etc. We did take a day trip to Cozumel and got a couple of dives in there, and our expectations (first time there) were huge... unfortunately the diving didn't quite live up to our expectations. It was nice and had some stuff that we didn't see off the main land, but it didn't blow us away as we had expected it to. In fact most of the our first dive there was rather dull in comparison and only had static corals to show. I'm not saying that it was bad, but it sure as heck didn't cause any OMG COZUMEL effect in either of us.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Debbie and I prefer father south (Akumal) to the rest of the Riveria Maya and to Cozumel. Small boats ( 4 to 6 per boat on average) lots of turtles, and a long time relationship with the operator who gives us room to do our own thing. Cozumel is Cozumel- crowded boats, large groups, crowded dive sites. Everyone should at some point in their life do a dive trip in a group of 2 or four, spend the trip diving as a buddy pair from shore and on boats with no more than 6 people, and see the difference it can make in a dive experience. I know, we are the scuba snobs. But the sense of having the ocean to yourself, the joy of watching sea life rather than "touring " by constant movement, that's our deal. Try it. I bet you'll like it.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Peter Guy]

One point I forgot to mention regarding our trip and the dives with Dive Aventuras. D.A. has 3 boats, two carry 6 divers (max) and one has a max of 10. On Monday, we had 16 divers so they put us on a 6-pack and the 10-pack which was then split into two groups of 5. I was very pleased with how D.A. allowed us to do "our" dives with the guides being just that -- guides, pointing out things but letting us do OUR thing.

On "my" boat, we agreed before hand that everyone from each group of 5 would ascend together but the guide was quite willing to let us stay as long as we had gas but we did descend and ascend as a group -- OUR choice.

 

[t4e]

funny to see the title of the thread as i just made a similar comment in a different thread
we just returned from our second trip this year to Mayan Riviera at Iberostar

I have enjoyed diving this area as well. I've had pretty good luck when it comes to encounters with larger animals, but would rate the diving in general as "ok", particularly when considering the quality of the reef systems compared to Coz. The variety, quality, and volume in Coz is on a different scale. That being said, I have really enjoyed my stays in the Riviera area. Playa is a lot of fun, plus the easy access to the Cenotes and Mayan cultural sites is a big plus. Topside is great; diving is so-so. Just my opinion.

Glad you guys had a good time. I would love to go back again sometime soon.

please show me the variety, quality and volume in this video lol...
uncut video from Palancar Gardens

 

[diverjen]

Thanks for the report! We love Mexico but have never dove there (snorkeled many times). We are thinking about Coz for 2015, but of course we are hesitant about current and depth. We absolutely loved Akumal for snorkeling and topside feel. These posts make me think maybe we should plan some time at PA and/or Akumal for diving as well as in Coz. Thanks again to all who posted.