PARADISE HUNTER
Contributor
4/15 & 4/16
I know that Ben and Mayan Aqua Dive gets a lot of love on this forum, but I have to say, it's well earned. I will admit that due to weather and port closings, I only got to dive with them on two days. It was mostly a family vacation and I only had four days to go diving. But I did get to talk to Ben and his crew everyday, as there main office was located at out hotel (VCI). Ben runs a well organized business and has a friendly staff.
We dove the C-58 and Grampin in Cancun and went down to Playa for two tank dives with the bull sharks.
On our Cancun dives we had two DM's, Ben and Jorge Tapia. Jorge is a great guy! He has to be the only Mexican I'll ever know that likes hockey and snowboarding! The nice thing about having the two DM's is that it let one help the less experienced divers out while the other guided the dive. It also allowed for two different ascent groups and thus let the better air consumers dive longer. Ben did a great job explaining the dive sights and dive plans. There was strong current in CUN but none in Playa. The vis was about the same at both locals, around 60', due to strong winds and heavy waves. Water temp was 78 and 79 degrees.
The marine life in CUN was much better than I expected and was dissapointed that I didn't get more dives in. Many schools of fish, lobster, HUGE cuda, a black tip reef shark and sting ray. No eagle rays on the C-58 for us, but I understand they are a regular sighting.
The bull shark dives in Playa were just plain awesome. You can't beat round trip transfers, two tank dives, guide service and lunch for only $85 a person. Jorge was the guide on this trip and he was very saftey conscious. The dive itself was only 500 meters off the shore in about 95' of water, with a sandy bottom and no reef. We used no bait and still saw 3 or 4 bull sharks, one was in the 6-7' range and Michael Jordan couldn't get his arms around the large part of this shark. They came in and out of sight and circled us for about 20 minutes. They came within a couple of meters on several passes. Great time! As for the second dive, no sharks. That's the way it goes. My understanding is that the season should have been over already (a discussion for another time) and I was lucky to have had the opportunity in April.
I will be sure to use these M.A.D again and I look forward to seeing more of the reef on my next visit.
Thanks Ben and Jorge for a great time.
Safe diving,
PH
I know that Ben and Mayan Aqua Dive gets a lot of love on this forum, but I have to say, it's well earned. I will admit that due to weather and port closings, I only got to dive with them on two days. It was mostly a family vacation and I only had four days to go diving. But I did get to talk to Ben and his crew everyday, as there main office was located at out hotel (VCI). Ben runs a well organized business and has a friendly staff.
We dove the C-58 and Grampin in Cancun and went down to Playa for two tank dives with the bull sharks.
On our Cancun dives we had two DM's, Ben and Jorge Tapia. Jorge is a great guy! He has to be the only Mexican I'll ever know that likes hockey and snowboarding! The nice thing about having the two DM's is that it let one help the less experienced divers out while the other guided the dive. It also allowed for two different ascent groups and thus let the better air consumers dive longer. Ben did a great job explaining the dive sights and dive plans. There was strong current in CUN but none in Playa. The vis was about the same at both locals, around 60', due to strong winds and heavy waves. Water temp was 78 and 79 degrees.
The marine life in CUN was much better than I expected and was dissapointed that I didn't get more dives in. Many schools of fish, lobster, HUGE cuda, a black tip reef shark and sting ray. No eagle rays on the C-58 for us, but I understand they are a regular sighting.
The bull shark dives in Playa were just plain awesome. You can't beat round trip transfers, two tank dives, guide service and lunch for only $85 a person. Jorge was the guide on this trip and he was very saftey conscious. The dive itself was only 500 meters off the shore in about 95' of water, with a sandy bottom and no reef. We used no bait and still saw 3 or 4 bull sharks, one was in the 6-7' range and Michael Jordan couldn't get his arms around the large part of this shark. They came in and out of sight and circled us for about 20 minutes. They came within a couple of meters on several passes. Great time! As for the second dive, no sharks. That's the way it goes. My understanding is that the season should have been over already (a discussion for another time) and I was lucky to have had the opportunity in April.
I will be sure to use these M.A.D again and I look forward to seeing more of the reef on my next visit.
Thanks Ben and Jorge for a great time.
Safe diving,
PH
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