Going to Cancun in October and need help

[driftwood]

Cenotes are expensive because of the level of certification required by your guide to lead you and the very limited number of divers he/she is allowed to escort. If you use a shop in Cancun, they might do the transfer for you. Otherwise, it can be a 2 1/2 hour round trip from PDC to Cancun and that is asking a lot of them.

 

[MakingBubbles]

Thanks Driftwood. I understand why it costs more to do the cenote dives and I don't fault the dive ops for it. However, bang for my buck, I can get a lot more diving in Cozumel for the same price during the time I am going. I agree that transportation to Cancun would be a lot to ask of a dive op in PdC.

I think I've finally decided what I'm going to do. I'm planning to stay at Casa Mexicana (near downtown and the ferry) in Cozumel and do a bunch of reef diving. Then I'm going to take the ferry to PdC and meet up with Ben and crew from Mayan Aqua Dive (Cancun Dive Op). We'll dive a couple Cenotes and he can take me back to my hotel in Cancun. Looks like this is going to work out perfectly. I get the best of both worlds at a great price! Thanks again for all of the help from everyone.

 

[alwaysdiving]

Hi, my name is Alvaro Gonzalez and I´ve been diving and teaching scuba diving for the last 28 years, I have a dive op in Cancun, I do cavern and Cozumel dives to, I know many different cenotes to dive, I´m shure that if you want to have real bottom times and personalized treatment, check my web site, riviera maya professional scuba diving, cave, cavern, open water, experienced dive master, playa del carmen, cancun. buceo profesional en la riviera maya, buceo de caverna, mar abierto, playa del carmen, cancun you are not to be regreat, if you are going to stay in Cz, I can pick you up in Playa del Carmen, at the ferry, the price is 95.00 us dlls per person, gear, lunch and purified water it´s included.
alvaro@alwaysdiving.com

 

[driftwood]

Thanks Driftwood. I understand why it costs more to do the cenote dives and I don't fault the dive ops for it. However, bang for my buck, I can get a lot more diving in Cozumel for the same price during the time I am going. I agree that transportation to Cancun would be a lot to ask of a dive op in PdC.

I think I've finally decided what I'm going to do. I'm planning to stay at Casa Mexicana (near downtown and the ferry) in Cozumel and do a bunch of reef diving. Then I'm going to take the ferry to PdC and meet up with Ben and crew from Mayan Aqua Dive (Cancun Dive Op). We'll dive a couple Cenotes and he can take me back to my hotel in Cancun. Looks like this is going to work out perfectly. I get the best of both worlds at a great price! Thanks again for all of the help from everyone.

Have a GREAT trip, it sounds like you have a good plan.

 

[Spratman]

I hope you have good weather and a very good time! Be sure to post a trip report when you get back. Cenotes are awesome!

 

[dive pro]

WOW! Thanks for all of the great information. After looking at all of the travel costs and diving options, I think we're going to stay on Cozumel for 4 days to do the reef diving. We want to do a lot of diving and the reef diving in Coz is about half the cost of dive trips to the cenotes. However, we are definitely not going to miss diving in the cenotes also. On the 5th day, we are going to take a morning ferry across to PDC and have a Dive Op (probably from Cancun) pick us up at the Ferry port to do two cenotes dives and return us to our hotel in Cancun. I am going to contact Ben from Mayan Aqua Dive to see if he can accomodate us. Does any have any other good dive ops that they would recommend that might be able to pick us up at the ferry port and drop us at our hotel in Cancun after our dives in the cenotes?

HOLA, FROM CANCUN, IF YOU WANT TO HAVE ANOTHER CHOICE TO DIVE IN CANCUN AND PICK UP FROM FERRY TAKE U TO CAVERS AND DROP U AT HOTEL IN CANCUN CHECK OUT Manta Divers! Cancun! Cenote! Cozumel Diving ! Whale Sharks! - Home

 

[cbonomo]

My son and I just finished up our advanced open water cert. course with Mayan Aqua Dive. We had a great experience with Ben and his team and cannot say enough great things about them. My son is 14 and some of the dives were challenging. Ben took the time to make sure we understood our dive plans, conducted enjoyable yet safe dives and learned the required material. MAD was also able to incorporate all of our special requests into the program. We did a terrific wreck dive, a deep dive in Cozumel, and practiced buoyancy in the Cenotes. We were able to have a relaxed memorable experience, while obtaining our certification with a very reputable and well run dive company. One other important thing to mention, Bed does not run a diving factory. This is a company where personal service and and a memorable experience are the first priority. I found their prices to be very reasonable, but if you think they cost a little more than some of the other Cancun shops, trust me...pay the extra money and dive with Ben.

 

[mbshelto]

I just found out that my company is going to pay for a trip for me to go to Cancun for a business conference in October! WooHoo!! :icon82: I love to dive so there's no question about it, I WILL be taking at least 3 extra days (maybe more) on this trip to do some diving and maybe some sightseeing. My travel options are pretty much wide open but I need some advice from the experts of the Mayan Riviera.
Here's my situation. I am an advanced diver with over 100+ dives under my belt. I've dove in many different Caribbean locations. I spent a week in Cozumel last September. I dove most of the reefs from the San Francisco Wall to Columbia (including all of the Palancar). It was awesome! I've never dove anywhere else in Mexico. I'll probably be traveling alone, unless I can convince my friend to take off work and come with me. I'm not into the partying/club nightlife scene. I'm a diving fanatic - wreck dives, drift dives, night dives...you name it, I'll try it. Diving 5+ dives per day is my idea of an excellent vacation. While diving will be my main focus, I also like unique cultural things and trying new adventures if they are worth taking time away from the diving (feel free to recommend anything that is worthwhile).
So here are my questions:
1. Overall, how well does the diving in Cancun compare to Cozumel? Am I so spoiled now from the diving Coz that Cancun won't compare well? My idea of great diving is beautiful healthy coral, large pelagic, sharks, rays, turtles, and rare creatures, etc. Good picture opportunities are always a plus. As I said my travel options are pretty much open, so I could fly to Cozumel instead, do my diving, and then take a ferry to Cancun for the conference. However, I don't want to waste time traveling for no reason if the diving in Cancun or Playa del Carmen is just as good.
2. Should I consider staying and diving in Playa del Carmen and then go to Cancun for the business conference? I've heard that the Cenotes are neat diving. Can anyone tell me what they like about diving in the Cenotes as opposed to ocean dives? Do the Cenotes contain any mentionable sealife?
3. I'm staying at the JW Marriott in Cancun for the business conference. If the diving is good in Cancun, I'll just stay there the entire trip rather than switching hotels. Is there a decent dive op at this hotel or is there a good dive op that can pick me up at this hotel? I also have a lot of free nights with the Hilton chain. Is there a better option at a Hilton-chain hotel?
4. Is there somewhere else that I should be thinking of that I haven't mentioned? Again, I don't want to travel for no reason, but I don't want to settle for just average or mediocre Caribbean diving either if there is something a short distance away that would provide spectacular or unique diving. To give you a reference, Jamaica was probably the worst Caribbean diving I've done and Cozumel or Curacao was the best so far. I'm trying to search through the threads on this board to get information and ideas, but any info you can provide would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance for reading my novel above. I'll be holding book signings at the back of the bookstore...:book2:

1) I would not waste a dime diving off Cancun.:no

2) I've stayed in Playa and had a great time at a very resonable price. I liked it better than staying on Coz. Cavern and Cave diving are two very, very different games and Mexico has some lax laws, rules, regulations about the distinction. I went down there for Cavern diving and went Cave diving with a 'professional' guide. If that's what you want, you're in the right place. You better understand what you're signing up for as Cave diving is a serious game. It's spectacular in there but, please, understand what kind of risks you're assuming. The drive from Cancun to Playa ought to take about and hour, give or take.

3) I did a couple drift dives right off Playa and I've never seen so many Turtles in my life. They call it Turtle Grass for a reason. Other than that I was not impressed with the diving right off Playa. I would recommend a single day drift diving off Playa and then some Cavern or Cave diving depending on your sense of adventure. The Cenote diving isn't cheap so be prepared.

4) To get the grand tour you could stay in Playa and shoot out to Coz for a day, off Playa for a day and the Cenotes for a day!!!! That should make you grin!!

Cheers!!!!

 

[mbshelto]

Great pics!!!

 

[Spratman]

The reef diving off Cancun is as good as anywhere. Those who say otherwise have either never dove off Cancun, or have been dumped on Chitales reef which is nothing more than a junk yard.

IMO, the only reason for going to PDC and south is cenotes (cenotes are AWESOME). I've seen at least three post here in the last two weeks about crappy dives off PDC. So, it's not so much where you dive, it's with whom you dive. The biggest detraction about Cancun is that everything IS expensive, except the diving...

You definitely have plenty of options. Good luck and dive safe!