Going to live in Mexico City...

[LoneWolf]

I am going to be living in Mexico City for the next two years and I have just completed my PADI certification. Every couple months I plan to go to the more popular dive spots in Mexico but I would like to hone my skills on the weekends. Does anyone know of any decent freshwater diving within a two our drive of Mexico City?

 

[Brules]

Wow what are you going to live there for??? I hear it is a really B I G city that is pretty neat....

Brules

 

[itziar]

Hi LoneWolf,

I live in Puebla, 2hrs away from Mexico City towards the East. Last weekend I was diving in Veracruz (3hrs further towards the East) and could see many divers from Mexico City and Puebla there. It is the nearest sea destination for us. High season is Easter to mid-September, but there are dive shops open all the year around. Last weekend we had about 10m visibity on Saturday, and about 3-5m on Sunday. The DM said it can be much better during high season. We saw awesome marine life, including large marine life: a ~2m long eal, manta rays, and a ~2m long grouper that blew our minds. Also lots of nice coral formations. It is not Cozumel, but we felt it is a very worthwhile destination for the weekend, and plan to repeat next weekend. We (husband and I) are also novice divers: 30 dives so far.

Hope you enjoy Mexico!

Itziar

P.S.: We have an old car, and there are people who trim those driving times by 30%. The road is a well paved motorway. We never do more than 120 km/hr. Also people are not shy of driving long distances here: it is a big country!

 

[LoneWolf]

Thanks for the info Itziar. Brules, I am a an attache and will be working at the US embassy in Mexico City. Every two to three years I work in a different country. I'm a nomad by nature so it works out great for me. Hopefully I will get to dive many great places through out the world by the end of my career.

 

[itziar]

Hi again LoneWolf,

This weekend I met some other divers from Mexico City (DF). They told me that, for nearby locations, they split their time between the Golf Coast and the Pacific Coast. Both of them are at the same distance from DF (about 5 hrs). They also mentioned a nearby shallow river or set of springs in Las Estacas, Morelos, where people go to practice. You can find some brief information about the Mexican dive sites and how to get there in http://www.mexdiving.com/destinos/
The information is in Spanish, but I imagine you will be OK with that since you will be working in the embassy. Otherwise, let me know if you need help.

Good luck ,

Itziar