How is the diving in Cancun?

[IDS_Bill]

We are headed to Cozumel on March 4 - 9 and then Cancun 9 - 14. How is the diving in Cancun? I have dived PDC and the Cenotes (which we'll do again) but what about near Cancun? We're staying at the Cancun Palace so I am trying to find out if they have a shop onsite or not...

Thanks,

Bill

 

[dlndavid]

Cancun is not as nice as Cozumel, but I'll dive there anyday.

 

[teamheatwave]

Had an opportunity to dive Chitales Reef in November. I tagged along to photograph a buddy of mine who was doing his first Ocean Dives. Saw a pair of HUGE grey angelfish and a small turtle which was a nice surprise.

 

[Tucker_2004]

Cancun diving is fine. The diving areas are a lot more exposed to waves compared to Cozumel so bring some sea sick meds for days when the water is rough (Every dive trip I have made in Cancun someone was throwing up because of the boat ride). The wreck off of Cancun is cool (almost the same one in Cozumel) so save it for Cancun as the walls and reefs in Coz will beat Cancun anyday. The only waterfront resort that I know of that has it's own dive op is a place called Camino Real at the far end of the strip. Most of the dive ops that run in Cancun keep their boats in the lagoon side which means longer boat rides than diving in Coz. It can take around 45 minutes to get to a site. I dove with Scuba Cancun and also Solo Boceo when I was down there. Solo is closer to the reef but their boats are pretty slow and busy. I also found Solo B. to be less safe than others. For example, I had no idea that we would be going throughout the inside of the wreck until we were heading into it. They made no mention of it in the pre-dive chat. If you are a confident diver with many dives than it shouldn't really matter. Solo will also bring brand new divers (without OW cards) to deaper dives as well. Scuba Cancun had a big boat with lots of room but it takes a bit longer to get out to the dive sites. If I dove in Cancun again I would probably go with Scuba Cancun. Stay away from Aquaworld unless you don't mind huge groups. Hope that helps..

 

[catbrown]

Your hotel is right in the middle of the hotel zone of Cancun, about a 35 min drive from here or a 30 min bus ride from downtown. Cancun Place does not really have a dive op attached, they use Aquaworld but they have lots of tour operators in the foyer who will book you with other operators. Puerto Morelos is half way between Playa and Cancun and the diving is good here as it is a National Park and protected from all the big boats and petrol fuelled sports. The fish life is prolific in comparison to Cancun, it is common to see eagle rays, turtles, eels, angel fish even just snorkelling. The wreck here in PM is in a much better position than the one in Cancun and you don't usually have to fight the current, she even still has the gun emplacement. The sites are betweeen 20 and 40 minutes from the dock depending where we go on the day and we do not take you out in bad weather - diving is supposed to be fun! See you soon...best...cat

 

[Spratman]

I can second this. I was there the first week of November 04. I got my cert with Scuba Cancun. Can't vouch for other dive operations, but if they have a large group, they have additional dive masters to take up the slack. We'll be going back same time in Nov 05. I want to do a mixed bag of diving. If you choose Scuba Cancun, there is a Brit there named Ben Mooney. Great young guy, good instructor and great sense of humor. We were treated very well, and we dove Chitales three times.

This group will also take newbies with experienced divers, but will tend to break out experienced divers for morning sessions (wreck dives, night, etc). They will break out the divers typically by experience. First two dives the water was like 80 degrees and 75' or so visibility. Unfortunately the Chitale Reef really took a pounding from the last set of hurricanes, but saw some great reef life!

Check out their website...http://www.scubacancun.com.mx

Happy diving!

Jack

 

[Mako Mark]

I have to agree with Cat:

The fish life varies, on the shallow reefs, they take a pounding from the storms and the prolific amounts of beginner divers, but ther are a stack load of fish.

Cancun actually has more fish than Cozumel because the reefs are far more expansive (Coz is a vertical ecosystem) and we have this huge lagoon and mangrove system as a nursery.

If you choose Scuba Cancun, there is a Brit there named Ben Mooney. Great young guy, good instructor and great sense of humor.

Ben is still there, he is a great guy and a graduate of mine.

Aquaworld is big and has a very slick operation with large fast boats, it often gets accused of being a cattle boat operation, but has recently made a great effort and raise the standards of quality and personal service to a very high level. (I know this because I work there)

But as Jack has said, if you want a smaller more flexible operation, there are others, the down side is that their boats are smaller and slower etc etc.

 

[SueMermaid]

You work for Aqua World, Mark? I am clueless that I didn't know that after all this time. I thought you were independent or something. We dove with AW when we were in Coz in October. Sorry I didn't speak up that we were spending our honeymoon in Cancun. Beer with Cancun Mark would have been fairly awesome.

 

[Mako Mark]

I thought you were independent or something.

while I cant afford to be independent, I do try to be impartial.

 

[Spratman]

I would like it a lot better on the boards and other sites, if they took the same approach. There are merits and bad points to all dive operations. Most of what I've read on the Cancun boards are Manta Divers, Lemon Divers and Aquaworld, pretty much in that order. Don't bother with the rest. I can certainly understand promoting your particular operation, because it's a revenue generations operation.

I think weather and time of year has much more to do with the rating, than the operation itself. Having said that, there are really some unsafe operators. THAT is what we need to know about....As Tucker said, this isn't the first time that I've read about Solo Buceo being unsafe.

RE: Ben Mooney. I have always wanted to get certified, but never had the money. Ben gave a presentation at the Hotel International where we were staying. I had no intentions when going to get certified, but I looked over at my wife, and she said to go ahead. It was fantastic! Because it was through the hotel, I had basically a one on one training session. I'm hooked with diving and Cancun.

Jack