In Cozumel now...worth a day trip to do whale shark swim or cenote dive?

[Scubasis23]

sister and I are in Cozumel now, and are diving 2-4 dives a day through Friday. We fly out late on Saturday. My question is, is it worth missing an entire day in Cozumel to ferry over to the mainland for a cenote dive or whale shark excursion? I’ve personally done the whale shark thing a few years ago when I stayed in Cancun...my sister has not. Neither of us have dove a cenote before. Anyone have an opinion? Lol.

 

[Brodydog]

For me the whale shark excursion was a one time trip. I’m glad that I did it but I’d rather be diving on the reefs of Cozumel than repeating it. And I haven’t done the cenotes but if I did I’d rather plan that ahead and fly into or out of Cancun and do that for a day or 2 rather than the back and forth to Coz travel. In fact that’s what we did for the whale sharks, flew into Cancun and did that then headed over to Coz for the rest of the week.

 

[Trailboss123]

sister and I are in Cozumel now, and are diving 2-4 dives a day through Friday. We fly out late on Saturday. My question is, is it worth missing an entire day in Cozumel to ferry over to the mainland for a cenote dive or whale shark excursion? I’ve personally done the whale shark thing a few years ago when I stayed in Cancun...my sister has not. Neither of us have dove a cenote before. Anyone have an opinion? Lol.

Love this post! I tell myself every time I go to Cozumel that I am going to carve out a day for some Cenote diving and guess what? I never have. Literally, I always go down with the intention of taking a day off to cross over and do a couple of fresh water cavern dives. I just can't seem to pull myself away from the gorgeous Cozumel reefs and downtown restaurants and I get too lazy to get up early and get back late to make it worth it to me. I never go to Cozumel during Whale Shark season, so I can't speak to that, but it also seems like a really long and arduous journey for a day trip. I have recently taken to flying into and out of Cancun instead of Cozumel due to the fact that I can get there the same day and for 1/2 the price. So, now I am telling myself that I will dive all week or 10 days in Cozumel and make the day before I fly home a day of diving in the cenotes. I can take the ferry across early the day before, do 2 cenote dives in the fresh water and thoroughly rinse all of my gear and then spend the night in Playa or Cancun and fly out the next day. We will see if I actually do it???

 

[ReefHound]

Since you've already done the whale shark snorkel you should be able to answer that one for yourself. Was it a memorable experience? Will your sister find it a memorable experience? You know your sister better than us.

As for the cenote, here's my viewpoint. You'll never know until you try it. I lean towards trying the new experience that is not easily replicated elsewhere. Unless you just know that you aren't interested in cave formations and prefer colorful reef fish, in which case I doubt you would even be considering it.

 

[Trailboss123]

Since you've already done the whale shark snorkel you should be able to answer that one for yourself. Was it a memorable experience? Will your sister find it a memorable experience? You know your sister better than us.

As for the cenote, here's my viewpoint. You'll never know until you try it. I lean towards trying the new experience that is not easily replicated elsewhere. Unless you just know that you aren't interested in cave formations and prefer colorful reef fish, in which case I doubt you would even be considering it.

Well stated!

 

[Ron Lee]

Whale sharks are awesome and rates higher than a cenote for me.

If you do a cenote, avoid Chac Mool. Dos Ojos is a good one.

 

[ryanski]

I have only done 1 day of cenote diving. It was very memorable. I would also suggest dos ojos as one of your dives. When i get back to the area i will definitely be diving them again. I also dove the pit while i was there. I enjoyed being able to see the light rays more than anything else coming down through the water.

 

[krbailey]

I did a whale shark excursion 2 yrs ago. The weather was great but the seas were choppy. The boat ride out took over an hour and 3 or 4 people were so sick that they didn't get in the water. Once there, it was absolutely chaotic. Very unorganized with the DM (?) trying to keep everyone together. Several people were briefly "lost" due to the high waves and numerous boats in the same area, creating a brief panic. I "thumbed" the dive and did not get in the water. The next day, I was so sore from the pounding on the boat and trying to hold on that I missed the next morning's dive. I would not recommend it based on my experience.

YMMV

Keith

 

[scubadada]

Quite a few years ago my son and I did two wonderful dives at Dos Ojos during a visit to Cozumel. The dives were very memorable and I will always be glad we decided to do them.

It was particularly easy for us as Aldora offered a day trip to the cenotes as one of their options, they do not appear to offer this now. We had a fantastic guide who some of you may remember, Mateo.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

One of our many trips to Mexico we were staying at the Bahia Principe and I wanted to scuba dive in the ocean, but they said no the ocean was to rough. They were going to a cenote (Dos Ohos). At that time I had never seen a cenote, but I said yes and once I was in Dos Ohos I realized what type of diving I wanted to do!! Now I am a fully certified cave diver. My point is - if you have some interest in seeing and diving a cenote - then you should experience it once. Enjoy!!