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

[Dogbowl]

Perhaps it was that we dived on a Thursday in March, but Dos Ojos was very uncrowded. Our 1st dive on the Barbie line started at 10 am and we were the only divers there. After a beautiful 55 minute dive and a short SI, we dived the Bat Cave line for another 49 minutes. Another group entered the water just as we were starting our second dive, but they did the Barbie line, and we were alone again on our dive. We briefly saw a few snorkelers during our dives. Great day, great experience.

I thought March was supposed to be high season? We went at end of August once, dived the Barbie line and bat cave line. There was a traffic jam of divers in there, literally fin to fin mask. In one spot, I could look up and see a line of divers going around and up in the cave. It was an awesome site.

 

[scubadada]

I thought March was supposed to be high season? We went at end of August once, dived the Barbie line and bat cave line. There was a traffic jam of divers in there, literally fin to fin. In one spot, I could look up and see a line of divers going around and up in the cave. It was an awesome site.

Perhaps we were very lucky

 

[ReefHound]

I agree that $175 for two dives seems expensive and that price is in line with most operators that do cavern dives--I checked out a lot of them.

That you were happy with your experience is what counts most but I just did a quick search to see if prices had spiked recently.

In addition to DiveMike at $120, there was Playa Scuba $95 (!!?), Phantom Divers $125, Scuba Playa $139, Mexico Blue Dream $120, Scuba Tribe $120, and Planet Scuba $140. Now many of those did have specialty options for ones like Angelita or The Pit that ran higher but those are probably not the best options for someone's first cenote dives to try it out.

 

[Dogbowl]

I think the average is around USD$120-150. $175 is on the higher end for sure. But then it's Pro Tec, so...

Also forgot to mention for certain cenotes, the entrance fees have sky-rocketed increased, so that may also be one reason.

 

[bshort4]

CenoteXperience has prices down to $120 for two cenotes but two dives at Dos Ojos is $130, and yes combining Dos Ojos with The Pit jumped the price up to $170--don't remember what the other $5 was for--maybe the nitrox we used in The Pit. When I checked on many dive ops to dive the cenotes many (not all) didn't include entrance fees in their prices which tacks on a bit more--I really don't know what the entrance fees are as they were included with my dives. I found Dos Ojos more confining and dark than The Pit which is wide open and less dark but much deeper. The depth at Dos Ojos was only about 25 feet whereas the Pit we dived to 116 feet so they did require a AOW cert. I was blown away by The Pit--the light coming in from the entrance was beautiful.

 

[ReefHound]

All of the ones I listed include entrance fees. My posts were not to criticize your choices or the rates you paid, but to make sure the OP isn't scared off by a $175 number that was put out as the going rate when it could be done much cheaper. All else equal, if a person is on the fence about something as the OP is, one is more likely to do it if it costs $125 than if it costs $175.

 

[ReadyTo Dive]

Also be aware that some of the sites do charge an additional small fee for people bringing in large cameras (maybe an additional 200 pesos?). I have not heard of anyone charging for someone bringing in a small gopro camera, just on large full-size setups.

Edit: Aktun Ha (car wash) is one of the sites I know for sure that does charge a small fee for large camera setups.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

In the big picture a tour of Dos Ojos and similar cenotes should be the same experience for you no mater who you choose for your dive op. Big difference becomes if you want to take Cavern/Intro to Cave/Cave certs.

 

[ls1dreams]

I did Dos Ojos.....once. Wouldn't do a cenote ever again and think of that experience as a waste of my time and money.

Can you elaborate on why you thought the cenote wasn't worth it? It sounds like a pretty unique/cool experience so I'm wondering why.

 

[DangerousDan64]

To anyone still reading this post, personally, I would not go to Cozumel without taking a full day for cenote diving on the mainland. I dived with Cenote Xperience- I chose them in part because of the many positive reviews but mainly because they offered three dives in a day. We did The Pit, and at Dos Ojos, we did the Barbie Line and the Bat Cave. It was one of the strangest and most awe inspiring days of diving I have ever had and I plan on repeating it as soon as possible.

Snorkeling with whale sharks is also a "massive" experience but there is no guarantee that you will see them and my experience was that the encounters were very brief. I did not seek them in Cozumel, I was in Utila and we got very lucky; we saw them every day that we went looking for them but no one had seen one the three weeks prior (during the "whale shark season")