Isla Mujeres Recommendations Please

[spacedaddy]

hello guys

heading to isla mujeres in 2 weeks and looking for a dive shop and/or location recommendations please.

is it better for drift, reef or shipwreck there? only there for a day or two before moving on to cozumel and tulum.

anyone been recently?

many thanks

 

[Lorenzoid]

Save your diving for Cozumel. The main draw of Isla Mujeres is the whale shark snorkeling trips. You could conceivably do ocean dives around Tulum, too, but I would suggest saving that for Cozumel. In other words:

Isla Mujeres: whale shark snorkeling
Cozumel: ocean diving
Tulum: cenote diving

disclaimer: I haven't dived in Isla Mujeres, and am basing this on hearsay information from people who have said Cozumel diving is far better. If you end up diving out of Isla Mujeres, please report back so people like me stop perpetuating second-hand information

 

[spacedaddy]

good stuff, thanks. will try a few places and report back.

 

[mmmbelows]

Save your diving for Cozumel. The main draw of Isla Mujeres is the whale shark snorkeling trips. You could conceivably do ocean dives around Tulum, too, but I would suggest saving that for Cozumel. In other words:

Isla Mujeres: whale shark snorkeling
Cozumel: ocean diving
Tulum: cenote diving

disclaimer: I haven't dived in Isla Mujeres, and am basing this on hearsay information from people who have said Cozumel diving is far better. If you end up diving out of Isla Mujeres, please report back so people like me stop perpetuating second-hand information

From somebody who has dived and stayed all over Cozumel, Isla Mujeres Cancun, Tulum, Akumal etc...

The main draw of Isla Mujeres is Isla Mujeres. Very few people dive there compared to those who don't. There are only a couple of dive shops and the dive industry ebbs and flows over the years. The draw of Isla is the slow paced island with a vibrant foodie experience, you can't rent a car you can only rent a golf cart. If you want fresh fish, this is the place as the fisherman still come in every day with their catches and sell them to the restaurants, Isla is a main sail fish fishing ground also.

The whale sharks aggregation is in the waters far north of Isla Mujeres, however access is not just from Isla but is dominated by access from Cancun. The whale shark industry started from Holbox and they dominated it for years and years, slowly some operators from Isla discovered a huge aggregation north of Isla and started taking people there. This is why people now call the whale shark diving experience falsely an experience from Isla Mujeres, however Cancun has a humongous tourist population compared to Isla, just one mega resort in Cancun has more tourists in it in one night than the entire Island of Isla Mujeres sees in a month and it's right across the bay from Isla. Cancun business started taking people out to the aggregation north of Isla Mujeres and they really developed the north of Isla whale shark experience that people are experiencing today. I would guess the ratio of Cancun to Isla whale shark operators is 25:1. The area is Isla Mujeres for the whale sharks (way north of the island) but most people are going to access it from a Cancun based operation, even the few Isla operators who still are running will usually start the morning in Isla taking one or two people from the island and jet across to Cancun to pick up the remaining 10 people and then head north to the whale sharks. In other words just a tiny amount of people actually leave from Isla Mujeres to see the Isla Mujeres whale sharks.

The diving is very tame, with many of the dive sites over-lapping those you would dive from Cancun. However, diving from Isla is a contrasting experience, one person may only do a few dives all of which are in the sheltered side and have a very different experience from someone who does a hand full of dives on the ocean side. The exception is that Isla Mujeres is exposed to the sea so some diving is out in the ocean, being out in the ocean anything can show up. I've seen real sharks, schools of mobulus rays, mantas, dolphins etc... you won't see any of that in Cozumel. The longer you dive Isla the more varied your diving experience will be, somebody who only comes and does one day of diving may have a very tame boring experience to tell, but that 6th day might be exceptional. Cozumel is very consistent diving, you'll get a decent experience every day. Isla can be hit and miss with the lows being lower and the highs being higher than Cozumel.

 

[mmmbelows]

hello guys

heading to isla mujeres in 2 weeks and looking for a dive shop and/or location recommendations please.

is it better for drift, reef or shipwreck there? only there for a day or two before moving on to cozumel and tulum.

anyone been recently?

many thanks

As said above many dive sites will over-lap with the diving you access from Cancun (sheltered side of Isla Mujeres) there is a wreck dive that many people go to, when the current is ripping and the season is right there will be squadrons of eagle rays on the wreck, there is a underwater scupture garden to dive that many people like, other than that it's many of the same drift dives on reefs off of Cancun, some dive sites around the island of Isla Mujeres, one at the southern tip with a fun current that people enjoy and then dive sites out into the ocean side of Isla. With only one or two days of diving there your experience will be hit or miss, it takes a few more days to unlock the diving experience. Squalor divers is a good solid dive outfit. Other than that be careful the diving industry on Isla is very hit and miss for quality and safety. The dive industry is tiny there and dive shops come and go frequently. The same dive masters come and go, some with notorious reputations, so go with quality, avoid low priced deals if you know what is good for you.

 

[htatton]

I love to dive Isla Mujeres. We are going back in October for the 4th time.

Check the dive shop www.casadelbuceo.com. They are small, very professional and absolutely dedicated to taking care of their clients. They do both scuba and snorkle trips. Check them out, you won't be sorry.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The main draw of Isla Mujeres is Isla Mujeres. . . .

That says it all! My knowledge of Isla Mujeres is 10 years old, but from what I recall of Isla Mujeres, that's a great way to put it.

I visited Isla Mujeres because it was said to firmly be a part of the Gringo Trail that backpackers had been doing for decades (as opposed to Cancun, which to me was just a place to catch the ferry over). There was no particular draw. When I got there and was looking for things to do, someone suggested I go ask for so-and-so about being taken out to snorkel with whale sharks. I had no idea they did that from Isla Mujeres--I had thought I would need to go to Isla Holbox. I'm glad I did. I don't even recall why I chose not to dive on Isla Mujeres. Maybe I didn't see any dive shops open. Maybe the margaritas were calling. The place just didn't seem to scream "SCUBA DIVING" like Cozumel. It sounds like that part has not changed.

That's great advice about it being hit or miss, depending on whether something interesting decides to show up, compared with the consistency of Cozumel.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

hello guys

heading to isla mujeres in 2 weeks and looking for a dive shop and/or location recommendations please.

is it better for drift, reef or shipwreck there? only there for a day or two before moving on to cozumel and tulum.

anyone been recently?

many thanks

The best dive sites from Isla Mujeres are the Cancun sites. They're just a longer boat ride from Isla Mujeres. The reefs are healthy, but flat, with relatively few (and short) swimthroughs. That's not bad, especially if you're a newer diver and might have buoyancy issues. There is typically little or no current to speak of. The sea life is abundant. It's certainly worth diving while you're there.

I'm sure there are plenty of options on La Isla, but we always dive with Alvaro from Always Diving when we're in the area. He has a shop in Cancun and another on the island.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I highly recommend Mexico Divers (Mexico Divers, Diving Isla Mujeres & Cancun). An excellent operation, nice boat. Definitely take morning dives, as the boat is practically empty. I liked the fact that they asked for our AOW (please, let's not turn this thread into a debate about the value of such card) cards. I'm trying to remember the name of our guide as he was great. We did 5 dives in a day with them, and were exhausted in a good way the next day (our off day before flying home).

 

[spacedaddy]

all excellent answers. many thanks people!