Kit rental Riviera Maya?

[pauldw]

It seems annoying and out of the ordinary that dive shops would not rent gear for divers to take wherever they're going. However, since Tulum area diving is largely in cenotes, I can see why shops would be hesitant to rent to people going without a guide who understands both the safety and general good order-related rules and how to keep people out of actual caves. So there might be a safety related lesson in this unusual situation. That said, I'm also guessing that some of those shops would rent if you were to just show up asking, since some of them are pretty flexible about everything except money.

 

[BRT]

It seems annoying and out of the ordinary that dive shops would not rent gear for divers to take wherever they're going. However, since Tulum area diving is largely in cenotes, I can see why shops would be hesitant to rent to people going without a guide who understands both the safety and general good order-related rules and how to keep people out of actual caves. So there might be a safety related lesson in this unusual situation. That said, I'm also guessing that some of those shops would rent if you were to just show up asking, since some of them are pretty flexible about everything except money.

I doubt it, gear, air and lead are the way they get you to dive with them.

 

[kafkaland]

I can see two reason why shops there are so reluctant to rent you gear:

The first is that this is cave country, and there have been plenty of problems with OW divers going into the caves as some cenotes don't check cards. And besides, anyone can say that they just stay in open water, and then go in "just a little bit". So many shops will not rent you independently gear unless you are cave certified.

Second, your instructor status may actually be held against you. Foreign instructors teaching cave courses there have been an ongoing issue. The local diving community has pretty much agreed that only some caves are to be used for training purposes, as drills like lost line are incredibly damaging to the fragile decorations in the caves. But those training cenotes often let only local instructors in, and so the foreign instructors go to other caves and often do damage there.

Finally, keep in mind that many of the Mexican rules are flexible. So shops will have a policy of "no rental gear if not guided by us", but once they know you personally as a responsible diver they may well change their tune. But just sending an email will not earn you that status.