Looking for Dive Shop in Playa Del Carmen

[BlueSpringsDiver]

I am looking for a dive shop in or around Playa del Carmen that does dives at Cozumel and also Cenote dives. Anyone have any recomendations?

 

[Firefyter]

Sealife Divers in Playa does both, I just used them 2 weeks ago. The Cozumel dives will be a referral type situation, they sent us to Deep Blue for the dives there. The cenotes are done by in house staff, unless they are just covered up, then they will have a guide from another shop take you. Overall, I was very satisfied with the entire operation.

 

[BlueSpringsDiver]

How much did you pay for the Cenote dive and then how much for the Cozumel dives?

 

[Firefyter]

I bought a package of 10 dives over 5 days, so it was considerably cheaper than just buying 1 or 2 dives at a time. I paid $360 for 4 dives in Playa, 2 in Cozumel, and 4 in the cenotes. Of course you have to add to this the cost of the ferry ride to Coz, which was $20 round trip.
The going rate for the cenotes is $100-$110 per day for 2 dives, so it worked out better for me buying the package.

 

[Captain CaveMan]

try barrakuda diving. its Southof playa buy 2 mins taxi. i payed about 500 for 2 of us for 6 dives 2 coz- 2 cenota-2 turtal reef.
cenota's were my fav but turtal reef i think is the best ofr ocean diving(driff dive)
moves alot faster that you can swim against it

ps you might have to take a class for the cenota dives
i did because you will only have 1 al80 tank and you will have to know, 3rds and how to signal in caves. you will be in complete darkness. i would read all you can about cave diving because you will be in the cave(no open way to air)

make sure you buddy knows how to do OOA drills. its your life and nothings stupid

 

[Tanked Monkey]

I really liked Dive Mike. They were very flexible and we could dive just about anything we wanted. We did some ocean diving, and cenote as well.

Depending on where you stay, Abyss is also very good (if you're staying at the Blue Parrot). I've also heard good things about Tank Ha, but didn't dive with them.

The nice thing about PDC is that we just walked around and looked at several predetermined dive operations before committing. Once we decided on the one we liked the most, we booked the diving. All of the ones I've seen are so flexible and laid back that you don't need to plan everything to the "t" before you go. That's one less thing to stress about.

Mike

 

[BlueSpringsDiver]

I am staying at El Dorado Seaside Suites it is between PDC and Ackumel. Was wondering what peoples experience was with diving at Cozumel verse diving the reefs at other places around there not off Cozumel. Should I worry about going over there or are the other reefs just as good?

 

[Firefyter]

I am staying at El Dorado Seaside Suites it is between PDC and Ackumel. Was wondering what peoples experience was with diving at Cozumel verse diving the reefs at other places around there not off Cozumel. Should I worry about going over there or are the other reefs just as good?

What a coincidence...I stayed at the same resort just a couple of weeks ago. We were the first bus in when it reopened, and I did those dives I told you about in the earlier posts. With all that said, to answer your question, the diving in the PDC area is good, but it's definitely different than Coz.. The coral on the PDC side is almost all soft coral, without the large hard coral formations you find it Coz. Coz is bluer water, while the PDC side has more of a green tint to it. PDC has some great reefs, such as Tortuga and the Paamul area reefs, but again, it's nowhere near like Coz. It all depends on what you like. I kinda like Coz's reef system better, but the sheer number of turtles on Tortuga makes it a worthwhile dive, not to mention the cenotes that are on the mainland.

Another thing to consider is transportation costs from where you're staying. It's 180 pesos (approx. $18 US) each way to PDC from EDSS. After tip, it was $40 per day just for taxis into PDC and back. On the day we went to Coz, we added to that $20 per person round trip for the ferry. That particular day cost me $80 in travel just for my wife and myself. The upside to this was that they did pick us up at the resort for the cenote dives, so those days didn't cost me any extra.

You have several other options you can consider due to where you're staying. I would contact Dennis Weeks, he is on the board here as
Pez de Diablo and has a website as Diablo Divers . He receives nothing but the highest praise from board members, and I would have used him myself, except we weren't sure if our trip was gonna make or not until the last minute.

There are several other ops around the Paamul and Puerto Aventuras area that could also help you out, so you don't necessarily have to pay out the nose for transportation.

Get in touch with Dennis, I don't think you can go wrong with him. Just my 2 psi, YMMV

 

[BlueSpringsDiver]

I'm dying to hear about EDSS. How was it after the storm? We stayed their about 9 years ago and it has undergone some changes. Is the place still real laid back and not a bunch of people there? How was your time there?

 

[Firefyter]

I'm dying to hear about EDSS. How was it after the storm? We stayed their about 9 years ago and it has undergone some changes. Is the place still real laid back and not a bunch of people there? How was your time there?

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