Manta Divers in Cancun

[macado]

I just got back from a 10 night stay in Cancun where I completed my PADI with Manta Divers. A bit of a small, unorganized shop at the moment but I highly recommend them. awesome, friendly staff. Should be better when John (the owner) moves into his new location. Right now, they're next to Fat Tuesday inside a flea market building. Anyway, my dive instructor was Miguel, I recommend him if anybody uses Manta Divers for their certification or any diving. He was a really nice guy and extremely knowledgeable.

I also dove the cenotes at Chac Mool with Leif (not sure how to spell his name). He is a german dive instructor at Manta Diver. Great guy with a funny sense of humor. The cenote was an awesome dive, it was a two tank dive that included lunch and all transportation. They took us to this restaurant in Playa De Carmen that was out of this world for food. Definitely worth the money and the experience.

Anyway, I just got back about an hour ago so i'm a bit tired. If anybody has any questions feel free to ask. I should be able to answer them tomorrow when i'm not so tired and hung over.

-macado

 

[MartiniMan]

Hello from PA, USA!

I and my wife are leaving this Saturday (Sept. 25) for a week in Cancun, and have completed our acedemic and contained water dives here in PA, and plan to do the final open water dives in Cancun to get certified.

Looking around online, I was reasonably impressed with Manta's website and considered using them. Any other tips to give?

Another question.... if we get certified early in the week, do you feel a Cenote dive later in the week would be recommended for very inexperienced divers such as ourselves, or does it require further experience?

Any info you could pass along would be appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[dlndavid]

I would like to do a Cenote dive someday and since I go to Cancun alot I probably will.
As for the spelling of Leif, (pronounced layf) you got it right. It is my middle name and my Uncle's and Grandfather's first name. Funny he is German with that name as Leif is Swedish.
Glad you had a good trip, Cancun is where I did my OW dives for certification.
David

 

[teamheatwave]

The cenote dives are definitely a dive you will remember. I highly recommend not only setting aside time to do this dive but also for using www.hiddenworlds.com.mx The dive Dos Ojos cenote. The staff there is top notch. Very professional and a safe operation. Not to mention the view!

 

[catbrown]

I just got from Sipadan Island..how are you Team heatwave...completed your PADI what?

 

[Mako Mark]

I know leif, he's a good guy

 

[macado]

Manta is a fairly small operation that at times looks a bit unorganized due to their temporary location however, there staff was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. The Cenote Dive would be no problem as long as you are comfortable diving after you complete the rest of your open water dives. There are many exits just in case one gets separated and you are always going to be within 5ft of another diver; plus, Leif is an excellent instructor. I felt perfectly safe and that was my first Cenote dive. We always surfaced with plenty of air left for safety. Also, if you do go on the cenote dive. They take you to this really good Mexican restaurant. Probably the best food I had while I was down there. Take Leif's suggestion and get the dark beer from the tap. I don't know what kind of beer it was but it was good, I wish I remembered what it was.

Hope this helps,
Mike

Hello from PA, USA!

I and my wife are leaving this Saturday (Sept. 25) for a week in Cancun, and have completed our acedemic and contained water dives here in PA, and plan to do the final open water dives in Cancun to get certified.

Looking around online, I was reasonably impressed with Manta's website and considered using them. Any other tips to give?

Another question.... if we get certified early in the week, do you feel a Cenote dive later in the week would be recommended for very inexperienced divers such as ourselves, or does it require further experience?

Any info you could pass along would be appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[DSR-3]

I dove with Manta & Leif last year. Awesome! The other posts are dead-on, a great day, & great service. I made resv. the afternoon before, and after a couple calls got it done. They picked me up at the Moon Palace too! Also, another dive group followed us in ~10Min later, they had eaten their box lunches and gone by the time we got out. Go for it, I will in 8 weeks!
-Eric

I added a couple pix in a gellery under Cenotes.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=17172

 

[TNBama]

Last year I dove with Manta Divers. I highly recommend not diving with them. My tank air was definitely foul. When I mentioned this to the dive master he correctly asked "does it taste oily" and then said that they had been having problems with it. Service was okay, but Ive had much better. When we returned, the owner asked us if we would be back the next day. When we said we were flying out the next day, he was very rude and obviously "dismissed" us.

There are plenty of other dive shops in Cancun, so I highly recommend avoiding these two.