Mayan Palace - diving close?

[sharkdiver00]

Hi there, I just came back from the Mayan Palace a week ago. The resort is very nice and the pools are huge. Restaurants are also good and the staff is very friendly and helpful.

I would either dive with Dive Puerto Morelos (and they are closer than PDC), or with either Dive Mike or Tank Ha in PDC.

Now if you want to try the cenotes - they are AWESOME -, I would most definitely go with www.hiddenworlds.com. I spent the entire week diving cenotes with them and found them to be extremely safe, courteous, friendly, and knowledeable.

You will be much better off renting a car and having the opportunity to move around. Yes buses are cheap and taxis are not too expensive, but I found that having a car was a lot easier and allowed me to go and try lots of great restaurants in the area. Used Dollar Rent a Car and paid $108 for the week for a VW Pointer (which is a bit smaller than the VW Golf).

Now if you like desserts, you better try the resort's desserts at the restaurant by the beach. Their pastry chef is great.

Just make sure that you do not accept the 'sales pitch - no obligation' breakfast. They sign off that it is 90 min long, but it normally takes at least 2:45 to 3:30 hrs and they don't know how to take no for an answer.

PM me if I can help you further.
Maria

 

[ShakaZulu]

Second on the Hidden Worlds, they ruined Cozumel for me..........just too beautiful. You can just jump on a ferry to Coz, very easy.

 

[hayman]

Just got back from the Mayan Palace August 21, weather and everything was good. I dove 3 different dive Ops The first was Deep Blue on Cozmel, Great shop but a hassle to get to the ferry in time for the morning dive. Just because you never know when the bus will come by. The second shop was DiveMike in PDC this shop as been regular for me, so Imust say that it is great also or I wouldn't keep going back. The third was Dive Puerto Morelas. This is a nice little shop and with any luck will grow a be the best Shop around.

 

[Scott Riemer]

Just got back from the Mayan Palace August 21, weather and everything was good. I dove 3 different dive Ops The first was Deep Blue on Cozmel, Great shop but a hassle to get to the ferry in time for the morning dive. Just because you never know when the bus will come by. The second shop was DiveMike in PDC this shop as been regular for me, so Imust say that it is great also or I wouldn't keep going back. The third was Dive Puerto Morelas. This is a nice little shop and with any luck will grow a be the best Shop around.

Glad you had a good time! Where'd you dive with Deep Blue? We did the afternoon dives with them. Gabriel was our DM and we dove Palancar Gardens and Yucab Reef. We almost missed our ferry because my wife decided she had to get hair braids in PDC.

How's Cat, Jan, and the crew at DPM doing? Did you dive the C-56 minesweeper?

 

[geraldp]

Just got back from the Mayan Palace August 21,
... a hassle to get to the ferry in time for the morning dive. Just because you never know when the bus will come by.

You're right the bus is really inexpensive (10 pesos each into PDC), but your wait can be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. Standing on an extremely busy highway in the rain with tour busses and lorrys wizzing by is not terribly fun.

 

[UGA]

Check out the on-site dive operation at Mayan Palace. Rafael Redondo is the DM/instructor, a former aquaworld instructor. Nothing spectacular for the reef dives (and somewhat overpriced, so I'd go elsewhere for those), but go for the cenotes dive. When I was there in May, we were the first in the cenote that morning (there was a big group from aquaworld behind us, but we were early enough that they were just getting in as we were finishing), and Rafael was a great guide. Plus, it will be a small gorup (there were 4 of us). And Rafael's wife made great sandwiches for our snack. I think it was $130 for the two cave dives, including transportation, equipment, and food (not tip), which was reasonable for the area.

 

[Chocoholic]

Loved that place, all the pools where great. You know you had a good trip when you get to LA with sea sand still on your feat............

I want to stay at the Mayan Palace Riviera Maya but my husband is wavering. Mostly because we stayed at the Mayan Palace in Nuevo Vallarta and we didn't like the fact that the hallways amplified the noise of the kids running up and down the halls and screaming past 12 midnight. It was in July 2004 so there were a lot of families there. I am just hoping you're going to say it was different at MPMR.... We will be travelling in the end of Jan 05 and I'm just deciding where to stay. I loved the monsterous pool at the MPNuevo, and the staff were very friendly. (I am also looking on the tripadvisor website.) If you have any other recommendations I would appreciate them. It's my first time to the Yucatan.

 

[geraldp]

I want to stay at the Mayan Palace Riviera Maya but my husband is wavering. Mostly because we stayed at the Mayan Palace in Nuevo Vallarta and we didn't like the fact that the hallways amplified the noise of the kids running up and down the halls and screaming past 12 midnight. It was in July 2004 so there were a lot of families there. I am just hoping you're going to say it was different at MPMR.... We will be travelling in the end of Jan 05 and I'm just deciding where to stay. I loved the monsterous pool at the MPNuevo, and the staff were very friendly. (I am also looking on the tripadvisor website.) If you have any other recommendations I would appreciate them. It's my first time to the Yucatan.

I wish I could say it was different but it's not... must be the same architect. Marble floors in the rooms, marble floors in the hallway, and a gap at the bottom of the doors. Footsteps and voices (and kids screaming) in the halls echoed loudly in our room. Next trip (25 days and counting!) we might throw down a towel or something to block the noise from the hallway. But yes the pool at MPMR is also monsterous, and the staff is friendly.

Jerry

 

[AmyJ]

Hi all..

We are headed to Mayan Oct. 23-30 (third time for us). We are open water divers and would be interested in diving friends. We will only dive a day or two as the rest of the family does not dive. We love the mayan palace there, but definitely reccommend renting a car. Everything is fairly close and an easy drive and you don't have to hassle with the taxis and buses!

Hope to see some of you there!!!!

 

[geraldp]

Hi all..

We are headed to Mayan Oct. 23-30 (third time for us). We are open water divers and would be interested in diving friends. We will only dive a day or two as the rest of the family does not dive. We love the mayan palace there, but definitely reccommend renting a car. Everything is fairly close and an easy drive and you don't have to hassle with the taxis and buses!

Hope to see some of you there!!!!

Looks like we'll be there around the same time (24-31) - small world isn't it?. I'm trying to remember now why I signed up for only one week instead of two :-(. We've decided not to rent a car - for several reasons. Perhaps we'll change our mind once we get there. I'm there with my wife and parents, none of which are divers (although they're snorkelers). I've signed up for 6-8 dives with Dive Puerto Morelos based on recommendations here on the board, and have asked for those to include a wreck dive, cenote dive, night dive, and lots of reef diving, as well as one day (2 tanks) over in Cozumel. Puerto Morelos is closer to Mayan Palace than Playa Del Carmen, so hopefully it will be a cheap taxi ride over. I'm pretty jazzed. I know I will be doing some touring with my family as well, so we'll see how my dive schedule goes. This is our 2nd trip to Mayan Palace - the first time was in February, and I only got 2 days of diving in then - 3 tanks in Cozumel and 2 in PDC.

Do you guys have a dive-op scheduled yet?

Jerry