Mexico mid-January advice please!

[myvek]

My partner and I are going to be in Mexico for 1 week in mid-January and I am starting to plan our dive holiday. I have never been to Mexico before and therefore have lots of questions!

- Sea temperature wise, what can we expect?
- Sea condition wise - is it calm on the whole?
- I'm mainly interested in lots of marine life whereas my partner would like to do some cave diving. Are there any spots where we can do both?
- Whats a good city / town to be based at?
- Any dive shops that you would highly recommend?

Thanks in advance for helping me out!

Myvek

 

[rongoodman]

As for location, Playa del Carmen isn't too far north of the caves, and you can either dive directly from there or take a ride over to Cozumel for the day. I've used Dive Mike and Tank Ha for recreational dives and do all my cave diving with Protec. I've never been there in December, but the water in the cenotes is about 75 year around, with the ocean warmer. When you slip below the halocline in the caves into the warmer salt water, it feels like a warm bath compared to the cooler fresh water on top

You should be able to find a hotel to your liking in Playa within walking distance of the dive shops, and if you do any guided cave dives with Protec, they'll drive you down to the caves, so a shuttle from the airport in Cancun will allow you to avoid renting a car.

I just checked--Tank Ha is still running their boat directly over to Coz, which allows you to avoid the ferry and connections on the other side.

FWIW, the guys at Protec speak a number of languages other than English and Spanish.

 

[myvek]

Thanks for that! I'll keep them in mind. I've been going through some other posts on this forum and it seems that the reef diving is better in Puerto Aventuras compared to PdC - would you agree?

 

[rongoodman]

I've heard that said too. OTOH, day trips over to Coz won't work from Puerto Aventuras. One of my favorite open water dives is Jardine's Reef, shallow and loaded with life, about 10 minutes from the beach in Playa.

 

[myvek]

Good to know! Now I can start building a list of pros and cons

 

[Lionfish51]

My wife and I just got back from Puerto Morales, we stayed at ocean turquesa, great place! The Ocean dives were cancelled due to high waves. no biggie as we usually go to Cozumel almost every year. We did dive the Chetkin Moors Cenotes, water was 72 air was 85, pitch black inside but they supply lights, Manta picked us up at Hotel and gave us lunch as its a all day adventure, Manta is in Cancun so does not service the area we were in except for the Cenotes as its pricey. In that area a short cab ride to Wet Set will do Ocean dives. Cabs are pricey in that area so choose a dive shop that will pick you up if possible
Rick

 

[drbill]

Mexico is a big country with lots of different sea conditions and temperatures. Most of my experience there has been based out of La Paz with winter temperatures in the upper 70s (3mm shorty).

 

[Diverspoint]

Ocean diving from PdC is pretty awful. Puerto morelos and Cozumel are much better.

Look us up on the net, can arrange ocean dives and cavern dives. Diverspoint puerto morelos. Lots of life and a great wreck here