tlmainer
Contributor
Well, I just got home from a week in Playa Del Carmen (we usually stay in Cozumel). I booked with Jason @ Fantaseadive after discussions on the Board with him. He was quick to respond to emails. I could not give him an exact dive schedule due to my wife always getting sinus problems right before we go on vacation and we also had some friends (a father/son) who were going to do their check out dives for OW certification with Jason. I told him that I wanted to do 2 two tank dives in Playa, 2 in Coz and 2 cenotes. I am already OW certified with approx 50 dives before the trip. The last email correspondence I had w/Jason was to meet at his shop, Calle 2 and the beach on Monday morning.
We took a taxi from Grand Coco Bay for $3 which dropped us at 5th Avenue which was very close to his shop. Jason met us and after the father/son going over their paperwork and classroom on the beach we headed off for our first day of diving. My first diving trip since January in Cozumel.
Day 1 Dive 1:
Tortugas Deep:
97' max/58' avg, water temp 82, viz 50'-60', 1 knot drift, bottom time 50 minutes
Jason and I hit the water while the father/son group went in with Sean and did their own, shallower dive. Lot's of turtles, large ray, barracuda, 6' green eels, cowfish, angelfish, trunkfish. No other divers, just me and Jason.
Day 1 Dive 2:
Barracuda:
46' max/32' avg, water temp 82, viz 50'-60', 1 knot drift, bottom time 70 minutes
Jason and I hit the water while the father/son group went in with Sean and did their own dive. We could see them since this was shallower per/check out dive requirements and actually dove together part of the time.
Saw my first seahorse, large & small eels, huge crab, lobsters, tons of flamingo tongues, plume worms (christmas trees) and beautiful color reef. Saw more turtles, huge schools of grunts, parrotfish, giant angelfish, cowfish, trunkfish, hogfish and all the typical reef fish. Jason let me deploy my SMB (for my first time). The line on the finger spool hung up (for a split second) on the double ender so I let it go (as discussed in the boat before the dive) but it dropped back down to me and we ascended, and hung on to spool for safety stop. That was fun. No other divers, just me and Jason.
Day 2 Dive 1
Moc'Che Shallow:
44' max/31'avg, water temp 82, 1 knot drift, bottom time 74 minutes
Again, father/son and Sean did their own thing but we did dive together some.
6' green eel, butterflyfish, trumpetfish, parrotfish, rock beautyfish, squirrelfish, large schools of grunts, filefish, nice color reef, green brain coral, large conch shells on bottom, small swim through. Tons of typical reef fish. No other divers, just me and Jason. Used SMB/spool without a hitch.
Day 2 Dive 2:
Jardines:
Again, father/son and Sean did their own thing, we did hook up at one point. First time to see a small, approx 3" banded pipefish, 2 rays, octopus, tons of grunts & horse-eyed jacks, green & black/white spotted eels, tons of plume worms, flamingo tongues, all the above fish and great color reef. No other divers, just me and Jason. Used SMB/spool without a hitch.
Day 3 Dive 1:
Cozumel-Santa Rosa Wall:
85' max/49' avg, water temp 82, typical Coz drift, bottom time 51 minutes
I met Jason at the ferry and we were picked up in Coz by the dive boat. Jason and I exited first as there were other divers with their DM on the boat but we were on our own.
The wall is just unbelievable with the immense size of it. Many, many swim throughs were the highlight for me! I had done this dive before.
Day 3 Dive 2:
Cozumel-Paradise:
44' max/34' avg, water temp 82, typical Coz drift, bottom time 56 minutes
Saw 2 more seahorses, one was bigger and had a belly (looked like it was pregnant) and another banded pipefish. I have done this dive before twice.
This dive is a must for anyone going to Coz, great color, tons of all the types of fish.
Day 4 Dive 1:
Mama Vina:
90' max/61' avg, water temp 82, stiff current, bottom time 41 minutes
After a week of sinus problems, my wife felt as though (the night before) she would be able to dive. I was set with Jason to do cenotes today. I called him last night and changed to local Playa dives thinking my wife could dive today. Needless to say, she woke up feeling bad again so we went ahead with local dives again without her.
This is a sunken 85' liveaboard @ 90'. We drifted to the wreck, penetrated and exited several times and re-entered several times ending up at the captains area. Drifted away from the wreck to small reef, tons of barracuda, atlantic spadefish, horse eyed jacks, 2 hawks beak turtles.
Day 4 Dive 2:
Barracuda/Sabalos:
46' max/34' avg, water temp 82, good current, bottom time 74 minutes
We were on the boat, waiting to start my last dive of the trip when we heard someone yell "whale shark." Sure enough, about 30' from us was an 8' whale shark, must have been lost. There were 4-5 other boats from other dive op's there also and everybody just starting jumping in the water and boats were pulling anchors to take off to try to get a better look. As fast as it happened, about 30 seconds, it was gone. What a way to finish my dive week. I had never seen one before so it was exciting!
We hit the water and the drift seemed to be faster than Day 1 and we finished Barracuda AND Sabalos reef. Along the way, we saw the same great color and fish that we had seen previously on day 1. Deployed my SMB/reel again with no problems.
What a great week of diving! I only regret not getting to do the cenotes (next trip for sure). The one on one treatment I got from Jason was a first for me. Plenty of time on the boat and ferry to ask dive questions and just talk about the world and whatever in general.
You can have a great time diving in Playa with lots of color and fish. I think we actually saw more and bigger fish in Playa than in Coz.
We took Jason and Sean out to dinner the last night @ El Fogon, told stories, laughed, drank some Dos XX's and had a great time.
I have found my dive op in Playa and just as importantly, I have found a friend.
I WILL be back...
I will also post some pic's later.
Tom
We took a taxi from Grand Coco Bay for $3 which dropped us at 5th Avenue which was very close to his shop. Jason met us and after the father/son going over their paperwork and classroom on the beach we headed off for our first day of diving. My first diving trip since January in Cozumel.
Day 1 Dive 1:
Tortugas Deep:
97' max/58' avg, water temp 82, viz 50'-60', 1 knot drift, bottom time 50 minutes
Jason and I hit the water while the father/son group went in with Sean and did their own, shallower dive. Lot's of turtles, large ray, barracuda, 6' green eels, cowfish, angelfish, trunkfish. No other divers, just me and Jason.
Day 1 Dive 2:
Barracuda:
46' max/32' avg, water temp 82, viz 50'-60', 1 knot drift, bottom time 70 minutes
Jason and I hit the water while the father/son group went in with Sean and did their own dive. We could see them since this was shallower per/check out dive requirements and actually dove together part of the time.
Saw my first seahorse, large & small eels, huge crab, lobsters, tons of flamingo tongues, plume worms (christmas trees) and beautiful color reef. Saw more turtles, huge schools of grunts, parrotfish, giant angelfish, cowfish, trunkfish, hogfish and all the typical reef fish. Jason let me deploy my SMB (for my first time). The line on the finger spool hung up (for a split second) on the double ender so I let it go (as discussed in the boat before the dive) but it dropped back down to me and we ascended, and hung on to spool for safety stop. That was fun. No other divers, just me and Jason.
Day 2 Dive 1
Moc'Che Shallow:
44' max/31'avg, water temp 82, 1 knot drift, bottom time 74 minutes
Again, father/son and Sean did their own thing but we did dive together some.
6' green eel, butterflyfish, trumpetfish, parrotfish, rock beautyfish, squirrelfish, large schools of grunts, filefish, nice color reef, green brain coral, large conch shells on bottom, small swim through. Tons of typical reef fish. No other divers, just me and Jason. Used SMB/spool without a hitch.
Day 2 Dive 2:
Jardines:
Again, father/son and Sean did their own thing, we did hook up at one point. First time to see a small, approx 3" banded pipefish, 2 rays, octopus, tons of grunts & horse-eyed jacks, green & black/white spotted eels, tons of plume worms, flamingo tongues, all the above fish and great color reef. No other divers, just me and Jason. Used SMB/spool without a hitch.
Day 3 Dive 1:
Cozumel-Santa Rosa Wall:
85' max/49' avg, water temp 82, typical Coz drift, bottom time 51 minutes
I met Jason at the ferry and we were picked up in Coz by the dive boat. Jason and I exited first as there were other divers with their DM on the boat but we were on our own.
The wall is just unbelievable with the immense size of it. Many, many swim throughs were the highlight for me! I had done this dive before.
Day 3 Dive 2:
Cozumel-Paradise:
44' max/34' avg, water temp 82, typical Coz drift, bottom time 56 minutes
Saw 2 more seahorses, one was bigger and had a belly (looked like it was pregnant) and another banded pipefish. I have done this dive before twice.
This dive is a must for anyone going to Coz, great color, tons of all the types of fish.
Day 4 Dive 1:
Mama Vina:
90' max/61' avg, water temp 82, stiff current, bottom time 41 minutes
After a week of sinus problems, my wife felt as though (the night before) she would be able to dive. I was set with Jason to do cenotes today. I called him last night and changed to local Playa dives thinking my wife could dive today. Needless to say, she woke up feeling bad again so we went ahead with local dives again without her.
This is a sunken 85' liveaboard @ 90'. We drifted to the wreck, penetrated and exited several times and re-entered several times ending up at the captains area. Drifted away from the wreck to small reef, tons of barracuda, atlantic spadefish, horse eyed jacks, 2 hawks beak turtles.
Day 4 Dive 2:
Barracuda/Sabalos:
46' max/34' avg, water temp 82, good current, bottom time 74 minutes
We were on the boat, waiting to start my last dive of the trip when we heard someone yell "whale shark." Sure enough, about 30' from us was an 8' whale shark, must have been lost. There were 4-5 other boats from other dive op's there also and everybody just starting jumping in the water and boats were pulling anchors to take off to try to get a better look. As fast as it happened, about 30 seconds, it was gone. What a way to finish my dive week. I had never seen one before so it was exciting!
We hit the water and the drift seemed to be faster than Day 1 and we finished Barracuda AND Sabalos reef. Along the way, we saw the same great color and fish that we had seen previously on day 1. Deployed my SMB/reel again with no problems.
What a great week of diving! I only regret not getting to do the cenotes (next trip for sure). The one on one treatment I got from Jason was a first for me. Plenty of time on the boat and ferry to ask dive questions and just talk about the world and whatever in general.
You can have a great time diving in Playa with lots of color and fish. I think we actually saw more and bigger fish in Playa than in Coz.
We took Jason and Sean out to dinner the last night @ El Fogon, told stories, laughed, drank some Dos XX's and had a great time.
I have found my dive op in Playa and just as importantly, I have found a friend.
I WILL be back...
I will also post some pic's later.
Tom
