New Divers in Playa del Carmen area

[Vetscalpel]

My family will be spending a week in mid February at Xpu Ha. My 3 daughters will be doing their open water certification dives through a PADI referral. I would appreciate recommendations as to who I should contact so that their first experience diving is a good one. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[DET]

I don't have a good answer for your location. You are about 25 kilometers south of PDC and 15 Kilometers north of Akumal. Both locations have dive shops. I don't know about locations in between. The resort may have something on site, which may cost a little more. Maybe Puerto Aventuras has a shop. It's about 6 kilometers north of you. Good luck!

 

[dlndavid]

Hey Vetscalpel,
Welcome to SB. I'm sure you will get lots of good advice on dive ops in the PDC area.
I did my OW cert referral in Cancun, and returning mid Feb for my AOW. Good luck.
David

 

[francousteau]

Hello Vetscalpel,

We've just returned from PDC and I can give you the highest recommendation for Dennis Weeks, who is mentioned often in this forum. His contact info is: dennis@diablodivers.com and you can view his page at http://www.diablodivers.com

We did 4 boat dives with him and 2 cenotes dives. Many things make Dennis unique, from coming to your hotel for pickup/dropoff, to helping you with bouyancy issues, to being a fantastic guide. IMHO, if you're diving in the PDC area, Dennis is the way to best enjoy your diving experience. He will absolutely ensure that your daughters 1st experience is both safe and enjoyable.

 

[AmyJ]

I would second the vote for Dennis!! He is fabulous!

 

[WyDive]

another vote for Dennis
Divng with Dennis on Wed Feb 23rd for Cenotes
I have heard nothing but GOOD about him.
Looking forward to 10 days in Coz an PDC
Have Fun
Rick

 

[Vetscalpel]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been talking to a few of the dive operations in the area. I'll let you know how we make out.

 

[STOGEY]

Well having just come back from PDC. I dove with two operations, Tank-Ha, and Seal life. The are both very good and very safe. For your daughters or daughter's experience I think both of these would be good. I'd also look into the Abyss dive shop that is near the Playa Maya that is right next to the peer that doesn't have any ships using it yet.

The prices are all very similar within I'd say about 5 to 10 bucks.

 

[Skipraha]

I stayed at Adventuras Spa Palace last year and did a day trip down to XPH. They have a dive site on premise. I was not / did not get certified on site (that's happening in 3 weeks or so on this year's trip) so I cannot comment on the operation. However, there is a GREAT lagoon / cove to snorkle / swim in. It would also be great to dive in. My brother and I throught we saw a couple of tarpons and we saw a great abundance of tangs, sargent majors etc in the area. There is also another "lake" on premise that flows into the cove underground. This "lake" also has some fish, but they also have platforms and no current for doing your drills. This is where the dive op is located, so for learning, it may not be cheap, but it will be convenient. I cannot talk about the service, but since you are a ways south of PDC / Puerto Adventuras, it may be the way to go for certs.

Just my 2 cents.

DOn

 

[TammyF]

Has anyone used both Tank-Ha and Dennis at Diablo Divers?
If so, how would they compare? We are setting up a last minute
trip to Playa, both before and after Cozumel, and found that
Tank-ha has lodging space. Would it be a problem for us to
stay at Tank-ha but use Dennis? Thanks for any advice.