Playa Del Carmen and New Diver - Advice

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I have used Abyss in Playa and Blue Angel in Coz for over 14 years. Both are excellent.
 
If you change your mind about Cozumel the first ferry heads over at 0645 and you can be in Cozumel by 0715 -0720. My LDS (Tres Pelicanos, but there are more downtown) is a 6-7 minutes walk from the pier and they provide transportation from the shop downtown to the marina @ 0745 for the daily 0800 morning dive boat. If everything is set up in advance by email (release forms, equipment required and C card copies) it is doable for without an overnight stay. After diving they can usually get you to the pier for the 1300 ferry or worst case if you miss it you could have lunch and catch the 1400.
 
I dove with Scuba Playa in September and thought they were great. There is also a shop called Playa Scuba which also has excellent reviews but their listed prices don't seem to include everything. It's tough to pick when so many shops have great reviews.

I found the local diving from Playa del Carmen to be quite good, but, like others have said, it isn't Cozumel.
 
Hello Don.

I would say, first of all would be interesting to know in wich resort are you going to stay. Most of them have a.dive center allready from where they can organize trips to Cozumel, cenotes or reef diving in Playa.

My recommendation is that you do a few dives in playa before heading to Cozumel or Cenotes.

The reason. I would.recommend you to get some experience before those trips.

Cozumel has strong currents and some of its best dive sites are a bit deep. If you strait go straight to Cozumel you risk that they take you to less spectacular dive sites.

Cenotes, normally dive centers ask for some experience or at least a few dives with them before taking you there.
Anyway I strongly recommend you to try them. It is something you will never experience anywere else in the world. For begginers i recommend you Chack Mool or Dos Ojos.

Aswell now is supposed to be bull shark season in playa del carmen so for sure you find a dive center that can take you for a Bull Shark excursion.

I hope this helps you a bit.

I strongly recommend you tk.read this article:

Top Diving Destinations: Riviera Maya
 
Update...Ended-up running down to Xpu-Ha to Bahia Divers. Nice small shop and some nice reef dives. All the shops down here are in full Bull Shark mode and very busy. Very good service and lots of patience for a new ocean diver like me. We are going back down on Friday or some more fun.
 
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