Playa del Carmen Dive Report

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

The diving right now is the best I have seen it. There is so much life under the water right now that is truly like diving into the worlds greatest fish tank! From massive numbers of turtles, Eels, rays (eagle, southern, yellow, and electric), and Tarpon right now is prime diving season in Playa!!

June 8, 2009: Mama Vina

Today the water was a little bit choppy, but nothing too crazy. The water was still clear enough to see the wreck standing on the boat. The wind was blowing at about 10mph/9knots from the ESE and the temperature at the time of the dive was 80F/27C.

Mama Vina was the best that I have ever seen it. As we approached the wreck I could see 3 turtles heading for the surface and this huge cloud over the wreck. As we got closer we saw that the cloud was missive schools of Permits, Barracuda, and Horse-Eye Jacks. We got to the bow of the wreck and there on the starboard side were 4 turtles 3 hawksbill and 1 Loggerhead and the Loggerhead was chasing the Hawkabill's out of there. Really cool to see, but not so cool when he turned around and started charging to towards me and right before he reached me he stopped, bumped me and swam off. Really cool experience. Great dive and these types of dives at Mama Vina really show me why it is my favorite dive site. It is so diverse and there is always something different that you will see.

Putting the new boat in the water tomorrow and for Wednesday June 10th we are headed back to Tortugas and Sabalos.

 

[clenaghen]

Counting down to 3 months before my Playa trip. One question I have is do you primarily dive nitrox with your customers or regular air? I do not have my nitrox cert and want to know whether it is something I should get before I come down there.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

We offer Nitrox, but primarily we dive regular air. It is up to you about the Nitrox Cert. If you dive a lot plan on diving multiple time a day for consecutive days it is a nice thing to have. But if you are diving just on vacations a couple times a year it's not too necessary.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

June 25, 2009: Tortuga and Sabalos

Today the weather was great with the wind blowing at 7mph/6knots from the SE. The temperature at the time of the dive was 82F/28C.

Tortugas was great today. The visibility was around 100ft/30m. We saw 3 turtles, a school of about 20 Tarpon and a beautiful Eagle Ray. The current today was moderate and very manageable. Great dive and the diving is still very very good right now.

Right now the weather is looking like it is going to be changing dramatically starting tomorrow. You can go onto WindGURU: Weather forecasts for windsurfing, kitesurfing and other wind related sports and check the weather for Playa del Carmen as well as several destinations all over the world and is super reliable.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

July 7, 2009: Punta Venado and Barracuda

Today was very hot so it was a nice treat to take a tip in the sea. The temperature at the time of the dive was 86F/30C. The wind was blowing 9mph/8knots from the ESE. The wind picked up pretty nicely the further south we went and made for some pretty large swells. Great day for dive nonetheless.

Punta Venado was very nice today. The current was quite strong today as it has been for a couple days due to the full moons, but it was very manageable. Great coral formations, visibility and sea life make Punta Venado such a treat to dive. Towards the end of the dive we drifted right into a huge school of Horse Eye Jack, Barracuda, and Permit. Great dive!!

Barracuda was spectacular today. I really love diving here right now because it offers so much. There are turtles, eels, tons of fish, and the cool small things that you really have to look for like the Whitenose Pipefish. Today we saw one small Hawksbill turtle, several large Green Moray Eels, the last being the biggest. It is located in the last cave of Barracuda and it is always there. He/she is sleeping most of the time and looks like a giant green tree trunk in there, really cool. Super nice dive and tonight I will have a report on our night dive to Sabalos.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

July 24, 2009: Moche Deep and Moche Shallow

Today the weather is fantastic. No wind, a bit of cloud cover, and hot. The water was like glass this morning. At the time of our dive the temperature was 84F/29C and the wind was blowing from the ESE at 5mph.

Moche Deep was great today. It was so calm and pretty much no current. Visibility was awesome at 100+ ft. Tons of stuff to see today, Eels, Grouper, Cubera Snapper, Hawksbill Turtle, Barracuda, Lobster and lots of Silversides and Blue Chromis. Really nice dive and couldn't ask for better conditions. I really enjoy diving the reefs up North just because there typically aren't that many other divers. The reefs seem to be in great shape and there is so much to see right now. The wall dives here in PDC are a real treat.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

July 29, 2009: Tortuga and Barracuda

Today at the time of our dive the water was great, and the temp was 82F/28C. The wind was blowing from the ESE at 10mph/9knots. Great day for diving with Turtles.

Tortugas was awesome today, just full of turtles. We saw around 9-10 turtles all being Hawksbill except for one Loggerhead that almost scared Rick have to death. His mask fogged up and he didn't see it below him until it shot out from under him..........pretty funny. A lot of the turtles were ascending and descending for air and this was really cool for the divers to see. Several big Cubera Snapper, a huge Black Grouper and the always stunning Tarpon on our safety stop. Really nice dive!!!

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

Hey guys,

Sorry for the long absence of the dive report. Max went back to school and cant do them anymore. I on the other hand can and will try to keep you guys up to date with the latest conditions in Playa. Thanks for the helpful nudge ED

Dove the outer north reefs on Sunday as a special staff dive. We dove Maroma 12-14 meters, and Manchones 12-15 meters. Left around 7:30 with partly cloudy skies and a brisk wind out of the north east.

These reefs are in spectacular condition. First dive we saw three hawksbill turtles and at least ten to twelve stone crabs. Unfortunately there was also a fair share of Lionfish. Second dive included two juvenile hawksbill turtles as well as clouds of snapper and grunts.

The only thing that I could say wasn't spectacular about these dives was the vis. Probably only 12-14 meters at best. This is because of the increased number of cenotes that drain into the ocean in this area. I know for some divers from other areas of the world this would be amazing vis. We are spoiled here I know.

The reefs are so nice however, that we are thinking about inputing these into our offered dive sites. Weather and conditions permitting of course. We just put a new 250 hp motor on the Seagod and we arrived in just about 15-20 minutes. Before, the trip would have taken us around 35 minutes. It is going to cost a little more just for the gas but I think the people are going to go bonkers for these great reefs.

I will update more as soon as the harbor opens. It closed today and we are thinking tomorrow as well. Darn wind.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

March 11th 2010

Port opened up this morning but just barely. Open w/ Precaution is how the Harbor Master terms it. Waves on shore of about 3-4'. With a forecast of getting worse. The clients for the morning decided that with the conditions deteriorating they would rather head off to the cenotes. Two groups out in the cenotes this morning. One group to Taj Maha, and the other to Dos Ojos.

Trip planned to Tortugas tomorrow morning. Lets hope the weather breaks and we can get wet soon. We will keep you guys posted.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

March 12th 2010,

The Harbor opened up today and we finally got wet!!! We went to Tortugas, and Sabalos reefs today. Water is warming up nicely to 82 F. Saw four hawksbill turtles at Tortugas and the normal huge clouds of grunts and snapper at Sabalos. The group had a great time and was happy just to see that the port was open and the wind had finally calmed down. The weather has dramatically changed in the last couple days. Even with the wind be so strong the early part of the week, it was from the south and very warm. Today it is HOT with a very warm wind as well. Spring is here in the Caribbean and all of us here in the shop are looking forward to shedding the extra layers of wet suits and get back to warm water diving Only students in the afternoon tomorrow so we might do a staff dive somewhere in the morning. I will let everyone know.