Playa del Carmen Dive Report

[Ed Hatfield]

Morgan - Glad to see the dive reports back. Sure enjoyed the dives last week in Playa and also meeting your new staff. See you again in May (hopefully). This day job is really starting to interfere with my holiday time. FYI - I did a dive with Jorge (Chikik-Ha on site dive operation) to Dreamgate. If you haven't done it then you should add it your to-do list. Shallow dives that you can take nice and slow. Great formations and pristine conditions.

 

[clenaghen]

Hey Morgan! Glad to see the dive reports back. Gives me something to dream about while I am up here in this cold weather in Idaho.

How were the sharks this winter? One of these years I need to get down there during that time so I can experience that. Thanks again for the hospitality when I was there last Sept. Had a great time diving with you and your crew! One of these days I send you some of the pictures I took on our dives when I was there. Good times!

Chris

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

Hey Chris glad to hear you are enjoying the reports.

Today we went to Punta Venado. The wind was very slight out of the north east. Water temp around 80 degrees. Saw 4 old huge hawskbill turtles. This is great because generally we only see one to two at this sight so 4 was a great treat. The vis at 84' was well over 100 feet. What a day!!!

Dove in a rashy and a 3mm shorty. Same as yesterday afternoon on the training dives. The water is warming up nicely. Soon we'll be back to board shorts and rashys... I cant wait to work on my tan...hahaha

Going to Pared Verde tomorrow with a god group should be loads of fun. Will post tomorrow with an update.

 

[DeerCreekers]

Morgan- were going to be a group of 3 divers coming down Mid-june. Have dove Playa before with Yukatek divers and were very pleased. Would like to branch out and try a different shop. I'm going to look around your website. You may get tired of posting these updates, but for people who are stuck in other parts of the world, it really helps us to get a feel of a dive shop and it's people before making decisions with our pocket-book. Keep it up

 

[Cmaustin]

As another person following the dive reports in hope of finding a good dive op thanks so much. Looks like the girlfriend and I will be using Geofish on july when we decide to take a break from Cozumel.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

March 22nd 2010,

Went to Los Arcos and Cerebros on Monday. Had a good group with experience and the weather has been co-operating so we decided to go North. Bottomed out at 103' with great viz and not too much current. Saw three big moray eels as well as a huge school of permit hanging on top of the wall around 75' as soon as we got close they bolted for deeper water. It was quite a sight. Unfortunately I spotted a mature Lion Fish as well. Didn't bring any equipment to catch it so I just let it be. Second Dive was to Cerebros. Everybody always loves this dive. It is only about 38' max but the coral pinnacles and bommies there are amazing. It had rained the night before so the viz was only average but around here that is still pretty good. At least 50-60'. Saw tons of lobster, huge schools of grunt and snapper as well as one Hawksbill turtle. Everyone was good on air consumption and we were able to stay down for 54 minutes. A really good dive!!!

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

March 23rd 2010,

Had a bunch of students and first timers yesterday. Took them to Moche Shallow and Jardines. For those who have dove the area before you are probably thinking oh great Jardines again!!!! Well first off the viz was amazing right around 80'. In 38' of water this is spectacular. Moche was nice as usual. The amazing thing with this trip happened at Jardines. We were gearing up for our second dive and our captain spotted dolphins off in the distance. We all saw them and this was a very nice treat for the clients. However, this isn't the end of the story. The pod continued to come closer to the boat and we really started to get excited. Finally my excitement got the best of me and I had to jump in to attempt to swim with them. As I entered the water they dropped down and swam right below the boat. There were 5 adults and 1 baby. They swam near the bottom as I swam down towards them. I have never had the fortune to swim, or be that close to wild dolphins before. My heart was pounding and I swam as far I could with them while holding my breath. I went up for air and dove back down.They continued on there way and on the second dive I was only able to see them swimming peacefully away. What an experience!!! It all happened in about 45 seconds but was a memory of a lifetime. It was truly a lucky day for me, and all the people on the boat. Will remember yesterday for years to come.[/I]

 

[Ed Hatfield]

I was on a liveaboard (Blackbeards) out of Freeport in November, 2008, and we had a pod of 7-8 that stopped by the ship out on the Bahama Banks and stayed for about 45 minutes. 90% of the divers and crew were in the water with snorkel gear and the dolphins swam around and through the people in the water. AMAZING. The captain said that had happened to him only once before in something like 10 years of sailing. I had one come for a visit at depth (35 feet) and actually gave me a gentle nudge in Jamaica (Negril). It was January 8th, 2008, on Chinese Reef (checked my log book). Dolphins encounters are the dives/swims that really stick with you. AND I DON'T MEAN THE ONES IN PENS OR CAGES.

 

[Jax]

Thanks, Geofish! Would you tell us the current water temps in PDC? Thanks! :wavey:

 

[cpichette]

I was in PDC diving last week and my dive computer said the water temps were 78 down to about 100 ft.

Craig