mgardner13
New
I am only spending a few days in Playa del Carmen and want to know what the differences are in the 2 dive sites. I love to look at flora and fauna the most. Any recommendations? I am leaving on Thursday May 20th.
Playa del Carmen or Akumal Diving
- Thread starter mgardner13
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Take the ferry to Coz where you can't go wrong
Never dove Akumal but will be there this June. Check out Geofish website for PDC. They have a good interactive map for PDC. I recommend them as a operator. There is no diving at the Akumal beach but great snorkeling there. They charter outside the beach area. I will be using the Akumal Dive Shop for that dive.
Guba
Contributor
Ditto to what Pelagic said. The mainland side of the strait, while it does have good diving, doesn't really compare with the majority of the sites on the Cozumel side in terms of diversity and simple lushness. While a very few of the operators on the Playa del Carmen side will traverse the dozen miles necessary to get to some sites, the vast majority will keep you on the mainland side.
Hop the ferry and hook up with any of the many dive ops on the Cozumel side.
Hop the ferry and hook up with any of the many dive ops on the Cozumel side.
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I haven't dived off Playa del Carmen, but I wasn't blown away by the diving off Akumal at all.
I'd do the cenotes
I'd do the cenotes
OP
mgardner13
New
I should have mentioned that after my stay at PDC, I will be spending 4 days in Cozumel, where I do plan to dive a bunch. I also do have a cenote trip already scheduled.
I also want to do a night dive on PDC/Akumal as well as Cozumel. Any suggestions? I have never done a night dive and don't know what to expect. Any tips? Thanks so much.
I also want to do a night dive on PDC/Akumal as well as Cozumel. Any suggestions? I have never done a night dive and don't know what to expect. Any tips? Thanks so much.
paulw
Contributor
I have dove both and found they are about the same, I really like diving the mainland side but I didn't at first. When I started going to Playa I made a few dives there and didn't like it so I did as everyone is advising you to do and bought a ferry pass to Cozumel but a friend convinced me to try diving Playa again and I found if you use a good shop there is some very nice diving on the mainland side and I now dive half of my trip there but I don't know maybe I'm just easy to please. Cozumel diving is fun, Playa diving is fun, heck I have fun at home in Lake Travis where great vis is 10 ft
Oh yeah, the question : " Playa del Carmen or Akumal Diving "
To me Playa and Akumal are very close but Playa gets my vote.
Dive shops I like,
The Abyss :http://www.abyssdiveshop.com/
Fantasea : http://fantaseadive.com/
Oh yeah, the question : " Playa del Carmen or Akumal Diving "
To me Playa and Akumal are very close but Playa gets my vote.
Dive shops I like,
The Abyss :http://www.abyssdiveshop.com/
Fantasea : http://fantaseadive.com/
ecodiving tours
Registered
I would say the diving is about equal so just depends on your look that day. I would say if your satying in Playa it might be a bit less hassle to dive playa. Even though Akumal is not far and is cheap to get to.
Depending on your expirence I would recomend Mama vina in Playa which is a small shipwreck that will offer you something different. It has lots of life on and around the wreck and for the second dive you could do sabalos which during the summer huge schools of tarpon can be seen, i seen them saturday as big as 5ft.
For a night dive the shallow reefs of playa are perfect for begginers at night diving. Make sure you have torches and a back up ofcourse and i would recomend something that glows in the dark for you and your buddy so you can identify each other and glow sticks can be helpfull to. My favourite thing at night are the octopus so keep your fingers crossed for them.
Hope you have an awsome trip
Ecodiving
Depending on your expirence I would recomend Mama vina in Playa which is a small shipwreck that will offer you something different. It has lots of life on and around the wreck and for the second dive you could do sabalos which during the summer huge schools of tarpon can be seen, i seen them saturday as big as 5ft.
For a night dive the shallow reefs of playa are perfect for begginers at night diving. Make sure you have torches and a back up ofcourse and i would recomend something that glows in the dark for you and your buddy so you can identify each other and glow sticks can be helpfull to. My favourite thing at night are the octopus so keep your fingers crossed for them.
Hope you have an awsome trip
Ecodiving
driftwood
Contributor
I would go with PDC over Akumal. The middle and outer reefs in the Akumal area are in very bad shape due to algae and fishing. The only reason we like to stay in Akumal is that my wife loves the beaches and it is closer to the major cenotes.
In addition the Akumal Dive Shop is the last shop in the area that I would use. You can do a lot better with either the Akumal Dive Center (just down the beach from ADS) or Akumal Dive Adventures on Half Moon Bay. We have seen ADS take discover divers out on regular chartered dives with 1 DM, 10 certified divers and 2 discover divers. It may pass PADI rules, but it seems to me to be an accident looking for a time to happen.
In addition the Akumal Dive Shop is the last shop in the area that I would use. You can do a lot better with either the Akumal Dive Center (just down the beach from ADS) or Akumal Dive Adventures on Half Moon Bay. We have seen ADS take discover divers out on regular chartered dives with 1 DM, 10 certified divers and 2 discover divers. It may pass PADI rules, but it seems to me to be an accident looking for a time to happen.
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