Playa Del Carmen vs Cozumel for AOW

[teartear]

hello all!

so i'm an OW diver, and am heading to mexico much later in the year for some diving. i'm trying to decide where to do my AOW and nitrox course.

originally, i was planning to do it in PDC, head to cozumel, as the diving is deeper there and i'll need my AOW, and then head back to PDC at the end for some cenote diving (once my buoyancy is slightly improved). however, is the diving at PDC worth it? would a better option be to do my AOW on cozumel and just spend a few more days there doing additional dives, avoiding PDC diving altogether?

if anyone can also recommend some dive shops out of PDC/cozumel, that would be great! i'm heavily interested in the cenotes (among other things of course) and would like the best experience possible there. would i be best going with someone like cenotexperience, who seem to cater primarily towards the cenotes? i'd like to stick with the same shop for PDC/cenote though, so perhaps an all round operator would be better.

thanks, and apologies for all the questions!

 

[mheaster]

Dive Mike

 

[lthomas132]

I did my AOW in Cozumel with Aldora Bienvenidos - Aldora Divers | Only the best of Cozumel. Do your e-learning then do the dives Bienvenidos - Aldora Divers | Only the best of Cozumel. Cozumel is much more interesting diving than PDC, although there is far less currents to deal with in PDC. I would recommend Fantasea Diving Diving Playa Del Carmen, Dive Center, Cenotes, Tech and full Cave diving with Jason Sartain. It would be one-on-one instruction and he does great cenote dives also.

 

[cb5150]

Either spot you can't go wrong. Lucky!

 

[pico1]

Just got back from my third trip to PDC/Coz, we just got married there on the beach! Coz has great wall and drift dives, definitely worth the trip. I wouldn't bother doing open water dives in PDC, all shallow reefs, nothing too special. But DO NOT miss the cenotes! I've done 6 total now and I love it every time! Just to make sure you know what you're in for, cenote dives are not cavern dives, you do penetrate the cave. Not as crazy as a full penetration, but you do go more then 10m down and 10m in, and often do run into a halocyne (salt and fresh water mix), that makes it look like you're swimming in olive oil. Not trying to scare you out of it, like I said, DO NOT miss the cenotes! Enjoy your trip!

 

[scubamarketing]

I took my girlfriend to Playa del Carmen and did her AOW there. I really prefer the variety being based in PDC over Coz. While the PDC reefs aren’t as nice as Coz, they aren’t too far off and the cenotes are amazing.

We did several of the dives in cenotes, which is nice because it always seems like cenote diving days go a little bit faster than reef diving days, so if you want to do other stuff afterwards, PDC is the way to go. Regardless, if you’re looking for anything other than diving, PDC is my choice.

My friends at [URL="http://planetscubamexico.com”]Planet Scuba Mexico[/URL] helped me to organize all the logistics, so they can definitely put together a great class for your trip. Whichever way you go, have a great time!

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'd recommend Coz over PDC as the reefs are MUCH more spectacular. But as others have said, dive the cenotes as well.

 

[teartear]

Thanks for all the responses, especially the operation recommendations!

I'm still torn between PDC and coz for my AOW. while the responses here seem to indicate coz is overall the better option, perhaps the currents and depth in coz might make it somewhat more challenging (as i haven't dived for a year or so), and so i might be better off doing my AOW in PDC at the shallower/easier sights, then heading to coz for the majority of diving. though i'll probably email a couple of operations and see what their take on it is, as biased as they will likely be.

also, cenotes are top on my list this trip! there is absolutely no way i would miss out on them!

 

[seanwebb]

If the only reason to gain your aow cert is to be allowed to dive the coz reefs, I wouldn't go to the trouble. Ow cert will take you to all but a few of the dive sites available off the island.


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[PeterNBiddle]

Our first 2 trips to Coz were based on OW - and my scuba buddy did her OW classroom in Seattle and all her OW ocean diving in Coz. She sez "had I done it (the OW diving) in Utila it might have been a little less stressful but it didn't make me a worse diver".

I don't think I would have been as enthusiastic about doing OW in Coz if I'd dived there myself previously, but it worked out fine and I think we are better divers for the experiences we've had in Coz.

Your teachers should be perfectly equipped to ensure you can do AOW in Coz if that's the direction you decide to go.