Playa del Carmen?

[DiverDebbie]

Hola !
I'm doing some research for our next vacation and am thinking the Mayan Riviera. Being divers, of course our first thought was Cozumel, but I've been concerned about the diving conditions around there since the hurricane. It seems that most of you are reporting that it's still good, albeit a bit sandy. Since we'd like to make it a combination of all-inclusive be lazy on the beach, sight seeing the ruins... and diving, of course, we're thinking of the Playa del Carmen area. Actually, I've done the other side of Mexico but have always wanted to check out the Caribbean side.
One of my brother's and his wife went to an AI in Playa del Carmen in Jan. and say the area (top side anyway) wasn't affected much by the hurricane (except many palm trees look like toothpicks!). He's a novice diver and his wife has just done a couple of discover scuba's, so I have some questions for those of you more experienced with the area concerning the diving.

How feasible is it to take the ferry across to Cozumel to dive?
Do operators take you across from Playa del Carmen?
Is the diving in Playa del Carmen area itself worth while? If so, what specific areas?
Do any of the resorts cater to divers and have a reputable dive shop on site?
Can we shore dive from any of the resorts? ...or is all the diving boat diving?
Of course we plan to boat dive, but being able to take a nice little morning or night shore dive straight from the resort would be a nice plus... if it gets deep enough and there's some sort of reef.

Our last trip was to Maui and the gang in the Hawaii section were most helpful, so any tips on this part of Mexico would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[DET]

How feasible is it to take the ferry across to Cozumel to dive?

It's about $18 RT/per. - I suggest combining activities on the same trip.

Do operators take you across from Playa del Carmen?

I believe so, but, some do work with Coz operators, which means you take the ferry to meet them.

Is the diving in Playa del Carmen area itself worth while?

I only have a hand full of PDC dives. Expect wide open expanses of coral fields. There are the traditional reefs. Tortugas reef for the turtles is great. Punta Venado another great flat of coral.

If so, what specific areas? See above



Do any of the resorts cater to divers and have a reputable dive shop on site?

Can't help you there.

Can we shore dive from any of the resorts? ...or is all the diving boat diving?

Seems like most of the shore line is shallow quite aways out. Can't be more definitive here.


Of course we plan to boat dive, but being able to take a nice little morning or night shore dive straight from the resort would be a nice plus... if it gets deep enough and there's some sort of reef.
QUOTE]

 

[BuceoVerde]

Playa Del Carmen has some incredible Cenotes (underwater caverns) nearby that are beautiful. You can contact http://www.protecdiving.com for open water or guided cavern dives. Last I checked their website had some info on conditions following the hurricane. They are a bit more of a tech shop.

The Cozumel ferries are very accessible, take about 40 minutes and only cost a few dollars. They leave about every hour from downtown Playa. Just google on Cozumel Ferry.
The OW diving is very good in Cozumel. If you stay in Playa, I would plan on at least one dive there. Dive with Martin is very good on Cozumel. Generally, you just get the ferry over and then dive with someone on Cozumel. Let them know in advance that you are coming and where you want them to pick you up.

There's a lot more non-dive activities on the mainland than Cozumel. If I'm going for OW diving I go to Cozumel. But the caverns and caves near Playa are awesome!!!

Of course you could always switch it up and stay on Cozumel and then use the ferry to get over to Playa to go to the ruins and such.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I second that, check with ProTec.

Jeff

 

[DiverDebbie]

Thanks for your input. So it seems that taking the ferry across to Cozumel to dive is a very viable option, and most likely Coz is where we'd do most of our diving. We could just stay there I suppose, but we do want to make this vacation about more than diving (hmm... is there more than diving? hehe) ...and then there's the cenotes. I forgot to mention them, but yes, we absolutely want to try that! I kinda figured the shore diving there might be iffy. It was a bit of a challenge to get deep enough water from shore in Maui too, although we did manage some great little dives with turtles.
Anyway, thanks again, and I'll keep "lurking about" here. Researching the trip is half the fun