Playa del Carmen

[Barry Goode]

Has anyone been diving Playa del Carmen? If so, how did it compare to Cozumel and other great dive sites?

 

[Scott Riemer]

Hi Barry,

My buddy and I have stayed in PDC the past 2 years with the wives(non-divers). We split our diving between the mainland and Cozumel. We dive on the mainland out of Puerto Morelos which is just a short trip from PDC. We dive with Dive Puerto Morelos. The reef structures are not to the scale of Cozumel but there is a lot of Marine life to see. We usually dive 3 days with them and the other 3 days we hop the morning ferry over to Cozumel and dive with Deep Blue.

In PDC, I've heard great things about Tank Ha Dive Center. Hope that helps and let me know if I can answer any other questions for you.

Scott

 

[kyley]

I'd like to piggy back on this thread - I'll be staying in PDC the week after next as well. Is PDC not as good as other areas? I like the convenience of diving locally, but if I'll get better diving in Puerto Morelos I'll go there (or possibly Cozumel).

I've done about 18 dives now (one in Mexico - Puerto Aventuras - good dive but didn't see a lot). I have only done 2 drift dives and 60' is about the deepest I've been (and no wall dives). I'll be by myself, so I'm not sure if I should try a deeper wall dive in Cozumel or not??

I remember hearing about Tank-Ha when I was reading here before my last Mexico trip (I did a cenote dive with Dennis from Diablo Divers which was great and an ocean dive with Aquanauts in Aventuras).

I see whale sharks are common in Holbox - are there any whaleshark encounters closer to PDC? If not, I'll do that next time we stay in Cancun

Whale sharks, manta rays, octopus, sea horses are a few of the many things I haven't encountered that I'd love to meet up with...

I've never done a night dive either - would PDC be a good spot for that? Thanks,
--Kyle
Vacation (and Dive) Photos

 

[Jim Baldwin]

Has anyone been diving Playa del Carmen? If so, how did it compare to Cozumel and other great dive sites?

There is good diving in front of Xcaret Marine Park. Lots of turtles and when the timing is right big schools of tarpon.

My wife is in Cozumel for the summer and a couple of weeks ago the dive op she was using decided to make a trip to PDC. Her and three others divers had two great dives. They found lots of turtles on the first dive and were then surrounded on the second dive by massive schools of big tarpon.

Cozumel has deep walls, swim throughs, flat reefs and more variety than PDC IMO. But the diving is good. You might also want to check a cenote dive since you're already so close.

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

I have been living and operating out of Playa del Carmen for four years, and I MUST say that there ARE mind-blowing dives here! Yes I do offer diving in Cozumeel too and dont get me wrong, the southern walls are magnificient, but here in Playa we definitley get bigger schools of fish and animals. I know where the seahorses hang out and I can put you down at 100 feet staring up at a rock pinnacle shrouded in huge schools of horsse eyed jacks and broadside jacks. Quite an amazing sight! From Playa del Carmen I would recommend this for the seasoned diver. Make threa days local Playa diving then one day Cozumel and one day in the cenotes. You get to sample the very best of what we have. It'll definitely leave you wanting more! Click here for a normal 7 day package from Playa del Carmen: http://www.fantaseadive.com/hotel-cielo-packages.php

 

[divingjd]

Playa is a pretty good dive destination, or a great vacation destination with pretty good diving, depending on how you look at it. Most people would not rank it as highly as Cozumel, Cayman, or other top dive destinations, but there are lots of animals. One thing no one has mentioned is the fact that Playa is exposed to the wind, so the harbor is more likely to close when the wind is up than Cozumel, where the resorts and dive sites are primarily on the leeward side of the island. A cenote dive is a great idea if you have enough experience to be comfortable in a relatively confined space and have good buoyancy control and one trip over to Coz is also a great idea. That is how I did my week in Playa: one day in Coz, one day in the cenotes, and three in the ocean off Playa. Tank Ha is an excellent operation. Abyss is pretty good too. Yucatek is great for cenotes and also offers ocean diving. Playa is a blast, with loads of great restaurants and things to do.

 

[Trainacomin]

I did 10 dives with Jason (Playacountryboy) last week. For all those who complain about large boats Jason is the way to go! His dives are private and prices are competitive.
As for seahorses he found a few for me. Tell him what you are looking for and he'll find it!
This is from my dive trip last week.

Clint

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

Awesome picuture, Clint! Thanks for the good words! Hope ya'll are doing all right! Talk to ya soon!

 

[GFiLA]

If you staying in Playa, or for that matter on Cozumel, you should definitely dive the cenotes. I went down to Playa about a month ago and the cenotes are something that I will not forget. Actually we iked it so much that we gave up a ocean dive for another cenotes dive. Dos Ojos and Choc Moal were the cenotes that we dove. It is something thta is unique to that area.

 

[scubajoh44]

Stay in Playa and you can have the best of all worlds. Hop over to Cozumel. Do the cenotes on the Riviera, go to Cancun, and Holbox for the whale sharks. And I must throw in there that my favorite reef in the area is Punta Venado. Cozumel is good, but you can have it all in Playa. Have fun.