Please check this plan (Coz and Cenotes)

[*Floater*]

For those with lots of experience diving in Mexico please have a look at my plans. And tips and suggestions are welcome. I'm trying to save money, except my buddy does want to eat out time permitting.

In early September I'll fly to Cancun with my buddy. Our plane arrives just after 10am and we'll take a private car to Puerto Aventuras [edit: I meant Playa del Carmen] (buddy doesn't want to take a bus), and then we'll take the first available ferry to Coz. I figure we'll be there by 2pm latest, maybe earlier earlier if there's a noon ferry.

My buddy wants to stay in one of the downtown hotels, but we have not picked a place yet. [Suggestions?] So we'll check in some place cheap and head over to one of the dive centers to setup and maybe dive a little. We are hoping to do a shore dive to test the weighting and some new equipment. Run through the drills, etc. And then I'm hoping to catch a night dive.

Right now we are thinking of Dive with Martin, but that could still change. [Suggestions?] Transport is one issue. We might also dive independent doubles because my buddy needs some doubles experience for the cave class we are planning to take later on, and if I get a chance - if buddy wants to skip a dive (she's not tech certified) - then I'll try check out some of the deeper tech sites. I know Dive with Martin doesn't do tech, but I think they are associated with another tech dive center that could sort it out.

Okay, we'll spend another 3 days in Coz and we'll probably do 2-3 dives a day, but I'm hoping to do some shore diving just so I can teach my buddy the basic DIRF drills and kicks in prep for the cave stuff. Any sites I should ask to see, or should I trust the DM's to show us the good stuff? I'll probably bring my camera to most dives as well.

At the end of the 4th day in Coz we'll return to Puerto Aventuras. I'm not sure where to stay yet, but we'll take cavern/intro or NAUI cave 1 in Puerto Aventuras, so we may either go there, or stay someplace cheaper and just travel there each morning. What do you think? The plan is to spend 4 days on the course and another day doing guided cave dives. Also, I'll have to break in my 7mm wetsuit as that's what they recommended for the caves.

On the penultimate day we'll just tour Tulum, or maybe visit some other nearby sights. [Again suggestions are welcome]. Our flight leaves 2pm the next day. So what do you think?

 

[Divedoggie]

Alright!
First of all, you catch the ferry out of Playa del Carmen. There are 2 ferry companies with competitve prices and similar boats.

Check with some of the dive companies to see if they can give you a package deal with diving and lodging.
Try:
www.bluextseadiving.com
www.deepbluecozumel.com

They are my favorites, in that order.

Your 7mm will be great in the cenotes. I like Tajmahal and Dos Ojos. They are closer to Puerto Adventuras as you thought.
Tulum is really cool. Especially later in the day when most of the tourist busses have departed. Coba is great with a super tall pyramid and expansive ruins.

On Coz, I would recommend Palancar caves and Palancar Bricks, Columbia Shallow and Columbia deep, Punta Sur Cathedral, and Maricaibo shallow and deep.
The C-53 Wreck would be a great opportunity to practice your kicks and control as you wind your way through the different levels of the wreck.

Have a great time!!!!

 

[*Floater*]

Alright!
First of all, you catch the ferry out of Playa del Carmen. There are 2 ferry companies with competitve prices and similar boats.

Check with some of the dive companies to see if they can give you a package deal with diving and lodging.
Try:
www.bluextseadiving.com
www.deepbluecozumel.com

They are my favorites, in that order.

Your 7mm will be great in the cenotes. I like Tajmahal and Dos Ojos. They are closer to Puerto Adventuras as you thought.
Tulum is really cool. Especially later in the day when most of the tourist busses have departed. Coba is great with a super tall pyramid and expansive ruins.

On Coz, I would recommend Palancar caves and Palancar Bricks, Columbia Shallow and Columbia deep, Punta Sur Cathedral, and Maricaibo shallow and deep.
The C-53 Wreck would be a great opportunity to practice your kicks and control as you wind your way through the different levels of the wreck.

Have a great time!!!!

Thanks for the tips. I'll check those out. Also, we are going to Playa del Carmen from the airport, I made a typo with Puerto Aventuras, though that's later for the cave course.

 

[scubawife]

If you want tech oriented diving in Cozumel and to dive doubles, your best choices for that will be Yucatech www.yucatech.net/yucatechmain.htm Tech diving and Cave diving is their specialty. German Yanez is very well known and highly regarded.

The other tech shop on the island (a newcomer so not too much in reviews or info, but a couple people on the Cozumel board have tried them out) is Deep Exposure www.deepexposuredivecenter.com

If you want good recreational diving there are many great operators. It all depends on the type of service you want, type of boat and what price range you want to be in.

 

[TheRedHead]

Deep Exposure is in alignment with DIR so you may like them, but doubles are not common in Cozumel and it's probably not the ideal location for practice with them. You've got currents, sometimes ripping currents, with potential down currents. Most of the deco diving under 200 feet is mostly done with larger single tanks and stages. You can jettison a stage in a down dwelling current. Deep Exposure uses a larger, diesel boat which is rather slow compared to many of the other operators. On the other hand, they have scooters.

I like Casa Mexicana for downtown hotels.

 

[TampaJack]

Regarding keeping costs low... I suggest Alicia's Bed and Breakfast... $40 for two people including tax and great breakfasts.... I've stayed there twice and it's great. Rent a car $20 per day or so (check Orbitz or similar). Spend time on the east side of the island after diving, e.g. Mescalitos. Dive With Martin is the cheapest and they're just fine. I've done twenty dives with them.

 

[Pez de Diablo]

I dive with Blue XTC in a backplate and a long hose with a single tank, no problem.

I don't think you want to take the ferry each day from Cozumel to PA or Playa, besides the time, the cost is crazy.

If everything goes well, you should plan on 3 days for your cavern cert.

Dennis

 

[Augustus]

Dive Cozumel is another tec operation http://www.divecozumel.net/ which has a large supply of doubles. Cheap hotels downtown, Hotel Lopez on the square or the Aquilar which is next door to Yucatec.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

Are you nuts? Forget Coz...

Rent a Van... or better yet a Jeep... and drive to Tulum. Spend your whole week there doing cavern and intro!

Have you already arranged for an instructor?

 

[*Floater*]

Are you nuts? Forget Coz...

Rent a Van... or better yet a Jeep... and drive to Tulum. Spend your whole week there doing cavern and intro!

Have you already arranged for an instructor?

Well, the thing is that my buddy (who is also my GF) hasn't dove since March and has no doubles experience, so the idea is to do some fun diving in Coz (4 days) so she'll get used to it again and hopefully try out doubles - albeit just independents. Perhaps we can try them on some shore dives and practice some DIRF drills in prep for the cave training. We'll stay on the island for 3 nights.

Then we'll move down to Playa and we already have an instructor in mind who will teach us cavern and intro to cave or NAUI cave 1 and maybe we'll do a few guided cave dives after the course (that's 5 nights, 5 days). The last day we'll spend doing non-diving activities though not on my account.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Another question: Is it important to book a place (dive shop, hotel) in advance or is it better to just show up and look around?