passedoutwookie
Contributor
Hi folks! I just finished my last day of diving in the Tulum/Playa area and wanted to type up a quick review for others who might be planning a trip.
We flew into Cancun and rented a car. I highly suggest renting a car. Being mobile makes things so much easier and while driving down here is a bit more “every man for himself” than in the states, it’s really not that difficult or different. Keep in mind the rental agency will require you to get their insurance, but the cost is still worth it.
We ended up staying in La Bahia condos in Akumal. We loved this area and highly recommend it for those who are more into low key/authentic travel. It feels safe and everyone is super friendly. It’s also very peaceful but within easy driving distance of Playa or Tulum. After getting the lay of the land and splurging on some touristy meals, we ended up going across the highway to Akumal Puebla for dinner every night. The food is very cheap and very good. We would generally come back from our day of diving, catch happy hour at Buena Vida for a rum drink or three, then head across the highway to meander down the street and pop into the little mom and pop places for empanadas, tacos, soups, and fresh juices or visit the street vendors for some Mexican street corn or some of their other delicious offerings. Once we had our food we would go sit in the park or the soccer field and take in the scene. We also visited Tulum on a couple afternoons. It was not really our vibe. Pricey, busy, loud, and everywhere is trying to be super trendy to the point of it being cliche. I’m sure Tulum is great for some, but we much preferred the quieter areas and were very happy we picked Akumal instead of Tulum to stay in.
As for the diving? Incredible… We came into this trip thinking we would do mostly cave and cenote diving but break it up with a few days of open water. We ended up spending our whole trip diving caves and cenotes and are still hungry for more! We went with Camilo at Divers Underground. It’s a small shop right on the highway just north of Akumal so it was super convenient for us. Camilo was excellent and a pleasure to dive with and hang out with. He is super knowledgeable about the area and a very good diver. He was very helpful in fine tuning our trim (we only dive steel at home so aluminums were a bit of an adjustment) and making some equipment suggestions. My girlfriend and I were both basic cave when we came down here, but ended up doing full cave with Camilo through TDI while we were here. It was great to get his perspective on cave diving since we have done all of our cave diving in North Florida. Camilo took us to some great off the beaten path cenotes as well as some of the favorites. He also fed us well and took us to some really great local restaurants. Divers Underground runs a great Instagram if you want to check them out there or their website is diversunderground.com. If you like you can PM me and I will send you Camilo’s WhatsApp number also. This was our first trip down here, so I can’t directly compare with other operations, but we were 100% satisfied with our decision to dive with Camilo and would recommend him to anyone. We are already planning our next trip! If you are a cave or cavern diver and you are considering this trip you have to do it. I’m sorry to say that it has spoiled us and while we love our regular spots in Florida, these places are a whole different level of amazing.
One more note, we didn’t realize it when booking but this is the slow season for the area (June). We really like that everything wasn’t too crowded. Be prepared for some heat and mosquitoes, but coming from the Deep South US, it wasn’t much different. Hope this helps someone and feel free to reach out with any questions.
We flew into Cancun and rented a car. I highly suggest renting a car. Being mobile makes things so much easier and while driving down here is a bit more “every man for himself” than in the states, it’s really not that difficult or different. Keep in mind the rental agency will require you to get their insurance, but the cost is still worth it.
We ended up staying in La Bahia condos in Akumal. We loved this area and highly recommend it for those who are more into low key/authentic travel. It feels safe and everyone is super friendly. It’s also very peaceful but within easy driving distance of Playa or Tulum. After getting the lay of the land and splurging on some touristy meals, we ended up going across the highway to Akumal Puebla for dinner every night. The food is very cheap and very good. We would generally come back from our day of diving, catch happy hour at Buena Vida for a rum drink or three, then head across the highway to meander down the street and pop into the little mom and pop places for empanadas, tacos, soups, and fresh juices or visit the street vendors for some Mexican street corn or some of their other delicious offerings. Once we had our food we would go sit in the park or the soccer field and take in the scene. We also visited Tulum on a couple afternoons. It was not really our vibe. Pricey, busy, loud, and everywhere is trying to be super trendy to the point of it being cliche. I’m sure Tulum is great for some, but we much preferred the quieter areas and were very happy we picked Akumal instead of Tulum to stay in.
As for the diving? Incredible… We came into this trip thinking we would do mostly cave and cenote diving but break it up with a few days of open water. We ended up spending our whole trip diving caves and cenotes and are still hungry for more! We went with Camilo at Divers Underground. It’s a small shop right on the highway just north of Akumal so it was super convenient for us. Camilo was excellent and a pleasure to dive with and hang out with. He is super knowledgeable about the area and a very good diver. He was very helpful in fine tuning our trim (we only dive steel at home so aluminums were a bit of an adjustment) and making some equipment suggestions. My girlfriend and I were both basic cave when we came down here, but ended up doing full cave with Camilo through TDI while we were here. It was great to get his perspective on cave diving since we have done all of our cave diving in North Florida. Camilo took us to some great off the beaten path cenotes as well as some of the favorites. He also fed us well and took us to some really great local restaurants. Divers Underground runs a great Instagram if you want to check them out there or their website is diversunderground.com. If you like you can PM me and I will send you Camilo’s WhatsApp number also. This was our first trip down here, so I can’t directly compare with other operations, but we were 100% satisfied with our decision to dive with Camilo and would recommend him to anyone. We are already planning our next trip! If you are a cave or cavern diver and you are considering this trip you have to do it. I’m sorry to say that it has spoiled us and while we love our regular spots in Florida, these places are a whole different level of amazing.
One more note, we didn’t realize it when booking but this is the slow season for the area (June). We really like that everything wasn’t too crowded. Be prepared for some heat and mosquitoes, but coming from the Deep South US, it wasn’t much different. Hope this helps someone and feel free to reach out with any questions.
