Recommendations for Cozumel/Cnote/Shark dive

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drdfblackm

drdfblackm

Registered
Messages
16
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3
Location
Flagstaff AZ
# of dives
100 - 199
My friend and I are planning a trip to Cancun/Cozumel. He has dove Planacar Reef. We are trying to find really good dive shops which I know there are plenty down there. Our main concern is we only have 2 days of diving so we are looking to find flexibility in case there is bad weather. Our goal is to dive the Cozumel reefs, see the sharks near Playa del Carmen and dive a couple of cenotes. Can you please suggest a great dive operation that can accomplish those 3 things. Also, we would like to have a more personal experience and avoid the huge huge dive boats. Thanks for any advice you can offer.
 
drdfblackm:
My friend and I are planning a trip to Cancun/Cozumel. He has dove Planacar Reef. We are trying to find really good dive shops which I know there are plenty down there. Our main concern is we only have 2 days of diving so we are looking to find flexibility in case there is bad weather. Our goal is to dive the Cozumel reefs, see the sharks near Playa del Carmen and dive a couple of cenotes. Can you please suggest a great dive operation that can accomplish those 3 things. Also, we would like to have a more personal experience and avoid the huge huge dive boats. Thanks for any advice you can offer.
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You won't be able to do all that with a single op; in fact, I have my doubts that you'll be able to do all that at all in just two dive days.
 
Hit the search function...your answers await you within.
 
Not sure what you mean by "flexibility" in case of bad weather if you only have 2 days of diving. In Cozumel, if the port is closed for weather it is closed for all. I don't know if PDC ocean is subject to being "closed" but all the ops are going to have similar standards. In any event, it seems as if it is your schedule that doesn't have flexibility to adjust for weather.

As per above, you are looking at 3 dive days. Cenotes is pretty much a full day. Going to Coz would be a full day. Given that 2 of your 3 items are in PDC, you should probably stay over there. A number of PDC ops offer mixed packages that include just what you seek - 1 ocean, 1 cenote, and 1 Cozumel trip. But it will take 3 diving days.

Staying in PDC will at least offer you the flexibility to maybe jump onto a trip to cenotes last minute if the ocean is too rough.
 
Most dive shops have been more than able to accommodate what I am referring to, but I may not be explaining it very well. Dive shops have said that on the ocean dive they could do reef in the morning and a shark dive in the afternoon. And Cenote the next day.

The part I am looking for help with is I am getting 100 different shades of blue on the dive shops. So I am looking for people that have had experience good or bad with the dive shops around there. Just looking for someone to say this dive shop is the best...smaller, well put together, good gear and very friendly.....or conversely...we used this dive shop and they were not that great, or they were not friendly or their gear was like 15 years old.

Just stuff like that to help sort out the shades of blue with all the dive shops.
 
You'll get 100 different shades of "this shop is the best". Everyone has their favorites and there are many top quality ops. Smaller, well put together, good gear and very friendly is something I could say about every dive op I've used in Coz.

Where are the shops saying they can do reef in morning and sharks in afternoon, Coz or PDC? I'm assuming the sharks are the bull shark dives that take place in PDC. I'm not too keen on crossing the channel in a small panga. One of the earlier Coz ops is DWM who starts at 7:30am and even then you're lucky to be back at marina by noon. You won't be catching ferry until 1pm which means getting to PDC shop around 2pm. If one will run that late then maybe you can make a reef and a shark dive in one day.

But you want names so here are some names I have used and like. On Coz - Tres Pelicanos, Dive With Martin, Blue XT Sea, and Aldora. On PDC - Dive Mike and Tank Ha. I used Dive Mike most recently for a PDC reef and a cenote trip.
 
Seconded the rec for Tank Ha; they have a boat to go to Cozumel, an eco-friendly (non-feeding) bull shark dive, and they do cenotes. That said, I was there recently for a lot longer than 2 days and didn't get to do Cozumel because of the weather, so it's your expectations, not the dive shop, that needs to be flexible. (They were flexible enough to work around the weather to get me some great dives regardless, just not on Cozumel.) I am also skeptical that you can do Coz and sharks in one day (cenotes is definitely a full day), but I wish you luck.
 
That's kinda why I am looking for this feedback.....with some dive shops saying they can make A, B and C happen and then not being able to do it would be very disappointing. My buddy is the one that has been talking to the dive shops...and I have had enough experience to know that all the dive shops are fighting for business so they might say something that may only be partially true and then be super apologetic....had that happen in Turks and Caicos.

Mainly just want really good diving and I keep hearing Cenote is really awesome so that's what I am most excited about.
 
Cenotes aren't so dependent on weather, so you should be able to at least make that happen if you prioritize it. But I don't think it's a good idea to show up with only two days to dive and three completely separate must-dive locations, one of which is frequently off the table due to mildly adverse weather (the kind that doesn't stop you from enjoying a day at the beach). You're looking for a dive shop that will promise you the moon but you've already got your hackles up about dive shops that over-promise and under-deliver. Try going in with an open mind and low expectations, and see if you can still have fun without getting everything you came for.
 
I hear what you are saying. And I agree with you. My buddy has new diver syndrome.....he wants to experience as much as possible and well I'm kinda going along for the ride. I haven't been diving for a while until recently. I mean back when I was initially trained I had the same, went diving almost every weekend whether it was a spring or quarry in Indiana or the Keys....got out of it when I moved to Arizona 13 years ago. Now that I am back in because I have a dive buddy I want to go to some places I have not been....laugh if you want but no I have not been to Cozumel.

That's why there is kind of 2 stories going on.....in the end we do have a limited window for this trip, but it will not be our only trip this year. This is just a quick guys trip. Our families will be joining us on the upcoming trips.

So in the end we will have a good time regardless.
 
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