OliveDiver
Registered
Hey all,
I'm a frequent reader but rare poster on SB. I've appreciated all the reviews and advice about dive ops and sites for the past four years. I figured it was time that I return the favor. To start out, I have no relationship with this op, just wanted to share my experience.
We've been in Cozumel this week and had planned in advance to do a day trip over to Playa Del Carmen to do a day of cenote diving. We chose cenote xperience based on other reviews. Once we got here, Hurricane Zeta hit and we rescheduled our cenote day for a few days later which they were happy to accommodate.
We took the first ferry to PDC from Coz (0700) and got picked up by Carlos, our guide/DM for the day. He was on time and easy to find in front of the Senor Frogs. We made a quick stop at the dive shop to fill out some paperwork before heading to Tulum. He drove us in a truck, with the gear in the back, and following Covid protocols (masks on in the vehicle). My husband and I just really enjoyed Carlos- great conversation, lots of laughs, answered all sorts of questions I had about cenotes, cavern/cave diving, his diving experience, etc. I always thing people in the dive industry are interesting to talk to but Carlos was really tops.
Once we got to the first cenote (The Pit) he did a thorough dive briefing and explained what we would do, what we would see, hand signals, all that. The dive was incredible. Our first time in a cenote and it did not disappoint. I was glad to have such a thorough briefing as I was surprised at how tall the halocline layer was and how blurry your vision gets when you're in it.
We ate some yummy sandwiches on the surface interval, and did two more dives in Dos Ojos (Batcave and Barbieline). Carlos was so fun on the surface intervals and incredibly calm and reassuring during the dives. It was fun to follow him through the cenotes- he's the only cave diver we've ever dove with (maybe they're all this good?) but his buoyancy was perfect and it was neat to watch him do his thing. He pointed out fossils as we went, and we covered our torches a few times to just enjoy the gorgeous colors of the filtered light coming through.
At the end of the dives we drove back up to PDC and caught the 5pm ferry. It was a very slick day- a lot of diving in with a top notch dive op and DM.
A few other details-
-We brought our masks, fins, boots, torches, computers, and wetsuits (full 3mm). From the shop we rented BCDs, regs, and shortie wetsuits to wear over our full 3mms. The rental gear was all in good shape.
-We tend to run cold, in retrospect we should have brought our hoods and sharkskins for extra thermal protection in addition to the wetsuits. It was about 76-78 degrees F in the cenotes.
- We used Nitrox on all three dives.
-If we were staying in PDC, it would have been better to get started earlier. We were limited by the timing of the first ferry. When we arrived to The Pit around 930 or so, another group was getting out- they basically had the cenote to themselves. While the cenote is huge it never felt crowded, several other groups arrived when we did and it would have been nice to be the only ones. The Dos Ojos cenotes you follow a circuit, we passed only one other dive group on those cenotes although there were some snorkelers/swimmers about.
Anyway, TL/DR, if you're staying on Cozumel I highly recommend taking a trip over to get a sample of the cenotes for at least a day- the day trip is very doable with the ferry times. I can't say enough about Carlos and Cenote Xperience, of my ~250 dives or so in different settings and countries, he is definitely in my top 2-3 DMs ever. Calm, safety conscious, a good guide, and a fun guy to spend a few hours in a truck with.
Cheers,
OliveDiver
I'm a frequent reader but rare poster on SB. I've appreciated all the reviews and advice about dive ops and sites for the past four years. I figured it was time that I return the favor. To start out, I have no relationship with this op, just wanted to share my experience.
We've been in Cozumel this week and had planned in advance to do a day trip over to Playa Del Carmen to do a day of cenote diving. We chose cenote xperience based on other reviews. Once we got here, Hurricane Zeta hit and we rescheduled our cenote day for a few days later which they were happy to accommodate.
We took the first ferry to PDC from Coz (0700) and got picked up by Carlos, our guide/DM for the day. He was on time and easy to find in front of the Senor Frogs. We made a quick stop at the dive shop to fill out some paperwork before heading to Tulum. He drove us in a truck, with the gear in the back, and following Covid protocols (masks on in the vehicle). My husband and I just really enjoyed Carlos- great conversation, lots of laughs, answered all sorts of questions I had about cenotes, cavern/cave diving, his diving experience, etc. I always thing people in the dive industry are interesting to talk to but Carlos was really tops.
Once we got to the first cenote (The Pit) he did a thorough dive briefing and explained what we would do, what we would see, hand signals, all that. The dive was incredible. Our first time in a cenote and it did not disappoint. I was glad to have such a thorough briefing as I was surprised at how tall the halocline layer was and how blurry your vision gets when you're in it.
We ate some yummy sandwiches on the surface interval, and did two more dives in Dos Ojos (Batcave and Barbieline). Carlos was so fun on the surface intervals and incredibly calm and reassuring during the dives. It was fun to follow him through the cenotes- he's the only cave diver we've ever dove with (maybe they're all this good?) but his buoyancy was perfect and it was neat to watch him do his thing. He pointed out fossils as we went, and we covered our torches a few times to just enjoy the gorgeous colors of the filtered light coming through.
At the end of the dives we drove back up to PDC and caught the 5pm ferry. It was a very slick day- a lot of diving in with a top notch dive op and DM.
A few other details-
-We brought our masks, fins, boots, torches, computers, and wetsuits (full 3mm). From the shop we rented BCDs, regs, and shortie wetsuits to wear over our full 3mms. The rental gear was all in good shape.
-We tend to run cold, in retrospect we should have brought our hoods and sharkskins for extra thermal protection in addition to the wetsuits. It was about 76-78 degrees F in the cenotes.
- We used Nitrox on all three dives.
-If we were staying in PDC, it would have been better to get started earlier. We were limited by the timing of the first ferry. When we arrived to The Pit around 930 or so, another group was getting out- they basically had the cenote to themselves. While the cenote is huge it never felt crowded, several other groups arrived when we did and it would have been nice to be the only ones. The Dos Ojos cenotes you follow a circuit, we passed only one other dive group on those cenotes although there were some snorkelers/swimmers about.
Anyway, TL/DR, if you're staying on Cozumel I highly recommend taking a trip over to get a sample of the cenotes for at least a day- the day trip is very doable with the ferry times. I can't say enough about Carlos and Cenote Xperience, of my ~250 dives or so in different settings and countries, he is definitely in my top 2-3 DMs ever. Calm, safety conscious, a good guide, and a fun guy to spend a few hours in a truck with.
Cheers,
OliveDiver
