Underwater Tourist
Contributor
So much great advice here already
For car rentals, there was a recent thread also you can see here: Question - Cancun Airport Rental Car Recommendations
For places to stay, a ton of shops have great rep in MX. I did my training and subsequent diving from Protec Tulum and never bothered to look at other places because I really clicked with the people there. They rent rooms right above their shop which used to be a great deal, but they increased prices and now they are okay. I would still consider them especially if you go during a busy season in MX because you get to mingle and interact with all the divers who stay there. Just great atmosphere
Regarding places to visit it’s an endless list, but consider doing Carwash cenote. Some people don’t go there because it’s a very popular training site and they probably feel it’s not cool enough because of that, but there are a couple of great dives you can do and it’s 5min ride from Tulum with good facilities.
Single stage non dpv dives will be in the 2.5h range:
Carwash to Aluxe’s key - mega fun dive for some body who hasn’t done unguided dives in MX. You will get a full MX teaser in one dive, meaning you will do a nice traverse to another cenote, find a “hidden” jump, pass by a semi hidden T, visit dark cave, visit bright cave, visit decorated rooms, visit a deeper narrower section with halocline
Carwash to Dreamland also a fun route to do which will add a super spooky and fun tannic-y passage
Or you can do both things as one nice 3.5h-4h ccr dive
About the semi hidden T, if it hasn’t been fixed, it will also teach you to really really really respect navigation in Mexico. I think in FL people say “we are not line divers” or something? Meaning you don’t need to always swim next to the line. Well forget that for MX, especially in your first unguided trip be uber careful about missing a T, or accidentally getting onto another line. Depending on the cenote, it’s very easy to do
For car rentals, there was a recent thread also you can see here: Question - Cancun Airport Rental Car Recommendations
For places to stay, a ton of shops have great rep in MX. I did my training and subsequent diving from Protec Tulum and never bothered to look at other places because I really clicked with the people there. They rent rooms right above their shop which used to be a great deal, but they increased prices and now they are okay. I would still consider them especially if you go during a busy season in MX because you get to mingle and interact with all the divers who stay there. Just great atmosphere
Regarding places to visit it’s an endless list, but consider doing Carwash cenote. Some people don’t go there because it’s a very popular training site and they probably feel it’s not cool enough because of that, but there are a couple of great dives you can do and it’s 5min ride from Tulum with good facilities.
Single stage non dpv dives will be in the 2.5h range:
Carwash to Aluxe’s key - mega fun dive for some body who hasn’t done unguided dives in MX. You will get a full MX teaser in one dive, meaning you will do a nice traverse to another cenote, find a “hidden” jump, pass by a semi hidden T, visit dark cave, visit bright cave, visit decorated rooms, visit a deeper narrower section with halocline
Carwash to Dreamland also a fun route to do which will add a super spooky and fun tannic-y passage
Or you can do both things as one nice 3.5h-4h ccr dive
About the semi hidden T, if it hasn’t been fixed, it will also teach you to really really really respect navigation in Mexico. I think in FL people say “we are not line divers” or something? Meaning you don’t need to always swim next to the line. Well forget that for MX, especially in your first unguided trip be uber careful about missing a T, or accidentally getting onto another line. Depending on the cenote, it’s very easy to do
