Staying in Cancun, Diving Cozumel and Cenotes

[kahoots]

Hello Everyone!
My gf and i are planning diving trips when we arrive in Cancun at the end of June. We are staying at the Le Meridian and are planning to travel to Cozumel to dive on bus and ferry. We calculated this way was a lot cheaper than going with the big name companies that are charging around $75 for just the round trip hotel pickup (roughly $150 for 2 tanks and round trip transfers) Does this sound like a good idea? We dont mind travelling on buses/ferries since we live in NYC.

Also how do we travel to Cenotes and dive with the local shops there? Are there any local dive shops you recommend? We would like to save money on travelling so bus is fine if it goes there.

Are there any must see dive sites in Cenotes and Cozumel? For Cozumel, I was thinking of the Barracuda wall dive since i love wall dives. Are there any others?

Thanks in advance. I will be checking this forum pretty closely for updates since our trip is only 2 weeks away!

 

[TSandM]

It's a LONG trip from Cancun to Cozumel . . . It's an hour by car from the airport to Playa del Carmen, and a half hour across the channel on the ferry. So, realistically, using the bus, you're looking at two to two and a half hours to get over to Coz, and the same back. It would make for a very long day.

You could take the buses to where the dive ops are, to do the cenotes -- again, it's an hour and a half to Puerto Aventuras (where Dennis Weeks, one of my favorite cenote guides, has his shop) by car, and longer than that by bus.

 

[MX-5Racer]

Kahoots,

The wife & I would find a real cheap place to stay in PDC for a night and set up a "base camp". End of June you should find a place for under $100. It saves alot of travel and wasted time which IMO is worth the extra $$. Once in PDC there are several Cenote guide places or you can just go to any Cenote off of 307 and they set you right up. Google for an endless list of Cenotes or go to locogringo.com for tons of info.

PS, While a bus is cheap, they are a real pain in the ars. Cars rent for REAL cheap down there, some will deliver right to your resort.

 

[kahoots]

thanks, do you know how far is the drive to PDC from cancun, le meridian? how much are the car rentals usually?

Also, if i rent a car, can i park it near the ferry ride to Cozumel? Are there free parking?

 

[MX-5Racer]

Cars can be as low as $30.00/day. Any travel web site will quote you (expedia, hotwire, etc.). There is parking all over PDC, and near the pier, not sure if its free or not, but I'll bet its not much.

 

[kahoots]

Thanks mx...

I tried looking at google maps to get directions but thats not working. Does anyone know how far is the drive from Cancun to PDC?

 

[TSandM]

I don't know the distance, but it's about 45 minutes to an hour drive from the airport to PDC.

There is some free parking on the streets in Playa, but it's quite a good walk from there to the ferry. Closer to the ferry, there are pay lots, but the one closest doesn't open until 8, if I remember correctly. They don't cost very much.

 

[kahoots]

Ok now that i got travels done, any local dive shops i should use to visit cenotes and also in cozumel?

 

[CenoteXperience]

thanks, do you know how far is the drive to PDC from cancun, le meridian? how much are the car rentals usually?

Also, if i rent a car, can i park it near the ferry ride to Cozumel? Are there free parking?

The drive from your place to Pdc is 40 miles, depending on the traffic is around one hour.
Rental car is around usd30 to usd45 per day, and is possible to park next to the ferry dock, couple of blocks away ( never do it in yellow line, police can remove your plates).
Cheers,

 

[kahoots]

thanks. How far is the drive from Cancun, le merdian, to cenotes? Also how much is the cenotes entrance fee?