Thank You Ben and Mayan Aqua Dive!

[tzeilstra]

Just wanted to give a public "Thanks" to Ben Mooney and his awesome dive operation, Mayan Aqua Dive, for the excellent dives they took my buddy and I on this past week. As luck would have it, I was staying in a villa at the VCI about 20 feet from Ben's "office". The first day there, I went and set up a package with him that included 2 morning dives, 2 night dives, and a 2 tank cenote dive. The morning dives, although the conditions weren't optimal, were still great dives. The wind was howling and the seas were very rough. This made the visibility worse than it would normally be, but still far better than most of the diving I have done up here in this part of the country. The crew made sure that we were safe and having a good time despite the conditions.

The night dives were phenominal. The wind calmed down and we had a fun group of divers out that night. We saw eels, rays, octopus, squid, turtles, frogfish, tons of lobsters, and hundreds of little crabs whose eyes lit up red when our lights shone on them.

The cenote dives were everything I was promised they would be. There is something cool about crawling down into a little hole in the ground, seeing what looks like a little pond, only to discover a whole different world once descending and seeing the passageways going every which way. And the visibility...wow! It was truly like we were flying through the air rather than swimming through water. It is something I will never forget.

Ben and his staff are honest, friendly, knowledgeable, and very hard-working. I would strongly recommend them to anybody planning on diving in the Cancun area!

 

[Spratman]

glad to hear you had a great trip. Yeah, staying at VCI is a plus, with just walking past the Palapa bar and onto the boat. Normally, that is where we stay when in Cancun. This time down we were in the Royal Caribbean, so needed to get picked up. Hopefully, our next trip will be back at VCI.

So, which cenote did you hit? I did Chac Mool with Isidro and it was awesome! Even though I was sick it was still awesome. I can't wait to hit a couple of the other ones.

Diving Cancun on a bad day, is better than up in the NE Atlantic on a good day....

 

[tzeilstra]

glad to hear you had a great trip. Yeah, staying at VCI is a plus, with just walking past the Palapa bar and onto the boat. Normally, that is where we stay when in Cancun. This time down we were in the Royal Caribbean, so needed to get picked up. Hopefully, our next trip will be back at VCI.

So, which cenote did you hit? I did Chac Mool with Isidro and it was awesome! Even though I was sick it was still awesome. I can't wait to hit a couple of the other ones.

Diving Cancun on a bad day, is better than up in the NE Atlantic on a good day....

We also did Chac Mool, but it was with Alvaro. Very nice guy, and loves his cenote diving! The passion he has for it was very evident.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the VCI compared to the Caribbean/Islander/Mayan/Sands...it's just a bit too quiet for me and I dont like that there is no surf on the beach there. But the proximity to M.A.D. was a definite plus!

 

[JBRES1]

We too dove with Ben this past spring and had a great time.
We stayed at the Tri Royals in the Royal Caribbean, and had a great time.
We would have liked to stay at VCI that week just because the waves had washed out the beach.
Thanks for the update on Ben. Glad to see he is now at VCI and doing well.
Jim Breslin

 

[Spratman]

I agree. VCI is quiet but it has it's pluses, not withstanding Ben being in the backyard. My wife, son and I always spend non-diving time snorkeling around the pier. We've seen cuttlefish, skates, barracuda and lots of fish around it. The viz isn't terrific, but it's a good way to relax.

The beach in front of the Caribbean was nothing but rocks when we were down. It was the weekend after Hurricane Dean hit.

Quiet....I like quiet on vacation, as does my wife. My son is 16 and doesn't mind it either. We love the Palapa bar, and prefer it to the other Royals restaurants. Also, it doesn't have that bee hive type environment.

Again, that is just me. You young guys gots to party!

 

[billeelou]

We'll see him next week( after thanksgiving) you need me to tell them anything?

 

[Spratman]

Tell Ben to bugger off! I love ya, mate! hehe

If you haven't dove with him before, you're in for a treat. We had him, his girl friend and two other friends from down there over for warm up the first night we were down. We went out to dinner with both of them as well. Have them take you down to their favorite restaurant down town. It's awesome to get away from the hotel zone.

Where are ya staying? You gotta get in a cenote or two while down there.

Good luck and looking forward to your trip report.

 

[billeelou]

oasis palm beach, it supposed to be close to them..the Cenotes are definately part of my plan....

 

[pitdvr]

Our family of four is scheduled to dive with Ben at the end of Dec. We are really looking forward to AOW for our sons and Coz and cenote diving.

 

[Spratman]

Excellent! Hope you have great weather and diving!