Tulum 21st Dec - 3rd Jan

[hogge]

Hi,


I am looking for help.
I am 45 years old have been diving for some years. I have the Advanced Open Water cert and the Nitrox (with supervision).
My son, 16 y has an open water cert with 13 dives.


We will be traveling with our family to the Dreams Tulum and stay there between 22nd Dec and 3rd Jan.


Our plan for this trip:


I would like to make multiple dives, maybe 2-3 days, my son only 1 max 2 days diving.
No one of us has any experience of cavern diving.
I have seen that there is a underwater museum and some wrecks... anyone been there? Are these sites far from Tulum?


What options do we have?


What about 1-2 day diving in the sea and one day in Cenotes? Or should we have all in the sea?
Is there any good diving close Tulum?


Are there any good diving companies which also offer pick up at the hotel?


Kind regards
Nico Argyris

 

[knfmn]

Mexico Blue Dream in Playa will probably be able to take care of all your needs. They offer ocean diving, can take you to the underwater museum off of Isla Mujeres, will happily do a day trip to Cozumel island with you (which I highly recommend) and can take you on cavern tours ( the best part, in my opinion). The owner, Patrice and his wife are awesome people. Their guides are fantastic as well. See if you can dive with Karin in Cozumel and ask if they can arrange for Etienne to do your cavern tour with you. http://www.mexicobluedream.com/
Happy diving!

Kristopher

 

[TSandM]

The underwater museum is off Cancun, which is about two hours north of Tulum. I don't think it would be worth the drive. Cozumel involves about a forty minute drive north, to Playa del Carmen, and then a ferry ride across the strait to the island. It makes for a long day, and a lot of dive operators want to leave before the first ferry gets in.

If I were you, and especially given that your son is so young and so new in diving, I'd just schedule some diving around Tulum. Although I didn't think the reef dive I did off Akumal was all that great, some of that is due to the fact that I have been a lot of places and seen some outrageous reef diving. If I were brand new, I'm sure the turtles and lobsters would have delighted me.

I would not take your son into the caverns. Do that on the days he isn't going to dive. They are not appropriate dives for brand new divers, in my opinion.

 

[jerdavis]

Maya Diving (Maya Diving in Tulum: Diving and Snorkeling in Tulum Cenotes and Reefs and Dive Courses) is on-site at Dreams Tulum and we had a great experience with them in 2010 when we were staying in Tulum for our honeymoon. We weren't guests at Dreams, but went to them for diving. My wife was finishing up her check off dives for OW, and the instructor their (Deon) was great.

We went to the Cenotes more or less right away, in part thanks to the extra time Deon spent with us. But I wouldn't advise that for most folks. It's going to be safer and far more enjoyable with good buoyancy control. You and the instructors you've worked with will be better judges of whether or not you or your son are in good shape for them. If he's got good control and trim, and is otherwise a responsible and attentive diver then it's up to you. Though I'd agree with TSandM's statement above.

Regardless, make sure you vet the dive op you want to work with, and don't let them take you anywhere you're not comfortable - especially off the cavern lines! Based on our experiences (limited as they are) I'd recommend either Maya Diving or H20 Pro in Tulum.

There's also some great snorkeling in Akumal if you have some time while you're there.