Whale Sharks, Cenotes and Cozumel advice please!

[DandyDon]

One round trip on that ferry is enough! By the way, do not buy round trip ferry tickets! We may have already explained why tho.

I keep wanting to read this thread title as "Whale Sharks and Cenotes and Cozumel - oh my!"

 

[MissDoo]

I keep wanting to read this thread title as "Whale Sharks and Cenotes and Cozumel - oh my!" [/QUOTE]

:chuckle: Love it!!

By the way, why shouldn't I buy return tickets for the ferry? No one's mentioned anything.

 

[DandyDon]

:chuckle: Love it!!

By the way, why shouldn't I buy return tickets for the ferry? No one's mentioned anything.

Oh, there are two passenger ferry companies serving PDC & Coz, which charge the same fare with no discount for RT. If you arrive at a dock ready to cross with a return ticket for one, but the other one is leaving next and yours doesn't leave for another hour or two - you're stuck with waiting or buying a ticket on the next boat and wasting the return ticket. They won't refund unused tickets and they have no market value.

The passenger ferries do publish schedules, but they are subject to change for various reasons. Just wait until you arrive to buy one-way tickets. There is also a car ferry, so if you booked a rental car on the peninsula for a period covering time on the peninsula and on the island, you could take it with you both ways if the rental agency did not prohibit that - but I would not suggest that approach for a few reasons.

 

[MissDoo]

Thanks for the tip!!! I will not buy R/T ticket then.

 

[driftwood]

I've been researching the various resorts in PDC and Akumal and I quite fancy the idea of "adults only", therefore I'm narrowing it down to Secrets Maroma or Secrets Silversands. From the reviews it looks like the Maroma is better. Any geographical or otherwise advantages to one over the other that I'm missing? Also, can anyone recommend a tour operator for the Isla Mujeres Whale Sharks tour (not Holbox) that will actually pick up from Secrets in PDC?

On thing you to watch out for is that a lot of resorts will list themselves as being in PDC while in actuality they are some distance away. Not a big deal unless you want to spend your evenings on 5th Ave (which I highly recommend).

Here is my take on your plan. You can do everything on your list and stay on Cozumel. Easy to find a dive shop that will take you on a day trip to snorkel with the whale sharks and do some of the cenotes.

That being said, Ilsa Mujeres is an island where a lot of the locals go for a long weekend. Akumal has drop dead perfect beaches that Cozumel can only dream of having and you get the chance to see turtle nesting (you can do it on Coz but it is a full nights commitment). 5th Ave in PDC is one of the best tourist zones in the area, the beaches (especially north of Constituentes) are pretty decent and you are less than a hour from many of the cenotes.

Since you have a long flight to get to Mexico, you might just as well spread your night's stays over a larger area. From most places in Texas, we are looking at a little 2:45 hour flight and almost consider Coz to be "local" diving. A one point, the US was thinking about buying Coz from Mexico as a destination for freed slaves.

On a final note, I was surprised to hear WK express the opinion that Akumal had better than average ocean diving. Unless things have radically improved in the last 5 years, I wouldn't waste my time or money ocean diving off Akumal.

 

[A-Rod]

MissDoo, have you considered staying in Tulum instead of PDC or Akumal? I found the reef diving around PDC to be mediocre -- if you want fantastic marine life, skip PDC and spend more time on Cozumel. However, the cenotes around Tulum are incredible and you can easily spend three days checking them out. Can't recommend Nihls at Dream Diving in Tulum enough -- best DM (cave instructor and tech diver extraordinaire) I have ever dove with. Plus, the beach at Tulum is TV commercial stunning, and there are a range of accommodations if you want total R&R after your dives.

If you are committed to staying in PDC, it's probably nicer than staying in Cancun, and you can do the whale shark tour from there. Go see the folks at Scuba Playa -- they are a top-notch shop. They'll arrange the tour for you, leaving around 7:00 am and returning in the afternoon. If you want to stay in PDC, the Hotel la Tortuga is fantastic -- small, boutique hotel, excellent service, comfortable rooms, gorgeous pool and grounds, and not a single kid in sight when I was there. Can't recommend more highly.

One option is to fly to Coz, do five days of reef dives there, ferry over to PDC, maybe spend three days there to do the whale shark tour and a few reef dives, then bus or van to Tulum for four days of cenote diving, then fly out of Cancun. Or do that in reverse.

 

[MissDoo]

A-Rod, thanks for the info. I will definitely check out Scuba Playa for the whale shark tour. The only diving I was planning to do in PDC was indeed the cenotes, the rest will be in Cozumel. I will still check out Tulum though. Thanks again

 

[Jorge Loria]

Your plan is possible. However, what I think is the best to do is arrive to Cancun and settle in Playa del Carmen from there you can take the ferry everyday to go to Cozumel , then give one day to Isla Mujeres and the whale sharks. Finally, must of Playa del Carmen dive shop offer daily tours to different cenotes and could also arrange for you your Cozumel dives as well as the whale shark snorkel trip.

Sincerley, Phantom Divers.

Buceo en Playa del Carmen - Phantom Divers
info@phantomdivers.com

 

[CanadianTravelAgent]

Just came across this post and I'm curious to hear what you decided to do. I've done all of these dives myself...but years ago! But, when we saw the whale sharks we went to Isla Holbox. Was a very long day, but totally worth it! When I did the Cenote diving, we were staying at Cozumel and just did a day trip over to a dive operator in Puerto Aventuras. We just did the 2 dives - that was enough for us! Enjoy your trip.