Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

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KneeDeep
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Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

Post by KneeDeep »

The wife and I are heading to Playa Del Carmen next March for her birthday :partydance: :taco:

And the best part for her birthday trip... I get to dive as much as I want (she doesn't dive)!!! So, on that note, I'm in the dive planning stage, as I have never been there. I'll be staying in the Playa Del Carmen area, and will have a car rental. Looks like I can take a ferry over to Cozumel, so that is a MUST do (where does the ferry leave out of). I may try to do 2 days if possible as it looks like better dives. Is there drift diving around? And if so, where?

So I could some help.
Playa Del Carmen
What dive shops to use (or not)
What dive sites are a must do? An order preference wouldn't hurt

Cozumel
What dive shops to use (or not)
What dive sites are a must do? An order preference wouldn't hurt

Pretty late, so if I have missed any thing let me know.

Comments/Suggestions welcomed!!!
The ocean is a lousy teacher. First you get a test, then the lesson.
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Jeff Pack
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Re: Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

Post by Jeff Pack »

I havent dove there yet, but the Ferry leaves right from Playa Del Carmen, but plan on renting a car in Cozumel. I dont think you can ferry a car over there. Our ferry was passenger only.
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- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it

CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
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LCF
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Re: Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

Post by LCF »

Oh, you'll love the area, and March is a good time to be there.

The ferry leaves from the middle of downtown Playa, and it's well signed. I believe the fare is around $12 (I haven't taken the ferry in a couple of years) and it's about a half hour trip. The problem lies with hooking up with a dive shop that sends a boat out after the first ferry gets to Coz . . . you'll have to check with the dive op you're interested in to see if that works for them. A lot of the boats are already out on the water by that time.

Essentially all the diving in Cozumel is drift diving. Usually the first dive is along one of the big walls, and those dives can be deep. The second dive is usually one of the shallow reefs. Current can vary from very strong to mild drifts. Visibility is usually fabulous -- I've never seen water as clear as the water we dove in in Coz.

I've only made one trip there, but I read ScubaBoard a lot, and there are a lot of Cozumel aficionados there. The dive shop we dove with was Aldora Divers, and I'd recommend them without reservations. Two other shops that get frequent positive reviews are Blue XTSea and Living Underwater.

I really don't know anything about the diving off Playa. We were scheduled to do a dive with Fantasea Diving, but the directions on where to meet them were confusing, and by the time we got it sorted out, they had left without us (despite us having met the owner for drinks in a restaurant the night before -- go figure!)

I don't know how much diving experience you have had, but if you've had a good bit, one of the must-do experiences where you are going is the cenote tours. The cenotes start about 20 minutes south of Playa, and although some outfits will pick up in town, your options will be wider with a rental care. I would HIGHLY recommend Natalie Gibb (natalie@diablodivers.com) or Dennis Weeks (Dennis@diablodivers.com), or Jason Renoux (essentialscubatraining.com) as guides, but whoever you use, make sure they follow the voluntary rules for safety: Guide to be Full Cave and an OW instructor, dive in full cave gear, lead no more than four clients and all of them with lights. The cenote experiences are unique and extremely beautiful:

Image

If you have any questions about your trip, please feel free to PM me. I make two trips to MX a year for cave diving, so I'm pretty familiar with the area.
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
KneeDeep
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Re: Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

Post by KneeDeep »

LCF, I sent an email to Natalie and Dennis, Natalie's bounced back, and the website seems to be down (at least since you posted here). I am not sure the status of that shop, but hopefully will find out soon. If not, I'll reach out to Jason Renoux (essentialscubatraining.com).

I think I'll use Aldora Divers for 2 day dives and 1 night dive on Cozumel.

Now I just need to find a shop in the Playa Del Carmen area for the other dives. My wife would like to do some snorkeling while I am diving, so would be nice to do a shallow dive while she was above. Any one have some suggestions for dive shops in PDC?
The ocean is a lousy teacher. First you get a test, then the lesson.
KneeDeep
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Re: Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

Post by KneeDeep »

Bring this back to life, as I will be leaving in about a month and haven't dialed in where I'm going.

I remember someone stating a shop that used steel 100's... could someone post that shop? Or was I mistaken?
The ocean is a lousy teacher. First you get a test, then the lesson.
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LCF
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Re: Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

Post by LCF »

Aldora uses steel 100s and 120s, and Nitrox is available.

Did you set up your cenote tours? Natalie was out of the country for a while, but she's back. You could also check with ProTec Playa; I don't know those guys personally, but I have friends who dive through that shop and like them.
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
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Mateo1147
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Re: Playa Del Carmen in March 2013

Post by Mateo1147 »

I'm going to be diving with Aldora the 27th of February through the 3rd of March and will give you some recon if you would like. I have spoken with two dive buddies that have dove with them before and expect to have a stellar time. :partyman:
You breath like a girl! -Blaiz
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
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