IanStevenson
11-05-07, 10:45
Ruth and I were struggling to get reasonalbly priced flights for our planned trip to Dahab in April, so we looked at some other options and ended up getting a great deal on flights and accomodation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Even after paying £60 each for an extra 10kg of baggage allowance, it still came in at under £500 each!
The flights with "My Travel" were long (9 hours) and if you're tall like me pretty cramped. But that was only to be expected.
The hotel was called Magic Blue (http://www.magicresortgroup.com/be/index.html) and was just a couple of blocks away from the sea in Playa del Carmen, and a block from the main tourist street "La Quinta". There are a lot of all-inclusive resorts on the surrounding coastline, but we liked being in town and having loads of choice of places to eat, dive centres etc.
We dived with an outfit called Scuba Libre (http://www.scubalibre.com.mx/) who were a couple of blocks away in Playa del Carmen. They main base was in another resort, but the boats came to pick us up on the beach and the dive center in Playa was a good base. Plenty of space to leave equipment hanging out to dry, wash kit etc. Many, many thanks must go to Ricardo (the main man) and Dante (our guide most days) as we had a fantastic time.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Scuba Libre and Magic Blue Hotel to anyone thinking of going out there!
Our first days diving was on the afternoon boat, which generally does shallower dives with less experienced divers or whose who haven't been in the water for a while. The water was about 28 degrees, vis was good (maybe 20m+), and we saw lots of life. Most of the dives we did from Playa were on reefs in around 10-15m of water even on the morning boat, as that's where most of the life is. We did one that was about 28m but Ruth and I were on EAN32 so never got anywhere near no deco limits (although others in our party did...). There were angelfish, butterflyfish, wrasse and parrotfish everywhere, quite a few turtles about, the occasional moray or crustacean to add variety. We also saw a few barracuda, a big school of Tarpon, and some bigish groupers (one must have been 5ft long although didn't get close) There was a pretty good selection of corals and sponges too. I would rate it as being right up there with the diving we have done in the Red Sea (from Dahab) with the added attraction of the turtles.
In addition to 4 days diving around Playa del Carmen, we also took a day trip to the Cenotes, and one to Cozuemel.
The Cenotes are caves that were once dry but are now flooded with fresh water. As aa result, they have features like stalactites, stalagmites and pillars formed from dripping water, along with tunnels carved since they flooded. The water is (mostly) fresh and crystal clear - visibility at the cenote we dived (Dos Ochos) was described in my guidebook not with the usual "30m+" but instead with the word "excessive" and I can't help but agree. We went ona guided "cavern dive" which was no deeper than about 10m although it was winding up and down though tunnels and chambers, and technically we were never out of sight of daylight or more than 60m from a place where you could surface. Diving on a single cylinder, this was just as well. The guide uses twins, no redundancy for anyone else. On the second dive I am not 100% convinced these rules were strictly adhered to though. Fantastic experience, but I prefer diving places with just a bit more life. I'd do it again if I went back, but one day was enough.
Out day on Cozuemel was one of the best days diving. Vis was better than around Playa - more like 40m or 50m - and the corals seemed larger and better defined. There was also more in the way of larger fish (groupers in particular). Loved it!
One of the amusements (and occasionally frustrations) of the trip was that many of the other divers we encountered (mostly from the US/Canada) were not very skilled, even if some of them had a lot of logged dives. Visits to the surface from 15m were not unusual for some of them, frantic finning to stay bouyant (or down) and clinging on to things seemed to be the norm. There was one guy who seemed to think that finishing his air in 15 minutes (at 15m) was perfectly normal, and he finished both dives we did with him on the guides octopus. Fortunately our guide had gills and didn't need his own supply, so we still got 30 mins in the water. Some folks didn't have much respect for the wildlife either. A bit sad.
Rented equipment in Mexico appears variable too. We were very glad we had taken our own kit, along with a copious supply of O-rings (not all tanks were din convertible, and when we did use A-clamp adapters many of the O-rings were "tired" and we replaced them). Scuba Libre seemed pretty good, but at the centoes and on cozuemel there seemed to be more leaky hose connections than good ones, and everything looked near to total collapse, Some of the wetsuits at the cenotes were just a joke...
Anyway, we had our own kit and dived as a buddy pair so this stuff didn't affect us much - we had a fantastic time!
We've posted some photos at http://www.cyclops-online.co.uk/ There are also a couple of videos linked from my photo gallery, which are just done with my digital camera. The quality isn't great but it gives you an idea of the type of diving and the wildlife.
Cheers,
Ian
The flights with "My Travel" were long (9 hours) and if you're tall like me pretty cramped. But that was only to be expected.
The hotel was called Magic Blue (http://www.magicresortgroup.com/be/index.html) and was just a couple of blocks away from the sea in Playa del Carmen, and a block from the main tourist street "La Quinta". There are a lot of all-inclusive resorts on the surrounding coastline, but we liked being in town and having loads of choice of places to eat, dive centres etc.
We dived with an outfit called Scuba Libre (http://www.scubalibre.com.mx/) who were a couple of blocks away in Playa del Carmen. They main base was in another resort, but the boats came to pick us up on the beach and the dive center in Playa was a good base. Plenty of space to leave equipment hanging out to dry, wash kit etc. Many, many thanks must go to Ricardo (the main man) and Dante (our guide most days) as we had a fantastic time.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Scuba Libre and Magic Blue Hotel to anyone thinking of going out there!
Our first days diving was on the afternoon boat, which generally does shallower dives with less experienced divers or whose who haven't been in the water for a while. The water was about 28 degrees, vis was good (maybe 20m+), and we saw lots of life. Most of the dives we did from Playa were on reefs in around 10-15m of water even on the morning boat, as that's where most of the life is. We did one that was about 28m but Ruth and I were on EAN32 so never got anywhere near no deco limits (although others in our party did...). There were angelfish, butterflyfish, wrasse and parrotfish everywhere, quite a few turtles about, the occasional moray or crustacean to add variety. We also saw a few barracuda, a big school of Tarpon, and some bigish groupers (one must have been 5ft long although didn't get close) There was a pretty good selection of corals and sponges too. I would rate it as being right up there with the diving we have done in the Red Sea (from Dahab) with the added attraction of the turtles.
In addition to 4 days diving around Playa del Carmen, we also took a day trip to the Cenotes, and one to Cozuemel.
The Cenotes are caves that were once dry but are now flooded with fresh water. As aa result, they have features like stalactites, stalagmites and pillars formed from dripping water, along with tunnels carved since they flooded. The water is (mostly) fresh and crystal clear - visibility at the cenote we dived (Dos Ochos) was described in my guidebook not with the usual "30m+" but instead with the word "excessive" and I can't help but agree. We went ona guided "cavern dive" which was no deeper than about 10m although it was winding up and down though tunnels and chambers, and technically we were never out of sight of daylight or more than 60m from a place where you could surface. Diving on a single cylinder, this was just as well. The guide uses twins, no redundancy for anyone else. On the second dive I am not 100% convinced these rules were strictly adhered to though. Fantastic experience, but I prefer diving places with just a bit more life. I'd do it again if I went back, but one day was enough.
Out day on Cozuemel was one of the best days diving. Vis was better than around Playa - more like 40m or 50m - and the corals seemed larger and better defined. There was also more in the way of larger fish (groupers in particular). Loved it!
One of the amusements (and occasionally frustrations) of the trip was that many of the other divers we encountered (mostly from the US/Canada) were not very skilled, even if some of them had a lot of logged dives. Visits to the surface from 15m were not unusual for some of them, frantic finning to stay bouyant (or down) and clinging on to things seemed to be the norm. There was one guy who seemed to think that finishing his air in 15 minutes (at 15m) was perfectly normal, and he finished both dives we did with him on the guides octopus. Fortunately our guide had gills and didn't need his own supply, so we still got 30 mins in the water. Some folks didn't have much respect for the wildlife either. A bit sad.
Rented equipment in Mexico appears variable too. We were very glad we had taken our own kit, along with a copious supply of O-rings (not all tanks were din convertible, and when we did use A-clamp adapters many of the O-rings were "tired" and we replaced them). Scuba Libre seemed pretty good, but at the centoes and on cozuemel there seemed to be more leaky hose connections than good ones, and everything looked near to total collapse, Some of the wetsuits at the cenotes were just a joke...
Anyway, we had our own kit and dived as a buddy pair so this stuff didn't affect us much - we had a fantastic time!
We've posted some photos at http://www.cyclops-online.co.uk/ There are also a couple of videos linked from my photo gallery, which are just done with my digital camera. The quality isn't great but it gives you an idea of the type of diving and the wildlife.
Cheers,
Ian