Scuba in Yucatan

[sunnyturtle]

Off to the Yucatan with boyfriend in April and we aren't sure where to dive. I would like to go to Honduras but time is tight and i don't want to waste time travelling (2 weeks) so we were thinking of Cozumel. I'm AOW and boyfriend is a dive masteer. Anyone got any advice for this area? We would like to see the turtle hatching if possible.

We also looked at belize but I've heard it's quite expensive.

[DavidWarshaw]

Cozumel is the MAJOR Yucatan destination. Most diving is drift... boats drop you off... you flow with the current... and get picked up at the end of the dive. We've had some really, major current rides, but most are moderate. Lots of good dive shops. We dove with Dive Palencar several times. Good crew and boats. We have found recently that with large crowds, dive operators are limiting dive times to just 45-50 minutes. But the reefs and reef life are excellent. Area has had quite a bit of hurricane damage in recent years, but hear the reefs are coming back. We dove in Belize last year, too, from the Hamanasi resort, which is south from Belize City. Major attraction was whale sharks when we went. Blue hole was not worth the trip. Belize Photos at Belize - June 2007 - a photoset on Flickr Cozumel photos at Cozumel/AkumalMexicoDiving-Aug 2005 - a photoset on Flickr ENJOY

[sunnyturtle]

Thanks for the info David - great pic too!

[Erik]

If you can get south of Coz, down by Akumal or Xcalac, you can get boats out to Banco Chichorro- rare to see other divers out there, pristine diving. Coz is good, but it's like a mall out at the reefs. I don't know anything about turtle hatcheries.
Have a good trip.

[DavidWarshaw]

Agree with Eric... Akumal area is much more laid back than Cozumel... but on the mainland. Reefs are not as extensive. ALSO, cinote diving (caverns) is a big attraction in that part of the coast. Caverns... and then caves... are a whole other kind of certification than open water. It's an overhead environment... so have to be comfortable going OUT if there's a problem, not UP. Caverns still have view of light from above... so not quite as enclosing as full caves, from which you can only go back the way you came. (Caves are considered "technical diving, requiring double tanks and lots of training.) Many dive shops in the area will do cavern tours for those not certified for that environment. It's a different experience... crystal clear fresh water, limestone formations, no fish life. Very interesting. PROTEC in Playa del Carmen is the foremost experts, and really great folks. We stayed at the Akumal Beach Club, and dove open water with Akumal Dive Center (AKUMAL DIVE CENTER - Scuba and cave diving courses/trips, south of Cancun). They can also arrange for a trip over to Cozumel via the ferry from Playa. I did this with Blue Angel diving, and they picked us up right at the ferry dock to do a day of drift-diving on the Cozumel side. Hey... anytime you get wet and breathe nitrogen it's good!

By the way, we were there last August, and turtles were nesting on the beach right under the windows of the resorts. Night before we got there, a nest hatched... and the folks got a good show.

Enjoy.

[Beaner]

Have visited/dived Coz at least a dozen times. IMHO, was the best diving in the Caribbean. Although last trip was 6 months after Wilma & reefs were sandy & U/W ecosystem changed. ALWAYS dive with Caribbean Divers-highly recommended!!
See if someone else has dived there more recently. What did you hear was more expensive about Belize? We went to Amergris Caye July 2005 & did not seem to cost more than Coz or Bay Islands. Sorry, but I have no experience with turtle hatching, but saw LARGE turtles while diving in Coz.