Advice on Mexico ?

[Mexican1978]

Thinking of Mexico in April, and would welcome any advice on locations, hotels & Dive centers.

Been told to avoid Cancun and Cozumel and head for Playa-de-Carmen (Rivera Maya)

Going with SWMBO ... who will not be diving, so Hotel must be a good one with pool to keep her happy while I am off diving.

Also be keen to know of any operators who specialize in Mexico if you used one, likewise any wreck dive centers.


AFAIK, the Playa dive shops dive essentially the same sites at Coz as the Coz shops do. When I was last in Mexico, I stayed right on Coz; everybody I know who has stayed at Playa and wanted to dive has wished they were on Coz instead. So I would advise you to stay on Coz itself for the convenience of it, and you will have a greater choice of dive ops as well.

[Pirate1987]

Hi. A few months ago we stayed at the Rui Palace in PDC and had a great time. It was the best of three hotels that were all close together and whilst we had used of the other two, they did not have use of ours. This was mainly because it was pretty kid-free and layed back. Diving was from the wonderful beach with an organization called Scuba Carib (or something similar). They organized packages which included local dives, Cozumel (the ferries leave from just up the road) and the Cenotes (which I would highly recommend). Worth a try or maybe having a look on their web site.
Good luck.

Pirate

[Dragonfire]

Tulum, there are some big hotels on the outskirts, such as Dreams, and they have diving concerns, and I would say they all dive much the same sites. The thing about Tulum is that it is easy to get to the ruins of Tulum and Coba (well worth a visit), and the Sian Khan Nature Reserve, Cenotes (for diving and snorkeling), Xel-Ha, and the swimming off the beach is good because it's protected by an offsore reef.
We did spend the day in Playa D. Car/ Carmen which for us was on the busy side, but my family have stayed at Playa Del Car and loved it.

All the ex-pats we met suggested we stay away from Cozumel. At least from Playa it's only an hour at most to a cenote if the sea is too rough. If the wind gets above force 4 the harbor master closes all boat traffic down so the dive concerns all have to head for the cenotes - this happened on several occasions while we were there. From Playa it is an easy trip to any off the sites I mentioned, and if you’re Significant Other likes shopping.....