Dive pictures from the Mayan Riviera

[Jakegr]

I think there are areas in the Mayan Riviera that have pretty good diving, but overall I completely agree Maui is a lot better. There are so many amazing dives and snorkel spots there.

[Treebeard]

Apparently you have never dove Cozumel.

Originally Posted by Jakegr

I think there are areas in the Mayan Riviera that have pretty good diving, but overall I completely agree Maui is a lot better. There are so many amazing dives and snorkel spots there.

[Reef_Geek]

I am writing from my room at the Paradisus resort in Playa del Carmen (PDC) procrastinating until I have to head home to Calgary in about 30 mins.

Had a decent week of diving. I went on 7 dives with Tank-HA out of PDC. Good operation and I'd recommend them for anyone staying around PDC, very professional, and... very important... fast boats (big twin outboards). This meant they could get to the further remote spots and get you off the water sooner if you're prone to seasickness. They also have slightly larger boats.

First dives were supposed to be local PDC reefs, but I arrived just after a few days of rough seas... PDC vis was poor, and in fact, my first scheduled dives were cancelled due to the authorities closing the port to small crafts. So... my first 2 dives were in cenotes. They are worth while if you haven't dove cenotes before... pretty neat... but you can get bored of them after trying them... just rocks and caverns. Next, I did the bull shark dive (single tank). That was neat, they came very close to me (within 1 meter). I also like that Tank-HA does not feed the sharks. One of the shop guys was bitten before (good guy). You can ask him about it. But the shark dive is pretty safe if you don't feed them. They come up to you, see/smell if you have food, and keep moving on. My next 2 dives were in Cozumel. Tank-HA is the only PDC dive shop what takes you directly from the PDC beach to the dive sites in Cozumel and back. These two were my favourite dives of the whole trip. If I come back, I think I'll look for a resort in Cozumel instead of PDC. My last two dives were PDC local reefs, they were my two least favourite dives of the trip. There were some cool formations, but due to the week of rough seas, PDC visibility was really bad (15-20 feet). Cozumel was very clear despite the week of rough seas... and the surface was rough on the ride over from PDC, but was flat once you get to Cozumel... weird how the currents work. I spent yesterday off gassing to fly.... so I took an excursion to Tulum and a sea turtle sea grass bed snorkeling tour in Akumal. Yup, I'm one of those non-local vacationer that crashed Akumal bay. It was really neat though, I've done a lot of diving/snorkeling and it's not too many places where you can snorkel within 100 yards of the beach for 30 mins and see half a dozen sea turtles just grazing and ignoring the snorkelers. Also saw 3 or 4 stingrays, one spotted eagle ray, and a group of cuttlefish. My nephews really enjoyed it, and I think my sister & brother in law also liked it... it was their first snorkel trip in 10 years since their first time on honeymoon.

Anyway... I should finish packing. Back to the great white north... to go through my GoPro videos and hours of editing by the fireplace. I'll post videos whenever I get around to them...

[Treebeard]

Take my advice and miss your flight. Not to pleasant around these parts lately.

Originally Posted by Reef_Geek

I am writing from my room at the Paradisus resort in Playa del Carmen (PDC) procrastinating until I have to head home to Calgary in about 30 mins.

Had a decent week of diving. I went on 7 dives with Tank-HA out of PDC. Good operation and I'd recommend them for anyone staying around PDC, very professional, and... very important... fast boats (big twin outboards). This meant they could get to the further remote spots and get you off the water sooner if you're prone to seasickness. They also have slightly larger boats.

First dives were supposed to be local PDC reefs, but I arrived just after a few days of rough seas... PDC vis was poor, and in fact, my first scheduled dives were cancelled due to the authorities closing the port to small crafts. So... my first 2 dives were in cenotes. They are worth while if you haven't dove cenotes before... pretty neat... but you can get bored of them after trying them... just rocks and caverns. Next, I did the bull shark dive (single tank). That was neat, they came very close to me (within 1 meter). I also like that Tank-HA does not feed the sharks. One of the shop guys was bitten before (good guy). You can ask him about it. But the shark dive is pretty safe if you don't feed them. They come up to you, see/smell if you have food, and keep moving on. My next 2 dives were in Cozumel. Tank-HA is the only PDC dive shop what takes you directly from the PDC beach to the dive sites in Cozumel and back. These two were my favourite dives of the whole trip. If I come back, I think I'll look for a resort in Cozumel instead of PDC. My last two dives were PDC local reefs, they were my two least favourite dives of the trip. There were some cool formations, but due to the week of rough seas, PDC visibility was really bad (15-20 feet). Cozumel was very clear despite the week of rough seas... and the surface was rough on the ride over from PDC, but was flat once you get to Cozumel... weird how the currents work. I spent yesterday off gassing to fly.... so I took an excursion to Tulum and a sea turtle sea grass bed snorkeling tour in Akumal. Yup, I'm one of those non-local vacationer that crashed Akumal bay. It was really neat though, I've done a lot of diving/snorkeling and it's not too many places where you can snorkel within 100 yards of the beach for 30 mins and see half a dozen sea turtles just grazing and ignoring the snorkelers. Also saw 3 or 4 stingrays, one spotted eagle ray, and a group of cuttlefish. My nephews really enjoyed it, and I think my sister & brother in law also liked it... it was their first snorkel trip in 10 years since their first time on honeymoon.

Anyway... I should finish packing. Back to the great white north... to go through my GoPro videos and hours of editing by the fireplace. I'll post videos whenever I get around to them...

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by Treebeard

Take my advice and miss your flight. Not to pleasant around these parts lately.

you were right. I should have missed my flight.

[Reef_Geek]

Still editing GoPro videos. Here's the first one.

GoPro Hero3+ at 1080 resolution, 60 fps. Backscatter 3.1 deep filter.

Depth at 70-80 feet. Off Playa del Carmen Bull Shark dive with Tank-Ha (dive shop)

They were circling pretty close at 6 minutes into the video.

Recommend you click on the settings wheel at the bottom right of player and set the quality to 780 or 1080 HD, as the visibility wasn't exceptional.

http://youtu.be/BSV6f3cmQ-M

[Reef_Geek]

here's two dives on the reefs off Playa del Carmen, diving with Tank-Ha.

Visibility wasn't great, not too many large animals. Some neat formations, would have been nice if visibility was better.

Shot with GoPro Hero3+ at 1080 HD 60 fps. Recommend changing the Settings wheel at the bottom right of player to 1080 quality.

First dive was about 105 feet, using deep filter (backscatter flip 3.1). Second dive was about 30 feet and less, no filter used.

http://youtu.be/wiMgwffKarA

[Reef_Geek]

This is Cozumel!!!

Tank-Ha is the only dive shop (that I found) out of Playa del Carmen that will go direct with their boat from the playa to Cozumel. Very fast boat! We went to this reef at the southern tip of Cozumel... few boats there, I assume because of the time it takes to get there. Lots of cool swim throughs and columns.

Deepest depth was about 113 feet with the bulk of the time at 90 feet.

I was going to take that sea turtle and nurse shark home... but then I thought... that's crazy, my wife will never let me get a bigger tank.

One of the last clip has a giant Goliath Grouper (previously called Jew Fish) and a giant Parrot fish. Notice how far off they are (incredible visibility)

Click on the settings wheel and change the quality to 1080 HD.
http://youtu.be/Li0Y4WMJOmI