Dive pictures from the Mayan Riviera

[sumpfinfishe]

Well i was lucky enough to stumble onto this post!
I haven't been to Playa del Carmen for some years-around 12 to be exact.
A buddy and myself traveled there for many trips usually in november at the tail end the hurricane season. We always stayed at one of Playa's original divers hotels(Hotel Treetops), which i think is no longer there after the big hurricane years back. It was one block from the beach, one block to Tank-Ha, and directly across from Dive Mikes shop at 5th an 8th.
We logged many trips with both shops and found them both to be very safe, professional, and affordable outfits.

It's very sad to hear that Playa's local reefs have been damaged or completely died off.There use to be two really great reefs, one in Playa at Coco beach, which i believe now has a large resort facing that reef. The other reef was at Paamul beach which is in between Playa and Akumal. Both of these two reefs were filled with amazing life the last time i was there!(2002).
Both reefs were thriving with hundreds of varieties of fish and coral, from large angels, schools of powder blues, damsels, sea turtles, sponges, montipori, gorgonian, acropora, to urchins and lobster. We would swim out about 1000m to both of these local reefs with a float bag with water and food, complete with snorkel gear we would spend three or four hours before beaching ourselves for a rest. The life on these reefs was simply amazing and its hard in some ways to believe that they are now no longer. The last time there we did notice however that at both reefs instead of having a single anchor point, there were many more submerged anchor points and also anchor damage was effecting the reef as well. I'm sure the storms have taken there toll on these shallow reefs as well.

I will be taking my mother for a much needed break to either Tulum or Akumal in May, so if anyone knows of some local reefs to snorkel at, further down the coast this info would be greatly appreciated.

[Treebeard]

There is lots of good diving in Akumal still and the snorkeling is not bad in Half Moon Bay. Consider renting a condo on Half Moon Bay. There is also a small hotel. Check out LocoGringo.com for lots of good info.

Originally Posted by sumpfinfishe

Well i was lucky enough to stumble onto this post!
I haven't been to Playa del Carmen for some years-around 12 to be exact.
A buddy and myself traveled there for many trips usually in november at the tail end the hurricane season. We always stayed at one of Playa's original divers hotels(Hotel Treetops), which i think is no longer there after the big hurricane years back. It was one block from the beach, one block to Tank-Ha, and directly across from Dive Mikes shop at 5th an 8th.
We logged many trips with both shops and found them both to be very safe, professional, and affordable outfits.

It's very sad to hear that Playa's local reefs have been damaged or completely died off.There use to be two really great reefs, one in Playa at Coco beach, which i believe now has a large resort facing that reef. The other reef was at Paamul beach which is in between Playa and Akumal. Both of these two reefs were filled with amazing life the last time i was there!(2002).
Both reefs were thriving with hundreds of varieties of fish and coral, from large angels, schools of powder blues, damsels, sea turtles, sponges, montipori, gorgonian, acropora, to urchins and lobster. We would swim out about 1000m to both of these local reefs with a float bag with water and food, complete with snorkel gear we would spend three or four hours before beaching ourselves for a rest. The life on these reefs was simply amazing and its hard in some ways to believe that they are now no longer. The last time there we did notice however that at both reefs instead of having a single anchor point, there were many more submerged anchor points and also anchor damage was effecting the reef as well. I'm sure the storms have taken there toll on these shallow reefs as well.

I will be taking my mother for a much needed break to either Tulum or Akumal in May, so if anyone knows of some local reefs to snorkel at, further down the coast this info would be greatly appreciated.

[sumpfinfishe]

Thanks Treebeard
Im looking at akumal and also tulum, and no diving on this trip, prefer a smaller resort with 200 or less rooms.

[Reef_Geek]

my last trip was so terrible... I decided to rope my wife into going back with me at the end of March. This time I'm staying at Akumal Beach Resort. It doesn't look fancy, but last time I was in Akumal Bay.... I really liked how quaint it was with the amazing snorkelling right off the beach (within a 45 min snorkel, encountered 6 sea turtles, pod of cuttlefish, 3 or 4 stingrays, 1 eagle ray). All we care about is beach time and snorkel time. I'll try out the (only) dive shop in Akumal on a dive or two. This was actually a last minute decision to squeeze into a trip to a friend's wedding in Florida. Ha! Headed to Florida by way of Akumal! Really, who needs to hang out among all the wedding drama in the week ahead anyway?

[sumpfinfishe]

Thanks for the info reef geek, its a real toss between akumal an tulum but akumal beach resort is looking really good the last few days!

[Reef Pilot]

Went there in beginning of Dec, about same time as Reef Geek. Was very disappointed with the snorkeling. Lots of turtles, but not much for corals, and seas were rough. Stayed at the Grande Bahia, and corals there just off the beach were mostly dead skeletons and branch rubble. I think all the sediment from the resort and beach area development probably killed them.

Guess, I've been spoiled by Maui, which is where we usually go. Great snorkeling everywhere there.

[Reef_Geek]

yeah, there wasn't much in terms of reefs for snorkeling. When I was there in Dec, the best diving was in cozumel. Lots of good stuff, especially the deeper dives 80-100ft, but my wife doesn't dive so in March we'll settle for sea turtles... she's got a thing for them (she did a volunteer stint for Pretoma in Costa Rica, see http://www.pretoma.org/).

Here's my video from my favourite dive (Cozumel) from December.

http://youtu.be/Llml0Jo2MjU

Here's my video from snorkeling off Akumal with sea turtles... it's just sea grass beds there mostly, and some reef remnants. It's the sea grass bed that attracts the turtles.

http://youtu.be/4bSNwr7t5s4

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Went there in beginning of Dec, about same time as Reef Geek. Was very disappointed with the snorkeling. Lots of turtles, but not much for corals, and seas were rough. Stayed at the Grande Bahia, and corals there just off the beach were mostly dead skeletons and branch rubble. I think all the sediment from the resort and beach area development probably killed them.

Guess, I've been spoiled by Maui, which is where we usually go. Great snorkeling everywhere there.