diving playa

Just off the coast of the Riviera Maya you'll find the second largest barrier reef in the world, stretching over 600 km./375 miles from Cancun in the north all the way south to the bay islands of Honduras. In this amazing world, chances are high of encountering turtles, stingrays, spotted eagle rays, moray eels, barracudas, lobster and crab. Depending on the time of the year nurse sharks and even an occasional bull shark can be encountered.

The comfortable water temperature (26C/78F) and good visibility (20-40m/60-130ft) of the Mexican Caribbean Sea allow for scuba diving all year round. The depth of the dives is usually between 10 and 30 meters (30-90 feet) and because of the ocean currents in the Yucatan channel each dive is a relaxing drift dive. Just go with the mild current at an easy pace past the beautiful corals and tropical fish. Most local dive sites are not more than a 15-minute boat ride away. Ocean diving in Playa is almost always done from a boat because the distance to the reef does not allow for shore diving. Sometimes confined water dive training is done on shore because the water is so shallow and calm.

diving cozumel

Cozumel is one of the top three dive destinations in the world, and rightly so. Healthy reefs with lots of beautiful soft coral, sponges and abundant marine life are some of the main features of this destination. Many of the dives that can be made on Cozumel are deep drift dives with mild to strong current. Depending on the group's certification level we decide which dives to make on the island.

To get to Cozumel we'll just go down to the beach in Playa and hop on the dive boat. We'll take a 40-minute ride to get to the reefs of Cozumel. There we'll put on our tanks, make a backroll entry, and ... we're diving the beautiful reefs of Cozumel! For our second dive we'll move to a shallower reef, about 50-60 feet (16-20 meter). When our bottom time is up, we simply get back on the dive boat and cruise back to Playa del Carmen. No hassle. Usually we're back in Playa around 1.30 pm.