Is Playa Del Carmen the best diving ever? No. But, we've been diving here several times and enjoyed our dives each time. The sites can range from shallow 35' to deep 100+'. The soft corals are in decent shape and there are lots of fish. My personal favorite is the quantity of large turtles that I have seen. This trip was no exception - on one dive we spotted EIGHT turtles, some swimming by, some eating, most within 10' of me! I love to dive Playa because of the turtles!! The excellent vis, pleasant drift (what a wonderfully lazy way to do a dive-lol!), soft corals, lots of fish, lobsters, eels and TURTLES make Playa an area that I enjoy coming back to again & again. We'll be there the end of April for another long weekend of diving.
The capt takes your weightbelt & gear so that you can climb into the boat unencumbered. He switches your gear to a new tank, then before heading to the next site hands out bottled water . The sites are within minutes of the dive shop and the beach is always within visual. This doesn't translate to shore dive & save the boat fare though - keep in mind the reefs are a bit of a swim and with the drift you & your equipment would have quite the walk back! We left around 9am, did 2 dives & were back at the shore around noonish each day . If you are doing multiple days of diving you can leave your equipment at the shop.
Thru the shop you can do Cenotes & Cozumel as well. We have done both in the past. Also, if you are there in the winter months you can do a Bull Shark dive . Our scheduling didn't allow us to particpate, but several diving with us had and loved it.
We've been diving a long time & enjoy a variety of dives. Because of the staff (& I certainly haven't named them all!) at Phantom this deserves an EXCELLENT rating. Again, there are better dives in the world - but, that's certainly no reason to dismis these, that would be the equivalent of avoiding other works by Michelangelo because they aren't the Sistine Chapel!!!! Whether you are a novice or an old jaded diver these are some fun dives and this is a GREAT STAFF!
morganatravels
Kentucky
24 mar 2009
