Scuba Diving in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Tulum

If this is the first post you’re seeing on our trip to Mexico, check out Part 1, where we talked about travel, accommodations, and tours! In this post, I’ll tell you all about the scuba diving in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Tulum.

Dive Shop

Anytime we schedule a dive trip, the first thing I do is find a PADI Dive Shop. Once I find the local PADI Dive Shops, I dig into the reviews to find a shop that best fits our needs. During this trip, we dove with a shop called Blue Life, located in Playa del Carmen. The dive shop was about a 30-40 minute walk from our AirBnB. We could have taken a cab, but we enjoyed the walks each day. We dove three days (two tanks each day): off the coast of Playa del Carmen, off the coast of Cozumel, and in two cenotes near Tulum.

Playa del Carmen

The first two dives of our trip were off the coast of Playa del Carmen. Overall, the diving in Playa del Carmen was meh. Honestly, if you’re short on time – I’d skip these dives. They weren’t anything special. The visibility was mediocre and the fauna and sea life left a lot to be desired (I think we were spoiled by our diving in Bonaire!).

The absolute worst part about these dives – for me – was the sea sickness. Although we were close to Playa del Carmen, these were still boat dives. I strongly prefer shore diving, because boats make me sick. And BOY did I get sea sick on these dives. It was unpleasant… for everyone! Luckily, I didn’t get sick underwater – but I really thought I was going to.

Cozumel

The next day, we took a looooong boat ride (45 minutes each way) to Cozumel. This time, I wised up and took Mexican Dramamine (a.k.a. magic pills) before we got on the boat. I took one an hour before we departed and another one 30 minutes before we departed. And it worked like a charm! Not only did I avoid adding my own special sauce to the ocean, but I even had the stomach to eat a sandwich on the way back! Since I hadn’t had breakfast (I was trying to avoid adding chunks to the aforementioned special sauce), this was the best one piece of cheese, one piece of ham sandwich I’d ever had!

The Cozumel dives were spectacular! The water was a beautiful shade of blue, the coral was gorgeous, and the sea life was stunning! These were our first two drift dives – ever – so we definitely had a big learning curve. We both ended up using a lot of energy to remain with the group. We also burned a lot of energy because our dive master kept trying to pull us into the current to look at sea life he thought was notable. He’d come up to us, grab our BCDs, and yank us in whatever direction he wanted us to go in. I appreciated his efforts, but swimming into the current was hard and I did NOT like being pulled. It honestly took a lot out of the dives for me and eventually I started yanking him off my BCD anytime he would grab it. I just wanted to coast with the current and enjoy the views!

Other than that, I really enjoyed these dives and I am looking forward to diving Cozumel again.

Tulum

For our last day of diving, we traveled south to Tulum. This was – BY FAR – our best day of diving. We dove in two Cenotes – Dos Ojos and The Pit. Dos Ojos means “two eyes,” because it is two sinkholes connected by a long tunnel. You dive through the tunnel to get to the sinkholes. Unfortunately, we did not get to explore both sinkholes. Instead, we dove along the “barbie line,” which wove us through the cenote. The other path takes you to the bat cave, which is what it sounds like – a cave full of bats! Our instructor recommended the barbie line and – since he knew much better than we did – we took his recommendation!

This is a very shallow Cenote (I don’t think we were ever much below 20 feet), but the tunnel makes it feel like you’re in a cave the entire time. We were underwater for nearly an hour and used only 1/3 of our tanks. I know what you’re thinking – Tunnel?! Cave?! Scary! But it really wasn’t scary at all. Our divemaster was an experienced cenote diver and he dove with an extra tank, so we felt well prepared to deal with any emergency.

Next, we dove to The Pit. This dive is for advanced divers only because the cool part is around 100 feet deep. We actually got our PADI Advanced Diver Certifications specifically for this dive. Ultimately, this dive is exactly what it sounds like – a giant (and deep) pit.

The Pit is known for the halocline and the hydrogen sulfide cloud – two natural phenomena that you won’t see on many other dives. The halocline is around 30-40 feet below the surface and is where salt water and fresh water mix. This combination makes things look blurry, as if something is wrong with your vision. It was cool (but very difficult to capture on camera)! The hydrogen sulfide cloud is around 90-100 feet below the surface and looks like thick fog but is actually a poisonous gas caused by the breakdown of plant material and bacteria. It was very spooky but also very cool. We hung out around the cloud for a few minutes before ascending (slowly) back to the surface. This dive may be a little intimidating to new divers, but it so worth it! Due to its depth, it was a much shorter dive than the dive at Dos Ojos (I think around 30 minutes).

If you only have time for one day of diving on the Yucatán Peninsula, I’d recommend diving the cenotes near Tulum. There truly is nothing like it and you will not be disappointed. If you have two days, I’d add a few dives at Cozumel. Frankly, even if we had 4-5 days to dive, I don’t think we’d dive Playa del Carmen again. Instead, I’d explore a bunch of Cenotes and hang out near Cozumel. But that’s just my $0.02!

Overall, our trip to Mexico was amazing. Believe it or not, we did find fit in some beach time. And we even found time for massages at the Grand Hyatt. It was a splurge, but such a fun way to spend an afternoon. And that property is stunning. If you’ve spent time on the Yucatán Peninsula, comment below with your favorite spots/tips!