The Mayan Riviera, Mexico, 2004

by John Kirk

Just got back from Mexico (Mayan Riviera) and managed to slip in 12 dives by accident. Ahh - the joys of 27 degree water and 20+ metres of vis. We stayed at the Hotel Maya Riviera, a 5 star hotel, which was excellent.

Diving was split into 3 categories - general reef diving, Cozumel and of course the never to be forgotton Cenotes dives.





General reef dives

Did 6 general reef dives off the coast. Have to say was not overly impressed with the life or volume of it. The dives were Ok but the scenery was a bit `grey` and the fish were small. Main highlight was when there were only 3 of us diving we were joined by a turtle who stayed with us the whole dive - it just took up position with us and came along - great fun !! All the dives were boat dives with a max 6 people per boat. One main problem in this area is the wind - when the sea gets rough the diving is cancelled.




Cozumel

This was everything that the other dives weren't. Did Palancar reef, Paraisio, Tormentos and las Palmas reefs. Awesome stuff with depths down to >60m for those who wanted to. The landscape and topography was stunningly big and brash, huge corals, huge fish, huge rays etc etc - awesome. Only problem with Cozumel is getting there and back - full day out for 2 dives gets a bit heavy particularly with the additional taxis, ferry etc involved. Having said that, Cozumel is a must do location if you are out that way.




Cenotes

Absolutely fan-f****ing-tastic. 2 dives at Dos Ojos. Did both tours (the barbie doll tour and the bat cave tour). The first dive was incredible and relatively not mentally taxing - lots of sunlight breaking through all over the place, stalagmites and stalagtites all over the place. More cavern than cave diving.

The bat cave tour was a bit more spooky - a lot less sunlight. I can now appreciate the mental strength the cave divers have (or have had removed !!) as this second dive really spooked me near the end - what a joy to see the exit.

Prior to this we had spent about 20 mins in a totally black environment (thank god we were given decent torches) swimming through this maze of stalagtites and rock formations before we surfaced in an underground cave full of bats !!. Again - the view was stunning. Then we submerged again to find the exit some 20 mins later. These are must-do dives, crystal clear water, stunning views. Hats off to the cave divers - you must be nuts!! Even at 5m depth it felt more like 50m given the overhead environment - spooky but just fantastic.

OK - the boring stuff - dive depths from 10 to 30m (max cenote depth 9m), water temp 27 degrees, dived with Scuba-Caribe who are a great bunch. Most dives were slow drifts


Mexico - great but would recommend Cenotes and Cozumel.


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