Another wonderful trip to Playa del Carmen - trip report

[Byte Me]

Ok, it's been two months (almost) since we got back from our "We're not afraid of the Swine Flu" trip to Playa in early June and I finally got around to doing the video and some pictures of the trip. We went down to take advantage of the fact everyone was freakin' out about the non-existent (in Q-Roo anyway) swine flu so we got great rates! Went for four nights and set up dive w/ Jason - Playacountryboy - from Fantaseadive.com

We arrived Thursday and hooked up w/ Jason to have a few beers and get the plan laid out. It was my wife, myself, my regular dive buddy and another friend, two divers, two non-divers. We planned to dive Cenotes the first day, Coz the 2nd and Playa reefs the third. What really worked out well is that my wife and the other non diver got to come along to snorkel the Cenotes and they came along to Coz on the ferry as well, shopped while we dove and met us at the dive shop for the trip back.

First day we headed south towards Tulum to dive Temple of Doom and Grand Cenote. Stopped, as usual, on the way down for yummy tacos, boy fresh tortillas are SO good!! We dropped the girls at Grand Cenote which is perfect for snorkeling and swimming, Klaus, Jess and I went back up the road about 1/2 mile to Temple of Doom Previously I've done Dos Ojos and really enjoyed the cenote dives, it was Jess' first time in them. The cool thing about Temple and I believe the reason it got it's name is from the haloclynes where the fresh and salt water mix. A bit of an eerie feeling to look through and when you're in it it's VERY odd, but fun! The entry and exit are a bit, uh, rustic? Giant stride about 10'+ down into the water and coming out was up a straight metal ladder and at the top you had to hang onto the remains of a tree to pull yourself out. Great dive though! Then over to Grand Cenote, another very cool dive, no haloclynes but cool swim throughs and features. This one is pretty short though. We had a blast though and stopped on the way back home for some more awesome food!

Here's the video:

Temple of Doom and Grand Cenote - short version on Vimeo

And some pictures - Cenotes pictures by byteme45 - Photobucket

Next day was off to Cozumel. Met Jason at his shop and headed over to the ferry. Because of the lack of tourists they cut down the ferry schedule so we hung out in the waiting area and shot the sh!t. Once over there we said goodbye to the girls, set up the meeting time and jumped onto the boat, picked up the rest of the divers and headed to Palancar Gardens. What a great dive, it's up there with my favorite Mexico dive to date! Saw tons of fish, lots of fun swim throughs, very relaxed current (last time I was in Coz at Santa Rosa wall the current was RIPPING!). We headed over to Paradise Reef for our 2nd dive which was also wonderful! Then back to Blue Angel for lunch, to meet the girls and back to the ferry. The ferry ride on the way back was quite entertaining. The band they have on the boat was doing their best to get passengers to get up and dance - my wife was coaxed into doing it and well, the video will speak for itself. Jason, I sure am glad you had the camera running!!

Brian and Jess dive Cozumel! - ScubaBoard

And here are my pictures - Diving pictures by byteme45 - Photobucket

The final day of diving :depressed: (BOO!! I wanted more!!) was also great - met Jason at his shop and headed down to his secret spot and then to Barracuda reef. Saw the biggest turtle I've ever seen on the first dive and loads and loads of fish on Barracuda. Great dives as always and again the current was quite relaxing - really felt like we were floating along flying on both of these! They should be in the video above as well.

Another wonderful trip! Jason, as always it was a pleasure - can't wait to see you again this fall!! Thanks for everything!

[Diver mom Tulsa]

Great Pics! Sounds like a lot of fun. What was the water temp like in the cenote? We are going to Cozumel in October and are going to do a cenote.

[rbraatz]

Thanks for the great posting and sharing pictures. I'm headed to Playa in a few weeks all of the information has been very helpful. Where did you stay and what did you think of the place?

[DevilDiver]

Great report and pics!!

[scubagirlj]

looks fabulous-sorry now i had to change my trip from there(in nov) to grand cayman(in 12 days) due to change up at work-have to hope for the best.....

[chinacat46]

thnx for the report and pics. Glad you had a good time and didn't catch the H1N1 flu.

[Travelnsj]

Thanks for the report....The cenote's pics are great....If that water was just a bit warmer....I'd be there.

[scubarobin]

Originally Posted by Travelnsj

Thanks for the report....The cenote's pics are great....If that water was just a bit warmer....I'd be there.

you just need to buy a 5mm fullsuit and suck it up!!!
We used our 5mm suits last March and the water felt the same temp as in the ocean. Plus it was swealtering hot there in the jungle so the water felt very refreshing!

[Desert_Diver]

Thanks for the cenote video. I particularly enjoyed that. I haven't done cenotes yet. This is a situation that requires rectification.

Art

[Travelnsj]

Originally Posted by scubarobin

you just need to buy a 5mm fullsuit and suck it up!!!

Nope, never, will not, not going to happen, not in a million years, I'll retire from diving, I'd rather be eaten by a Shark, Speared by a Marlin....I could go on and on....LOL