First trip to Mexico

[JCDdiver]

I'm taking my family to the Royal Solaris Cancun for New Years and was wondering if any of you have stayed there and if so what your thoughts are and also what dive shops you would recommend. I want to take my wife on a couple of reef dives and I want to do some cave dives too. Thanks.


Ps. I read the other posts about MX and wanted the most up to date information.

[Attchoum]

I live in Playa del Carmen and unfourtunatly don't know lot about cancun.

I will be happy to help if you don't mind driving to Playa.

Etienne

[FW]

I'm taking my family to the Royal Solaris Cancun for New Years and was wondering if any of you have stayed there and if so what your thoughts are and also what dive shops you would recommend. I want to take my wife on a couple of reef dives and I want to do some cave dives too. Thanks.


Ps. I read the other posts about MX and wanted the most up to date information.
Any dive shops in Cancun would only take you to reefs. Playa del Carman south to Tulum is the area for cave diving.

[Me]

If you post over in the Mexico forum on ScubaBoard you'll get the answer to your questions about reefy dive ops in Cancun; also consider posting on locogringo.com with your questions about the resort itself.

As to cave diving, in Cancun you are a good 60 to 90 minute drive away from the caves from PDC south to Tulum.

Is it just you and your wife traveling? If there are others, you might consider renting a car for the day, or taking the bus to Tulum. If you are traveling with others, they can take in the ruins at Tulum, along with a snorkel in Gran Cenote, while you arrange a cave dive or two for the day.

[deanme]

I'm heading to Tulum tomorrow. Can't wait.

My plan is to replace all the big red arrows with bigger purple arrows. :)

[RHolmesJr]

When I was there about 10 years ago, it was pretty nice. We did the all inclusive and the food was good to. There was a dive operator located at the resort. Cant remember the name. I believe you would be better off going with Connie or Cave Heaven as far as guide services go. The resort operator will just take you on a glorified cavern dive I think. Have fun.

[JCDdiver]

Thanks for the replies.

Best I can tell the resort is about 15-20 miles north of Tulum. I guess I will need to rent a car to get down to the caves.

[Me]

Hate to be a killjoy, but according to Google, your hotel is in Cancun proper. It's around 80 miles to Tulum or 130 kilometers. It is a pretty decent highway, but you'll be going through Puerto Morelos, Playa Del Carmen, and Puerto Aventuras which will slow you down. Puerto Morelos and Playa will slow you down to a city crawl.

[FW]

Thanks for the replies.

Best I can tell the resort is about 15-20 miles north of Tulum. I guess I will need to rent a car to get down to the caves.
The caves start near Playa del Carmen, so it isn't necessary to go to Tulum for your first trip. Contact Etienne "Attchoum", and get information for that area.

[JCDdiver]

Hate to be a killjoy, but according to Google, your hotel is in Cancun proper. It's around 80 miles to Tulum or 130 kilometers. It is a pretty decent highway, but you'll be going through Puerto Morelos, Playa Del Carmen, and Puerto Aventuras which will slow you down. Puerto Morelos and Playa will slow you down to a city crawl.


Damn! I looked at it again and I believe you are correct. I don't know what I was looking at before.

[Attchoum]

we have some amazing cave in playa area, from cancun it's about 45 minutes... You don't have to go till tulum, there enouph for a nice trip here.

etienne

[FFdiver]

The closer you get to Tulum/ Akumal, the better the caves get. I can give you the names of several guides down there. They will usually pick you up and take you to the sites.. Renting a car there can be a bit of a PATA. PM and I can tell you more... just got back Tuesday.
Brad

[Me]

The closer you get to Tulum/ Akumal, the better the caves get. I can give you the names of several guides down there. They will usually pick you up and take you to the sites.. Renting a car there can be a bit of a PATA. PM and I can tell you more... just got back Tuesday.
Brad

Brad, they aren't going to pick him up in Cancun, where his resort is located. That is why Etienne is offering her assistance if he can get as far at Playa. Which he can get to Playa by Collectivo or the bus in a reasonable timeframe of 45 minutes, to Tulum he's talking 90 minutes. He's also traveling with non cave diving family, so his time is limited. But yes, you can't swing a dead cat in the Tulum/Akumal area and not hit a very reputable guide, getting there from Cancun is the issue. If he can get to Playa, he may get a guide farther south to pick him up at the bus station.

JC, go with Forrest's advice and contact Etienne for advice and a dive or two! If your whole family goes to Playa for the day they can shop in Playa, or take the ferry over to Cozumel for the day while you cave dive in the Playa area.

Next trip, book with Connie LoRe through her site, www.cavedivemexico.com (http://www.cavedivemexico.com) My buddy and I have been diving annually with Connie for 10 years now. We're also quite comfortable doing the touristy thing on our own in the area as well since we have been there so many times. We usually go early, rent a car and experience the local flavor & many ruins before we start our week of cave diving.

Don't worry, you can get a cave dive or two out of this trip. Send a message to Etienne.

[Attchoum]

The closer you get to Tulum/ Akumal, the better the caves get.

There some amazing cave closer to playa. Quick like that I think about crystalino, minautoro, Taj,... just in those 3 systemes, i can probably guide 10 dives whitout using twice the same line and not bad cave, lots of formation...

North and south have different kind of cave, they are both good.

Etienne

[Me]

JC, Etienne is right. Minotauro will knock your socks off! I've got a picture on this site that I took of my buddy in Minotauro a few years ago. I'll see if I can find the link to it for you. TJ had it as the picture on the header a while back.

Found it!

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=8122&catid=member&imageuser=180

[350xfire]

AFAIK, the first cave is Ponderosa, a few miles down from Puerto Aventuras. From Cancun, it will take about 1hr to get there. But once you get down there, plenty of caves to dive. Good luck and enjoy.

[JCDdiver]

we have some amazing cave in playa area, from cancun it's about 45 minutes... You don't have to go till tulum, there enouph for a nice trip here.

etienne

Thanks. I will probably get in touch with you as I get closer to leaving.

[FFdiver]

There some amazing cave closer to playa. Quick like that I think about crystalino, minautoro, Taj,... just in those 3 systemes, i can probably guide 10 dives whitout using twice the same line and not bad cave, lots of formation...

North and south have different kind of cave, they are both good.

Etienne

I didn't mean to sound derogatory towards PA caves, I actually just did Taj, and Ponderosa last week. I love the haloclines.

Also the reason I offered him to PM me was so I coukd explain he would need to be in at least PDC for a guide pick up.

I hope you find time for a couple dives... they truly are the best caves in the world IMO

I really didn't mean to step on toes :)

[Attchoum]

I didn't mean to sound derogatory towards PA caves, I actually just did Taj, and Ponderosa last week. I love the haloclines.
Also the reason I offered him to PM me was so I coukd explain he would need to be in at least PDC for a guide pick up.
I hope you find time for a couple dives... they truly are the best caves in the world IMO
I really didn't mean to step on toes :)

There no offense at all, My toes where not there:smt081
I just found strange that the cave south look better that the north...
They are for sure very different and both interest differently.

Next time you come try minautoro, it's one of my favorite.

Etienne

[JCDdiver]

Since I'll only be doing two days of cave diving, which systems would you recommend I check out? I've heard that Dos Ojos & Na Hoch are a must see. I've also heard that the Grand Cenote to Calimba run was good too.

[LCF]

JCDdiver, if you are in fact staying in Cancun, do the caves as far north as you can, and hire a guide if you're that time-limited. Minotauro, as Etienne has said, is a beautiful cave, with enough lines to keep you busy for a whole day or more. Recently, someone put up a video of a cave system near Puerto Morelos that looked fascinating to me. But if you haven't been to MX before and don't know your way around, it's WELL worth the money to hire a guide. Just figuring out navigation and logistics would be very frustrating if I were under time pressure to get the diving I wanted to do done, and I hadn't come with people who already knew the ropes. It's not Florida; access, payment, fills, rentals, etc. can be far more complicated.

[JCDdiver]

I am going to dive with Ettienne. I was just tryng to figure out if there were any systems that were must dives. We're going to dive Taj Mahal for the first dive. I am looking forward to seeing the MX caves.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

I decided against renting a vehichle since it would be over $1000 for one big enough for my family.

[Attchoum]

:smt023:

[JCDdiver]

My bags are packed. I'm ready to go. I'll write up a trip report as soon as I get home.

[Aktun]

Recently, someone put up a video of a cave system near Puerto Morelos that looked fascinating to me. .
That is a sinkhole no cave system, the formations are hanging in a ceiling at 100-120 range, in the middle of a H2S layer.
david

[LCF]

For anyone who is considering this kind of a trip, we have a good thread (http://www.divematrix.com/showthread.php?t=8751) running on the Dive Matrix, including information on transporation, lodging, tank and gear acquisition, and dive sites. Please, anybody, feel free to contribute to it if you have something good to add!

[JCDdiver]

After an hour delay at the gate looking for a missing passenger we're in the air headed to MX. Woohoo.

[JCDdiver]

I would like to thank Etienne for four great dives in the caves of Playa del Carmen.

I don't know how anybody could not enjoy those dives.