Any good diving around Tulum?

[DetectorGuy]

I am going to Tulum Mexico for 11 days on Friday and I plan on getting in some cenote dives in. Does anyone have any "must dive" cenotes in that area? I think I will do some reef dives as well. I don't think there are any wrecks in the immediate area around Tulum but if anyone knows of any, I would like to know about them. At the end of the trip we are going to be in the North point of Cancun for a couple days and I wouldn't mind diving that C-58 wreck. A couple years ago I dove the C-56 wreck near Puerto Morelos but I had a crappy camera then and the pics were terrible. That new underwater museum near Isla Mujeres would be kinda neat too, but I don't think they have much of it done yet...

[doug67]

John I was in Playa Del Carmen and the Riviera Maya. Both are not far from Tulum. There is a wreck a little south of Playa called tha Mama Vina. It wasnt that old when I dove it but its in a 100ft so it was a pretty cool dive. The other one that sticks out is "Tortugas". This is a fantastic drift dive. You should see lots of BIG turtles. If you havent seen the ruins of Tulum it is very, very worth the trip. Have fun.

[DetectorGuy]

This is the kind of mood I was in today at work.... I looked at several aerial photos and satellite images of the area where we will be staying (Villa Luminosa near Tulum. With all of the intel gathered I made this map to go over possible scenarios in my head.

I am really needing this vacation!

[DetectorGuy]

I read about that "Mama Vina wreck" and thought that would be cool too. Its 32 miles North of where I am gonna be though. That "tortugas" site... where is that? I have been thinking about "Dos Ojos Cenote for a dive or two.

[freedivernd]

Casa Cenote.. what you have listed as Manatee Cenote.. I've been in that many times.. There's a neat swim though towards the west through the mangroves.. my wife and friends who were along got a little excited when I dove down and disappeared, they didn't realize I swam through and came up on the other side, it wasn't so much of a swim.  Also, there is a sign under the road that says something like Stop Unless Cave Certified.. I was always going to have someone take my picture while I was freediving it.. On the ocean side at the "Eye" we saw some huge jacks but the fresh/salt haze was pretty bad.  We'd always make this cenote our last dive (ok, snorkel) for a freshwater rinse of the equipment before leaving for home.

Last time we were there some kid was trying to make us pay for entrance/parking.. well, I didn't.. because I never had before and I figured he was just young mafia trying to get out of work.. and since he didn't argue with me, I think I was correct in my assumption.  I don't know what the protocol is now

Fred

[Indigo Blues]

Hi DetectorGuy! I did not get a chance to dive Tortugas reef or the Mama Vina. I did Jardines, Sabalos and Barracuda reefs which are right next door to Tortugas reef. They are just off shore from Xcaret which is south of Playa del Carmen by about 30 minutes or so. I have tried to put images of Tortugas reef, the Mama Vina wreck and Dos Ojos the bat carvern. These scans are from my Playa del Carmen Dive guide and log book but the scans are to large to post here. I can email them to you if you like - just let me know your email address. You should have a great time - I did this January when we were there... Pat

[DetectorGuy]

Hi Fred, I saw it called Casa Cenote in some websites and some call it Cenote Manatee. I guess there were manatees sighted there a long time ago but they haven't been seen for years. It is only 23' deep but it goes way back into the mangroves. How far is the "cave" from the Cenote to the ocean side? from the satellite images the "Eye" in the ocean side looks big. There is a small one of these in Puerto Morelos called "Ojo De Agua" but that one is only 10' x 5'. There was a Goliath grouper hanging out in it one day that scared the crap out of me. I hear there is a dive shop in the Dreams resort about a mile south of the Casa Cenote. I would love to rent some tanks and do some shore dives to supplement the guided dives.

[DetectorGuy]

I sent you a PM with my e-mail so if you have any info at all I would appreciate it. I did some snorkeling at Xcaret about 10 years ago through that underground river. 2,000 feet long with light coming through holes in the lid about every 150 feet. The Cenotes at the end of this underground river were spectacular. This whole area is very interesting.

[freedivernd]

How far is the \"cave\" from the Cenote to the ocean side? from the satellite images the \"Eye\" in the ocean side looks big.

The cave starts right on the west side of the road (where you enter the cenote).  I think the "cave certified" sign was about 50' back to the east or so under the road.. seemed further than that but probably because it was maybe 20' down or so too (and overheads always seem a long way when you're holding your breath  ).  The eye was very small, unless I missed something, but it would have been a tight squeeze to get into it with tanks on.

Fred

[DetectorGuy]

Thanks for the info. I won't go through it because I am not trained, but I am gonna bring my new canister light and peer into the darkness.