Before traveling to Kona, I arranged diving with Pacific Rim Divers after a recommendation from a friend. I called them and found out that they take only small groups of divers and reservations were necessary to avoid being turned away because of a full boat. It is a family run operation and the husband and wife team were on the boat almost every day. Patrice is an incredible dive master. During her briefing, she shows pictures of fish you are likely to see and she does her best to point out every one. She often finds rare fish as well. Her husband, Frank, lead many dives and was a very knowledgeable guide as well. The bonus is that Patrice bakes fresh brownies for the boat every day. This is a great operation and I highly recommend them. Watch out for the chicken! An inside joke you will find out about on the boat the first day.

At the northernmost tip of the Yucatan peninsula, lies Isla Holbox (Holbox Island). This is an amazing out-of-the-way place where nature lovers can find paradise. This island is in the middle of the Mexican Whale shark migration route.
We hired a company specializing in Whale shark tours. We went on a small boat with 8 passengers and scoured the waters surrounding the island until the crew spotted a very large one. Mexico prohibits scuba diving with Whale sharks, so only snorkeling is allowed, with only two people in the water at a time. The boat pulls way ahead of the shark to lessen distress to the animal and allow the snorkelers to enter the water. It's necessary to start swimming immediately, because this giant fish will close ground very quickly. Even though they appear to move slowly, one flip of their tail will propel them a long distance. We spent a long time snorkeling, each pair taking their turn, returning to the boat, and the next pair entering the water. Each duo was able to snorkel several times before leaving the shark to continue its migration. On the return trip, we spotted a breaching Manta ray and a huge school of Mobula rays.
The next day, we hired a ponga for just 3 of us to do a full day nature tour. We started by going to a shallow bay where we found a flock of hundreds of flamingos. We approached as slowly and quietly as possible and the captain then gunned the engine causing the flamboyance (the name for a flock of flamingos) to take to the air. What a glorious sight!
Next, we headed for Bird Island, a nesting sanctuary for several species of birds, depending on the season. A dock has been built for boats to tie up and observation towers for watching the birds. We observed the ongoing struggle of the birds trying to protect their eggs and chicks from being eaten by the iguanas also living on the island. Be sure to bring binoculars! By this time, it was approaching midday and the temperature was climbing.
We reboarded the boat and headed for another island covered with vegetation and went ashore. After a short walk through the jungle, we came to a spring-fed oasis with a large, fresh water pool. We stayed and swam for over two hours and had lunch.
Our next stop was a deserted sandy island on which we were able to beachcomb and search for interesting shells and other flotsam and jetsam. It was a very special day in a very special place!
We stayed at one of several small boutique hotels on the island which was very lovely and had a lot of personality. There are also several international style restaurants in town. All of our meals were very good. The only transportation on the island is by golf cart or ATV.
Isla Holbox should be visited before this natural treasure dissappears!

When on a trip to Playa del Carmen, I wanted to do some additional cenote diving. I tried Tank-Ha divers in town. I was taken by a cave certified guide on what turned out to be a private tour since I was the only diver scheduled. We dove at The Pit, which is an incredible dive in a vertical pit. We also dove at Temple of Doom. If you have never done any cenote diving, this is something you must do if you are in the Riviera Maya area. Lunch was included and my guide asked if we should stop at the regular lunch spot or his favorite place. I opted for his suggestion, which turned out to be a roadside taco place that had authentic and delicious tacos. After returning to the shop, I learned that Tank-Ha runs a speed boat directly to Cozumel for diving on the reefs there. This saves a great deal of time by not having to take the ferry over and then a taxi to a dive shop. I tried this service the next day and was diving at Cozumel in a short time. We made 2 dives and returned to Playa. I recommend this shop for these reasons.

I've been diving in Cozumel at least a dozen times. The last several times there, I used Aldora Divers. They cater to experienced divers. They use 100cf steel tanks for long bottom times and all dives are computer dives. They visit the best southern sites, such as Maricaibo, Punta Sur, and the famous Devil’s Throat. They also visit the world renowned Palancar Reef dive sites. For advanced divers, they will dive the little-explored east side of the island on pristine reefs. Highly recommended and will use them again.