I traveled on cruise 1918 on the Dewi Nusantara in Northern Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The boat, crew, and food are all exceptional. The diving was amazing. This boat and crew deliver everything they promise and anything you might expect. That includes the complimentary neck and shoulder massage after every dive! Highly recommended.
I've visited the Riviera Maya many times. We've always based ourselves in Playa del Carmen and ventured out from there. Playa del Carmen is an easy drive from Cancun and a rental car is essential. Each time, we have rented a beachfront private villa within walking distance of town. Fifth Avenue is the main street in town and is pedestrian only. This is where you will find a great number of restaurants, bars, and shops. Many dive shops are scattered around town. This is the main embarkation point for the ferry to Cozumel.
The main reason divers come to this area is to dive in the cenotes. These are ancient limestone caves, now filled with water, and making up the largest underwater cave system in the world. You can dive the cenotes without special training because they are considered cavern dives where you never lose sight of the entrance. Any further exploration requires cave diving training. The dive shops in Playa del Carmen will all arrange guided cenote dives led by certified cave divers. Some will also arrange high-speed boats to Cozumel for a two tank dive on the world-famous walls. As you continue south of Playa del Carmen, you'll come to the town of Puerto Aventuras, Tulum, and Akumal. Cenotes are scattered throughout this entire area. Akumal has a wonderful, calm bay perfect for snorkeling and is usually occupied by a large number of sea turtles, including green, hawksbill, and loggerheads. There is also a beautiful white sand beach. Tulum has an ancient Mayan archeological site that’s quite extensive and certainly worth a visit. Coba, another Mayan site, is only a short drive from Tulum and is also an excellent side trip. Some of my favorite cenotes are Dos Ojos, Angelita, Dream Gate, and Gran Cenote.
Bottom line: The Riviera Maya is a family-friendly area with fantastic cenote diving, exquisite Mayan cultural sites, authentic Mexican food beautiful beaches, and a welcoming and warm local population.
After diving in the Cabo San Lucas area, we made our way to Cabo Pulmo to stay and dive with the Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort. We had a rental car and the drive was very pleasant . The last six miles is on a somewhat rough dirt road. The resort is located right on the beach with bungalows and casitas scattered aground the property. Our casita was a very large (about 600 square feet) “studio” type accommodation with a full kitchen, living area, dining area, queen bed, indoor bathroom, and a great outdoor shower. It also has an upstairs covered deck with a table and chairs. There is a partial ocean view. We elected to take advantage of the “Eat, Sleep, Dive” plan which is all inclusive. Cabo Pulmo is very small (population 114) and there are a few other restaurants in town, but eating at the resort for all of our meals was very convenient. The resort restaurant serves an international menu with large portions and we thought the food and service were excellent. There is a swimming pool on the property used for scuba training but guests are free to use it throughout the day.
The on-site dive shop is operated by a very experienced staff and runs like a well oiled machine. Boats can't moor in the marine reserve, so the crews must launch the dive boats from the beach. It's an awe inspiring operation. Diving is very easy, mostly shallow reefs or wrecks covered with massive schools of fish, large grouper, and bull sharks, to name a few of the things to see. The dive guides from CPBR are very professional and act as unofficial guardians of the marine Park. The dive shop has a well-stocked gift shop for t-shirts, hats, and other apparel.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at CPBR and can’t wait to return.
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.
I have stayed at Compass Point three times. This is a great condo resort. The first and third times with my wife, the second time with a buddy. First time was in an oceanfront 1 bedroom. Second and third time in poolside 1 bedroom. Found the pool side condo to be a little larger. One of us stayed in the bedroom, the other on one of the fold down beds. 2 bathrooms made it perfect for buddies. A hearty breakfast is included with their package. There is a great restaurant on site. Gas grills are available next to their beautiful pool and hot tub. Their east end location is away from all the cruise ship and destination wedding tourists in the Seven Mile Beach area. Many great restaurants in the area. Overall, a great vacation destination.
For traveling divers, the Yucatan is the gateway to Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, the Riviera Maya, and little known Holbox island. Its easiest to fly to Cancun, pick up a rental car, and explore. Two of the best Mayan archeological sites in the world are located in this area: Chitzen Itza and Uxmal. These should be considered no-miss destinations when traveling here.
Merida, in the northwest part of the state, is the capital and the largest city on the Yucatan peninsula. It’s a beautiful colonial city with a rich history and culture. We enjoyed the central market while shopping for handicrafts and eating at the food stalls.
At the north end of the peninsula, is the city of Chiquila where you can take a ferry to Holbox island. The main reason to come here is to swim with whale sharks. It is in the migration path and your chances of seeing the world's largest fish are excellent. This is a natural paradise with giant flocks of flamingos, an island that serves as a bird sanctuary, and a small island with a natural freshwater spring in the middle, which forms a pool for swimming. We saw whale sharks, breaching mantas, and thousands of migrating golden rays. It’s a very small island with golf carts used as the primary form of transportation. We stayed in a beautiful small boutique hotel near town and walked everywhere. If you’re able to visit here, it should also be considered a no-miss. We have traveled here many times and never get tired of this wonderful destination.
I've visited the Riviera Maya many times. We've always based ourselves in Playa del Carmen and ventured out from there. Playa del Carmen is an easy drive from Cancun and a rental car is essential. Each time, we have rented a beachfront private villa within walking distance of town. Fifth Avenue is the main street in town and is pedestrian only. This is where you will find a great number of restaurants, bars, and shops. Many dive shops are scattered around town. This is the main embarkation point for the ferry to Cozumel.
The main reason divers come to this area is to dive in the cenotes. These are ancient limestone caves, now filled with water, and making up the largest underwater cave system in the world. You can dive the cenotes without special training because they are considered cavern dives where you never lose sight of the entrance. Any further exploration requires cave diving training. The dive shops in Playa del Carmen will all arrange guided cenote dives led by certified cave divers. Some will also arrange high-speed boats to Cozumel for a two tank dive on the world-famous walls.
As you continue south of Playa del Carmen, you'll come to the town of Puerto Aventuras, Tulum, and Akumal. Cenotes are scattered throughout this entire area. Akumal has a wonderful, calm bay perfect for snorkeling and is usually occupied by a large number of sea turtles, including green, hawksbill, and loggerheads. There is also a beautiful white sand beach. Tulum has an ancient Mayan archeological site that’s quite extensive and certainly worth a visit. Coba, another Mayan site, is only a short drive from Tulum and is also an excellent side trip. Some of my favorite cenotes are Dos Ojos, Angelita, Dream Gate, and Gran Cenote.
Bottom line: The Riviera Maya & Yucatan are an outstanding area to experience world-class diving, fantastic Mayan ruins and cultural sites, incredible nature sites, and large marine animals, cenote diving, authentic Mexican food, beautiful beaches and a welcoming and warm local population. It's family-friendly, with plenty of things to do for both adults and children.
We traveled to Baja California Sur to dive in both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez in the same trip. After diving at lands end, where the two meet, the remainder of our diving was done in the Sea of Cortez. We dove in an area called “the corridor". It consists of shallow reefs with schools of fish, moray eels, invertebrates, etc. We also visited a dive site with a phenomenon called a “sand fall". It’s like a waterfall, but underwater and it’s sand cascading down the reef. After dives in this area, we saw a humpback whale migrating north into the Sea of Cortez, toward the area we were headed to next, Cabo Pulmo. Cabo Pulmo is a strictly enforced marine park where the dive sites seem to be untouched. We saw massive schools of fish, huge groupers, loads of invertebrates, and close encounters with bull sharks. Overall, we found the diving here to be excellent. We can’t wait to return to the Sea of Cortez to dive around the areas of La Paz and Loreto.
I traveled to Roatan with three non-diving friends who were looking to get certified. We chose Coconut Tree Divers. I dove some great west end dive sites while they were taking an open water course. They completed their certification in 3 days for about $300.00. After that, they were on the dive boat with me for the rest of the week. They were very satisfied with the instruction and we all loved the diving. Great for both very experienced divers and newbies. This is an excellent full service shop, helpful staff, and great boat with professional crew and guides.
I stayed at Captain Don's and found it to be a perfect resort for divers. Large, clean rooms, great restaurant, fantastic pool, and amazing dive operation. I traveled with my non-diving wife so I did only boat diving, with the exception of one mandatory checkout dive on the amazing house reef. The resort staff, restaurant staff, and dive staff are all the best! My wife enjoyed the resort very much and was able to find many things to do while I was diving. This is also a great place for families. Would stay here again.
I traveled to Indonesia for an eleven-day liveaboard trip to northern Raja Ampat. After several flights and layovers, totaling about 30 hours, I arrived in Sorong, the embarkation point for the trip. Sorong is a bustling city, far larger than I expected. I was met at the airport by boat staff and was taken to the harbor for a short tender ride to the liveaboard, which was anchored nearby. After getting settled in my stateroom and preparing my gear for diving the next morning, we had dinner and turned in for the night, with high expectations for the next day.
The boat sailed at night and we woke up at our first stop. As is customary, all of the diving was done from tenders. Each day three dives were offered along with a night dive. On this boat, a complimentary neck and shoulder massage were offered after every dive. No one ever passed on this wonderful perk. The boat was moved every night to a new dive location.
As the trip progressed, we made our way west and north, until we crossed the equator and dove the Equator Islands. We dove a large variety of sites, including reefs, walls, and jetties. At several sites, the current was very strong, requiring a reef hook to stay in place and watch the show. The current attracts large schools of fish, and we were never disappointed. We saw large congregations of schooling Barracuda, Jack’s, Sweetlips, and many others. The biodiversity in this area is second to none. We also saw mantas, seahorses, cuttlefish, squid, many different species of nudibranchs, Leaf Scorpionfish, Mantis Shrimp, turtles, Napoleon Wrasse, and Bumphead Parrotfish. Shark sightings included Blacktip, Whitetip, Grey Reef, Zebra, Nurse, Wobbegong, and Epaulets. Night dives were always in shallow water at muck sites. The dive guides had an uncanny ability to locate pygmy (pontohi) seahorses and we saw quite a few. During these dives, Coconut Octopuses and Dragonettes were common. We were also able to find Blue Ringed Octopuses and Flamboyant Cuttlefish. Needless to say, I checked a large number of fish and other critters off my bucket list.
The topside views in Raja Ampat are spectacular, including lush islands populated by birds and bats, and awesome sunsets. We did an off-boat excursion at Pianemo Island, where you make an easy climb of about 250 wooden steps to reach viewing platforms, which give you a breathtaking view for miles around.
Bottom line: Raja Ampat is a wild, remote area which is largely unexplored. The biodiversity is incredible, with a large concentration of fish and corals of every variety. This is truly the Holy Grail of diving!
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