Diving in Playa del Carmen

With our Venezuelan Dive Master, Jon

Encantado (enchanted) serenaded at dinner

We've been wanting to scuba dive in warm waters to keep up our diving skills and of course, see some sea life. In the areas we've been on the Baja, the sea is just too cold at depth for my liking, especially for a 40 - 55 minute dive. I know, I know, it's way warmer than Washington's Hood Canal but I also enjoy the great variation of sea life in the Caribbean. And before you knew it, we were off to dive at Playa del Carmen!

3D view  from our hotel room features a very
cool mural at street level,
a bustling 24/7 veg/fruit processing operation &
Mega grocery store a block away 

In the sea during the summer, we understand the water is quite toasty but in the winter and spring, it’s about 68 – 70 degrees (at the surface) which is chillier than you might think after multiple dives. We chose Playa because of the great Caribbean diving destinations along Carmen and out to Cozumel. Plus we’d dove there with good friends in 2009 and have fond memories. Photo to the right is wonderful Henry and his boss Jose - they made us some great martinis at the fancy steak place where one of our dive buddies, Jonathan, worked. We couldn't afford the dinner but a martini with bacon appetizer was a pretty special treat.

Playa del Carmen, like many destinations in Mexico, has changed a lot; it's grown up and out and is now a truly burgeoning tourist mecca.

On the ferry to Cozumel, we sat in front of the
police for additional safety (for those who heard
about the explosion last week)

I had airline miles that were going to expire so we scored free tickets on Aeromexico from La Paz to Cancun! Gotta love that. We dove again with Tank-Ha Dive Center, a very professional and well run dive shop in the center of the action in Playa. 

Scooter rental--perimeter road around Isla Cozumel

We explored the two museums offered in Playa - the informative, emotional and well-presented Frida Kahlo museum which was just excellent. She was quite the woman in so many regards. Then off to the 3D Museum which places you in the action in of amazing 3D paintings. Our cute little tour guide helped position us for the best angles and the three of us shared plenty of laughs.

We took the ferry to Cozumel for the day - after diving there, this was a great way to see the land side of island life. The scooter was a little small for tall Mike but we got by just fine.

Amazing array of blue hues!

Enjoying a molcajete!

Cheesy tourist photo #1001

We think they meant 'Goal' for the name
of this Sports Bar, not Gool

The well done 3D museum was great fun!

Who knew? A ballerina. Delicious cake.

Luckily we aren't posting
all of our 3D pics!