Bottom Line

Every accomplished diver should put cenotes diving on their underwater destination bucket list, and Beyond Diving Dive Center offers exceptional service and support to make your diving-centric stay on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula an enjoyable one.

 

The Longer Story

In April 2015, a foursome of ATA/BAR DIVERS couldn’t resist a last-minute trip Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We stayed at the St. Martin Boutique Hotel and transport from the Cancun Airport was handled by Cancun Transfers USA. That was the easy part... Our biggest task was finding a local dive operator that would cater to mature, experienced divers who loathe the whole dive “cattle boat” experience that is more a rule than the exception in this part of Mexico.

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Based on Google and ScubaBoard searches, emails to a handful of dive operators went out, and Erik from “Beyond Diving” was the only one who immediately replied. What followed was a volley of messages as we designed an itinerary for our small group. Our original plan was a custom blend of local, cenotes, and night diving, with two private boat trips to Cozumel, but the weather during our four-day stay put the kibosh to our highly anticipated “Plan A.”

In the face of this major meteorological disturbance (which included strong onshore winds that closed the nearby port each day) is where Beyond Diving really shined. After enduring a red-eye flight, we were not in the mood for schedule changes, but within an hour of our arrival, shop owners Erik and Sandra, instructor Steve, and shop (canine) mascot “Piggy” scrambled to put together some spectacular cenotes diving. In short order, we were on our way to our first dive destination. Their “Plan B” activities likely exceeded what we had originally scheduled. The Beyond Diving crew were all delightful and did everything possible to make our stay enjoyable.

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With our itinerary change to primarily diving cenotes, we squeezed in a day trip to Cozumel for drift diving, which Beyond Diving arranged for us. We took the local ferry from Playa del Carmen and were picked-up by Opal’s Dream Dive Shop for a day of diving the reefs aboard a six-pack boat staffed by an able captain Pingo and Divemaster Eric.

Whether you are looking for concierge-like dive services at cenotes, local diving destinations, small boat direct-access to Cozumel dive sites from Playa del Carmen, or instruction in open water or cavern/cave environments, we recommend Beyond Diving. The shop is a couple block's walking distance from a small dock in the less touristy area of Playa del Carmen and about a 10-minute walk from our hotel and the popular downtown area of Playa del Carmen.

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View a YouTube video of cenotes diving with Beyond Diving here.

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This review is solely the opinion of ATA/BAR DIVERS as a product consumer and is provided without compensation, affiliation or consideration of any kind.