Dive Review of Scuba Playa/Royal Haciendas in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Playa Del Carmen

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Scuba Playa/Royal Haciendas, Sep, 2009, by Nancy Collins, NM, USA ( Reviewer 5 reports). Report 5101.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Dove 6 dives with Scuba Playa, my boyfriend dove 7 dives as he was pursuing his advanced open water certification. Scuba Playa is a high class operation, with a very nice shop just off the main street in Playa Del Carmen. They have a small selection of dive gear for sale, but have a large selection of rental gear, a rinse tank in the shop, shelves with small safety deposit boxes for valuables and a place for divers to leave their gear overnight if they are diving multiple days with Scuba Playa. Scuba Playa has the absolute friendliest and most knowledgeable staff I have encountered in a long time, giving advice on everything from diving, to snorkeling with the whale sharks (an unbelievable experience!), to restaurant choices, to recommending topside options. Every person on their staff speaks English and have a genuine desire to make every diver happy. The diving in Playa Del Carmen is all drift diving. There is a pretty cool wreck dive called the Mama Vina in 90 feet of water, and the reefs consist of mostly soft corals and sea fans, but have large schools of fish like snappers and grunts (when I say large schools, I'm talking hundreds of fish). Drift diving is great when you are traveling with the current, but not much fun when you are battling the current to get over the edge of the reefs to the protected parts. On one dive, the instructor estimated that the current was about 3 knots, and we had drifted over a mile before our air consumption ended the dive. Although the dive instructors seemed disappointed with the visibility and told us it was between 40 and 50 feet, we were plenty happy with it. We dove two dives in Chikin Ha Cenote, which was a different experience in a fresh water spring. There weren't a lot of fish in the cenote but the limestone rock formations were neat, and seeing the natural light coming in through the spring openings was surreal. I highly recommend Playa Del Carmen as a dive destination, and Scuba Playa as a dive operation. They went out of their way to accommodate us with whatever we wanted. A truly professional group of people, and they made our trip immensely enjoyable.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Bonaire; Hawaii; Guanaja, Honduras; Bimini, San Salvador, Andros, Exuma, Bahamas; Salt Cay, Turks & Caicos; Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	82-°F / 28-°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	40-50 Ft/ 12-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Bottom time only limited by depth and air availability.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	No special setup for cameras on dive boat.

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Dive Review of Scuba Playa/Royal Haciendas in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Playa Del Carmen

Scuba Playa/Royal Haciendas, Sep, 2009,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Scuba Playa/Royal Haciendas in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Playa Del Carmen