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Dive Review of Akumal Dive Center/Oasis Akumal in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Akumal

Akumal Dive Center/Oasis Akumal, Apr, 2003,

by Richard Powers, MI, USA . Report 633.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments Oasis Akumal is a nice, quiet, small property with a nice beach and decent snorkling. The food is good and the staff is friendly and helpful. The rooms are relatively large with a unique shower/tub area with portholes. We had a second floor room right on the beach. About half of the hotel is an Italian travel club, but they have separate facilities for the most part and never caused any problems. Akumal is close to Tulum, the only major Mayan ruins on the Caribbean. The collective vans on the highway only cost about a dollar from Akumal to Tulum. The on-site dive shop was not very helpful. They only sell dives on-site. Their boats left from elsewhere. They pushed dive trips to Cozumel. If I had wanted to dive in Cozumel, I would have gone there.

We dove with the Akumal Dive Center, who we also dove with in 1997. The service and prices were still good ($25 per dive, tax included). They take credit cards but you get a better deal if you pay cash. They picked us up at the resort and had lockers for equipment storage. Chepo, who was also there in 1997, is a very good dive master and points out a lot of stuff. The diving is all on spur and groove reefs. The boats are small and fast. Entry is by backroll and exits are by handing all equipement up and then climbing a ladder on the side of the boat. Exits can be difficult when it is rough. The boat follows the divers and picks them up at the end of the dive. We saw a lot of turtles, including two huge loggerheads. We also saw a school of six large barracuda chasing each other. It is amazing how fast they can move. We also saw a large school of Southern Sonnet. There were a few small grouper and medium numbers of the usual tropicals. The number and size of the fish is well below Cozumel but it is a nice area for a change of pace.

It was very rough the first few days because of a storm and there was no diving one day. It is usually fairly rough, especially in the afternoons as the easterly trade winds pick up. The dives are generally 5-15 minutes from the shop.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Turk
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, dry Seas choppy, surge
Water Temp 80-81°F / 27-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Time, depth,follow the dive master
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments Small boats with plenty of room but no specific facilities for cameras.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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