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Dive Review of XTC Dive Center/Casa Cara Cola in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Xcalak

XTC Dive Center/Casa Cara Cola: "XTC/Southern Yucatan/Xcalak", Aug, 2017,

by Michael O'Reilly, GA, United States (Reviewer Reviewer 5 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 9684.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations N/A Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude N/A Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 2 stars
Comments XTC is a 5 Star PADI facility and the staff are as capable and experienced as one could hope for in this type of location.

Courses here - from open water to dive master - are going to be taught at a very high level.

It's tough to get to this location. We rented a car at the Cancun airport and drove. Make sure that you fill up at the Pemex 60km from Xcalak if you go this route as there are no reliable fuel sources closer to Xcalak.

We were unable to secure a trip to the Chincuro Banks during our week long stay, due to weather issues and the lack of other guests interested in making the trip. This may be a bigger problem in the summer - their offseason.

I thought the staff was very good at XTC, but the local (i.e. non-Chinchuro) diving was characterized by a low fish density and, other than some arrow crabs, a moderate amount of lobster, and a couple of species of shrimp, the crustaceans and other macro were limited. The signature dive in Xcalak is a Tarpon dive, which can include encountering 250-300 Tarpon close up. It's a nice dive. The corals are healthy here and the diversity of reef fish is good for the Caribbean, so the low fish density actually surprised me.

My younger daughter did her rescue course here and I thought it was extremely well done.
Websites XTC Dive Center   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Bunaken, Lembeh, Wakatobi, Sippadan, Indonesian Borneo, GBR, South Australia, PNG, Tanzania, Philippines many locations, Little Caymen, Belize, Turks and Caicos, other
Closest Airport Tulum Getting There 6 hr drive from Cancun airport
Mexico City airport security staff gave us a hard time generally about regs and camera and took away our tiny screw driver and set of allen wrenches. They claimed this was not allowed in carry-ons.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas choppy
Water Temp 28-29°F / -2--2°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Dives limited to 60 minutes or air limits of other divers. I twice came up with 1/2 tank at the safety stop, though most dives were with family members
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 2 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 2 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 2 stars Shore Facilities 1 stars
UW Photo Comments Boats have no space dedicated to cameras. One guest was told that the best place to rinse her camera was the pool.
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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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