We spent a week in Playa Del Carmen during Spring Break 2021, and I wanted to get my Advanced Open…read moreWater SCUBA Certification. Dune Mexico Blue Dream was the perfect shop for me. Overall (TLDR): Small Scuba shop in Playa with some very nice staff and instructors who worked around my vacation schedule to accommodate me getting my AOW while still finding interesting enough dives that my fiance (who already has her AOW) could dive with us and not be bored. They took us on short notice and dealt seamlessly with Cozumel closing unexpectedly when we were supposed to dive there. Overall great service and learning for me at a reasonable price. They are my go to dive shop in Playa. The Story: I booked a week at an all inclusive resort in Maroma for the week of spring break and was playing with the idea of finally getting my AOW certification so that I could do some of the more challenging dives I hadn't had access to with just an Open Water certificate. I did a little research and most of the shops down there had few reviews and not a lot of information available. I ran across Mexico Blue Dream, and their website was helpful and gave me hope. I emailed a month before the trip and they responded quickly. Up until the time when we were about to leave, I was still debating taking time away from an all inclusive resort to get the Advanced cert. I called them the day before we were supposed to arrive, after about two weeks of hemming and hawing, and they fit us in. They arranged a two day dive schedule with 4 dives in Playa and then 3 dives in Cozumel. When we arrived at our hotel, we had trouble contacting the dive shop because evidently the phones around the shop went completely out, but luckily Camille emailed me with his personal cell number and everything worked out just fine. The shop itself isn't the easiest place to find as the address helps you find the block, but the address itself is not well marked on any of the buildings in the area. Best advice I can give you is to look for the big yellow door! We met Damien, our instructor/dive master who has to be one of the most kind and even keeled people around. He was patient in explaining what we were going to do and what we needed to achieve for the certification process. Our first dive was a wreck dive with tight quarters and some decent marine life to watch. I always felt at ease with Damien as he was attentive, without being overbearing, and adaptive to our skill levels throughout our dives. Our second dive was a drift dive and the third was about navigation and maneuvering underwater. I always felt comfortable and secure with Damien. Such a great instructor and person overall. The second day we were supposed to go to Cozumel, but when returned from our first day, we found out they closed docks due to high seas. We transitioned to diving some Cenotes instead for our second day, and those went off without a hitch just like the previous day. The view from the Cenote called "the Pit" was one of the more remarkable geologic formations I have experienced. The Good: Good prices. Great staff who was thorough and responsive. Cute little facility with everything we needed despite not being a large storefront/retail location. They knew their stuff and made me feel comfortable the whole time. Camille was helpful in the office making all the arrangements, and I couldn't have asked for a more zen and knowledgeable instructor than Damien. The Bad: Nothing. The Mediocre: finding the place the first time was a little nerve-wracking because I'm very type A when it comes to being on time, but it worked out just fine.

One of the larger and more established Scuba shops around. It seems to be independent but you can…read moreget all sort of certifications through them. They have instructors all sorts of gear so you can get any certification you desire up to PADI instructor as one of the people on the boat had been trying to get. I think you should give this one a try when you're in Playa Del Carmen.

This was booked for us via Delta Vacations and we selected the ATV's and cenote. The whole…read moreoperation was well run and our hotel pickup was on time. Thankfully it was only about 20 minutes from our hotel so it didn't take half a day just to get there. In total the whole experience was under four hours. There were 4 other people in our group we didn't know, staying in hotels much farther away. Lots of waiting around when you get there. There are free lockers to store your things and clean restroom and changing facilities. If you have an underwater camera pouch, bring it. It's the only way you're allowed to have a phone on the ATVs (around your neck) and you can use it both above and under water at the cenote. It was our first time doing ATV's and didn't know what to expect. I had no interest in driving one myself so I decided to ride as a passenger with my bf. This was the worst decision EVER! Granted I am a small person and struggled to get both of my feet firmly planted, so I basically held onto the back handlebars for dear life while I was thrown around like a ragdoll. My back was literally bruised from hitting the seat with the abrupt motions. I felt like I had whiplash and at one point the plastic shield on my helmet came off because my head crashed into my bf's helmet. We would have enjoyed it more if the speed was higher and more in the jungle but you're basically on a narrow trail with lots of bumps and bottoming out constantly. The ride was advertised as 45 minutes but was less than 40. I did like how there's a guide with you the entire time both at the front of the pack and back. On the flip side, it also made it so that you couldn't necessarily go the speed that you wanted. After that harrowing experience we were offered a buffet lunch (nothing special but nice that it was free) and then taken to the nearby cenote. That was really the highlight of the experience. You do have to rinse off all of your sunscreen (even those that are reef safe) in a cold shower before you enter... not sure how effective this was because most people did a half assed job. I liked that you were provided a life jacket so you could also just float without having to worry about supporting yourself. The guide was very knowledgeable. And the water was very clear. I've been to caves before but none that were under water. Very cool! Be prepared for many money grabs, but that's Mexico. We were basically bullied into buying the additional insurance, felt like a huge scam. But ultimately it was $25 for the two of us and because of the manmade holes on the course I can see how an ATV can get damaged even if you drive responsibly. We thought they would be jerks at the end about every little scratch but there was barely an inspection. They also take many pictures of you throughout the experience which you are not obligated to buy. We even declined being photographed in the first place. If you have your camera pouch you can take pictures of yourself everywhere you go.

Yesterday we went on a real Mexican Adventure! Bus ride from our hotel (beware that not all…read moredrivers are multilingual). We went to atv ride 10 km, pretty hard ride for a 70 year old. Of course we were the fastest group! Next was the zipline. I did 7! My watch said 34 flights of stairs. Better not be afraid of heights. Lunch was the typical Mexican fair. Nicely done. A cenote snorkel, complete with bat cave and a ride to Tulum with tour guide. Excellent. It was a full day. Hats off to Isaac at Atv/zipline/cenote place. Oh did II mention tequila tasting. Ya that too at Tulum market. 6 checks on my bucket list

Up early again for our 2nd excursion organised by Kay Tours Mexico, this time was to Isla Mujeres,…read morevia a luxurious catamaran with a snorkelling tour in the world's 2nd largest reef, beaten only by the great barrier reef. Never seen so much colour under the sea before, felt so privileged especially when an inquisitive turtle swam up to have a nosy at us. On Isla Mujeres, instead of staying in the north of the island (where we docked), John was excited to rent a golf cart and so we toured the less touristic, south part the island. The north also had it's own charm, street vendors, Playa Norte (rated in the top 10 of the world's best beaches) plus it was also home to a phenomenal dulce de leche icecream, so much so I had 2 of them in about half hour

I would highly recommend Kay tours. It was easy to book, and change the booking when more of our…read morefamily decided they wanted to come. We took the tulum/cenote tour and it was great! David was our tour guide, and on the ride to tulum gave us a lot of history about the mayas. At tulum, he took us around and told us about each site. The cenote was awesome. Again, David had tons of information about the ecobiology of cenotes, led us around, helped my son when he got scared, etc. highly recommend! Great tour and easy company to work with.

My husband booked Carey tours for swimming with the whale sharks before our vacation in Riviera…read moreMaya. We got picked up on time from our resort, got to the boat and was served a little breakfast before we headed out. It was a rough day on the ocean (choppy), but an amazing day. We were supposed get two jumps in with the whale sharks. It was our lucky day! First we swam with a whale shark, then we got to swim with a Manta Ray! So great! Then they let us do another whale shark jump. In our group, my husband and I were the only ones who got to swim with the Manta Ray. They don't see them that often. After our jumps, they took us to isla mujeras for fresh ceviche prepared by the captain. We got to hang out in the Caribbean blue water. This was such a great experience!

We booked a Cenote tour with this company as an activity for a bachelorette party. The prices vary…read morebased on the group size. We ended up paying $125/person before tip. Our tour guide picked us up from our place of residence and we visited 3 different cenotes. The first one was a popular one called Gran Cenote which was beautiful! Our tour guide (I wish I remembered her name!!) was very nice and so much fun! She was engaging, knowledgeable, patient, and very accommodating. The second Cenote was tak-bi-ha. This was a cave with bats in it! The third cenote was a completely open one called Xunan ha. It was really fun to explore these different cenotes. They also provided snorkeling gear and we were able to snorkel in each of the cenotes. It was nice to have our guide guide us through the closed/dark areas of the cenotes with lighting. In the middle of the day we also had lunch at a local place. The food here was just ok and very greasy. Also several people in our group got sick later that day so not sure if there was an issue with the food or how clean the water was at the lunch spot...would be careful especially with drinking water here. Other than that we had an amazing time. I'm sure it would've been cheaper to go to these cenotes on our own but it was worth it to have this tour group organize everything for us, provide transportation, etc. Plus both our driver and your guide were amazing and made the day even more fun!

Our group of 8 friends booked the excursion with the cenote and sea turtle snorkeling recently…read more Booking was easy through Viator, a bit pricey but worth the experience. We were picked up from our resort right at 7 am and then we made our way to the Cancun Adventures office to wait for two other couples from other resorts. This ended up taking quite a bit of time, but thankfully there is a coffee shop next door where we got some caffeine and a snack. They did offer us cold bottled water and bananas on the bus (I would bring extra snacks because by the time we finished at the cenote I was starving and had to pay $6 for a small bag of chips at the cenote). The bus was pretty crowded with 12 people, and driving back into the jungle to the cenote was VERY bumpy. Be sure to take some dramamine if you get car sick! Omar was our guide and he was amazing. He told us about the area of Mexico we were in, and talked about the cenotes and what we could expect at each stop. Once we got to the cenote, we were offered a Mayan blessing, showered off, and headed into the cenote. They do not allow any photos or devices in the cenote. (They provide a locker for your stuff.) Once you get into the cenote they take your photos, which was kitschy and VERY expensive ($50 for one photo), but I get it's part of the tour. I absolutely loved the cenote experience itself - it was so cool to learn about and Omar's background in biology made it very informative. This part was about an hour, then you could shop a bit (they are pretty pushy but you can politely decline). Then we headed on to the snorkeling portion. I personally don't really love snorkeling, but it was fun to see the turtles! We saw about 4 or 5, but it was a bit chaotic with other groups everywhere. Then we headed to the beach club for lunch. This private beach was peaceful and the food was delicious. I personally loved the beef burrito. Mix the hibiscus and lemonade half and half for a tasty beverage. There are some areas to relax and changing rooms, so bring dry clothes to change into if you want. Pack a towel! Overall the tour took much longer than I was expecting, so be sure to plan for that if you have a dinner reservation or other evening plans. But I loved the experience and Omar was awesome.

Catamaran tour! This was so much fun! Cancun Adventures…read morecame and picked us up at the hotel, drove us waaay across town to a beach, where we boarded a catamaran, which took us to and from Isla Mujeres, while they jammed American rock music, and served up free beer and tequila shots. Along the way, we stopped at the underwater museum, where we snorkeled up to some of the artwork, and took in the sights of bright, vibrant coral reefs and amazing fish. On board, they served up sandwiches, and sweets, and snacks. The staff was super friendly, and got through the drunk as touristas as fast as possible. They provided all the equipment needed for snorkeling. There were more people on board than expected. I'd say maybe 65 people on board each catamaran. It wasn't exactly a private tour.

The trips with Underwater Mexico were incredible! Rolien and Antonio are wonderful people who…read morereally care about their guests. We enjoyed every trip and we gained two new friends. We had a fantastic time! We did 3 trips with Underwater Mexico. We went on a Cenotes tour and visited Chichen Itzá, and Sian Ka'an. In addition to these trips, we did several dives with Antonio (including our Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Cozumel, etc). Antonio is a great diver and a natural teacher. If your dive skills are a little rusty, diving with Antonio is great! Since we're now done with our certifications, we're going bull shark diving with Antonio next week and we're looking forward to that. The private trips were customized for what we wanted to do. We had so much fun on the Cenotes tour that we booked the others. I highly recommend Underwater Mexico if you're looking for a personalized and private tour. We've been in Mexico now for 3 months and I haven't found another company that offers the services of Underwater Mexico for the price. Rolien speaks at least 4 languages (English, Spanish, Dutch, German) and there are probably others. She is a thoughtful host and a fantastic planner. The trips felt like you were traveling with an old friend who happen to know the area very well. I can't wait to come back to Mexico and do more trips with Rolien. The dry cenote was jaw droppingly stunning. At Chichen Itza, we had the right amount of history from Kristel and were able to imagine how people lived in the Mayan civilization. At Sian Ka'an (Mayan for where the sky is born) saw a lot of dolphins and turtles and got very close.. it was an amazing experience to see a dolphin family go hunting and turtles surface multiple times in the wild. Rolien planned the trips so that they are eco-friendly. They care about animals and the environment. She brought reusable lunch boxes and reusable water bottles. She loves animals and protects them (makes sure that tourists don't touch them, feed them, or step on reefs). Some tours allow a lot of these things to happen so that the guests will write a great review and post that "instagram" picture. I like that it's more important for Rolien to do the right thing than get these "instagram" pictures. Underwater Mexico is more expensive than big bus tours because of the personalized experience, but still affordable. For an extra $50-100 per person vs. what you get from the mass tour sellers (depending on the type of tour), the quality of the experience and service was well worth it. When on vacation, the last thing we wanted to do was to be packed in a big bus and feel like we were being herded through the different sites. Some of the private tours that we got quotes for were absurdly expensive. Underwater Mexico is extra vs. the big bus tours, but not as expensive as the luxury private tours that just have insane prices. The private tour was even more invaluable in these times of COVID-19. In the tours, we were able to stay longer at the places where we wanted and skip ahead of parts that we had less interest in. No random shop pit stop. For breakfast, there were different menus and they made a vegan breakfast for my fiancé. Rolien wants every single guest to have the best time and she customized the trip for what people want to do. When we had bad weather coming, she was proactive in rescheduling for days with better weather, so we would enjoy the day more (which we did). I think Rolien's level of service is nothing I've seen before in Mexico where it feels like people just want to take your money without care for the quality of the experience. We can't wait to come back in the spring and book more excursions!

Absolutely fantastic trip to swim with whale sharks! Great communication with the company and it…read morewas a small group. Everything is included so I didn't need to worry about fees, lunch, or even drinks. I'm so excited to get the photos and videos back that show us swimming with the sharks. I was taken care of and will recommend this company to everyone who wants to see whale sharks up close!

Cannot say enough good things about Playa Scuba. The entire team was incredible. We had very…read moreminimal previous dive experience but wanted to get certified because we loved it so much. Playa made it safe, affordable, and FUN! Aaron, Terry, Kaz, and Klaus were all so awesome. If glee get back this way we will definitely come back and do some dives again. I also recommend diving the cenotes! Unique and incredibly awesome.

I had an amazing experience a couple weeks ago at Playa Scuba Dive Center!! I went down to Playa by…read moremyself and stayed at a super nice and affordable hotel right next to Playa Scuba. It's the perfect location! You can just walk to the beach and also the main street where ALL of the fun stuff happens, like shopping, food, bars, live music, dancing, shopping, everything! I went down to get my PADI open water, and Carolyn was friggen amazing. She was the best instructor I ever could've asked for. I felt so ready, safe and comfortable under the water. I also adored the other staff members and felt like I was instantly family. This is an experience I'll never forget, and I'll 100000% go back to Playa Scuba and dive as soon as I can!

My wife and I can't recommend My Quest Concierge Private Tours enough. Shout-out to our amazing…read moreguide, Heriberto Lopez. He took excellent care of us for the day. It was just us three. We loved having a guide all to ourselves. We stayed at Grand Velas Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen. My wife found out about My Quest from Tripadvisor. We booked a "VIP Tulum Private Tour" over two months in advance through Viator. It cost $340, prepaid online, and we tipped Heriberto $75 in cash after the tour ($415 total in US dollars). We thought it was worth it. The preferred method of communication for My Quest, like most of Mexico, is WhatsApp. Two days before our tour, we got a WhatsApp text message from Carolina to confirm details. Our only gripe with My Quest came in this message. The company wanted to change our pickup time from 7:30am "to 6:45am since we have found more people due to the season." We were a bit annoyed with that because we booked and prepaid with My Quest in order to get a private tour at the time we specified months ago. I politely replied and asked if we could keep the original reservation time. I received a prompt response, yes. Around 8:30pm the night before our tour, we got a message from Fernanda. She confirmed our pickup time, told us that Heriberto would be our guide, and gave us his phone number so that we could message him via WhatsApp. Once again, I had to correct the pickup time from 6:45am to 7:30am. I messaged Heriberto to make extra sure. Heriberto showed up on time at 7:30am. He picked us up in a company car, a GMC Acadia, I believe. It could've been a GMC Terrain. I don't remember exactly. The SUV had a transmission issue where it would downshift unexpectedly, usually after we got going on the highway. This mildly concerned both us and Heriberto. He reported the issue to My Quest. Heriberto is local to Playa del Carmen, where My Quest is based. He's friendly and intelligent. We could tell he is passionate about his job. He loves his family, Mexico, and the environment. We felt safe when we were with him. Our tour consisted of three stops, each of which I reviewed on Yelp. In order, they were: 1. Zona Arqueologica de Tulum 8:45am to 10:00am (times approximate) https://www.yelp.com/biz/zona-arqueol%C3%B3gica-de-tulum-tulum-2 Zona Arqueologica de Tulum is the famous ruins of Tulum. This is a popular tourist attraction. Heriberto and My Quest proved to be very valuable here for two main reasons: First, Heriberto knew the most efficient route through the ruins and he was terrific at timing our stops so we were rarely around other people. He made our tour of Tulum feel special and intimate. Second, Heriberto was extremely knowledgeable about the history of Tulum and the Maya people. He brought an iPad to show us pictures and diagrams, which added another layer to his history lessons. 2. Cenote Xunaan Ha 10:30am to 11:45am (times approximate) https://www.yelp.com/biz/cenote-xunaan-ha-ciudad-chemuyil 3. Cenote Taak Bi Ha 12:15pm to 1:45pm (times approximate) https://www.yelp.com/biz/taak-bi-ha-zona-hotelera-tulum Cenote Xunaan Ha is an open, above-ground cenote. Cenote Taak Bi Ha is a closed, underground cenote. At both cenotes, Heriberto provided us with life jackets and snorkeling gear. Life jackets came from the cenotes and snorkeling gear came from My Quest. Xunaan Ha was a leisurely swim and snorkel. Taak Bi Ha was a guided tour. We absolutely loved both. Cenotes are some of the most beautiful natural occurrences on earth and they must be experienced in person. No hiking was involved, but the swimming, especially in the cold water of Taak Bi Ha, did take some energy. Eat a good breakfast and bring snacks for the car. Heriberto had bottled water for us. We arrived back at the resort around 3:45pm. We were gone for over eight hours. Due to highway traffic, it took over one hour to get from our resort in Playa del Carmen to Tulum and it took over one hour to get from Taak Bi Ha back to our resort. Therefore, there was a lot of drive time. We also made a pit stop at a Pemex gas station on the way back. At all three stops, Heriberto took care of everything: translation, parking, restrooms, escorting, tickets, access, etc. He was also great at taking pictures and videos of us, and knew all the best spots and angles. He knew how to make the pictures look as if there weren't other people there, especially at Tulum, which had large groups of tourists. We appreciated that even though we didn't ask for it. He just made it happen. Heriberto was fantastic. Tips: - Both Viator (via an emailed link to a web page) and My Quest (via WhatsApp messages) will tell you what to expect, what you can and cannot bring, and what's included and not included (e.g., lunch was not included on the tour we booked). - Don't wear sunscreen to the cenotes. It's generally not allowed because it harms the cenote ecosystems. - Strongly consider bringing water shoes. Ours came in handy at Taak Bi Ha.

This tour was the highlight of our trip to the Yucatan Peninsula and will forever be one of my…read morefavorite travel memories. Our guide, Manuel, was not only communicative and informative but went above and beyond to ensure we were comfortable and relaxed the entire day. He even stopped at a pharmacy on the way out to find a good medicine for my mom's back, which she hurt a few days before our trip. Without that she would have been miserable and unable to enjoy any of the activities at our stops. The pyramid at Chichén Itzá was breathtaking and Manuel took amazing pictures of us from the perfect vantage point. I have been interested in and studied Latin American history for several years so I found his knowledge about new and relevant information only just being released in academic circles incredibly fascinating. Our lunch at Paladar De Cura in Valladolid was the best meal I had our entire stay, and we also did a tequila tasting and some souvenir shopping in town. After lunch we headed to Cenote Chukum where we swam in the cool waters of a cavernous sinkhole with small catfish flitting beneath our feet. It's no mystery why this tour is rated the #1 activity on Tripadvisor out of 700 others. You will not regret booking it.