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-   -   Intro Scuba Course in Riviera Maya (https://www.fodors.com/community/mexico-and-central-america/intro-scuba-course-in-riviera-maya-929874/)

LA_Teacher Mar 31st, 2012 05:54 PM

Intro Scuba Course in Riviera Maya
 
My fiance and I will be staying at the Grand Riviera Princess for our honeymoon in 2 months, and one of the activities included in the AI package was the Beginner Scuba lesson in the pool. My fiance is a certified diver, but I'm not...I have heard from several friends that when you take the beginner lesson, you are able to go out on a 60 ft dive???? Is this true for all resorts? If not, can I get some recommendations?? I would also love suggestions on great snorkeling spots!! I've never been to the Riviera Maya, and I want to enjoy it to the fullest for the week we are there. What about XCaret and Xel-Ha??? Any tips and suggestions on fun things to do would be greatly appreciated!

hopefulist Mar 31st, 2012 08:57 PM

My photos with trip links are below - enjoy your trip!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

qwovadis Apr 1st, 2012 03:08 AM

xel-ha.com bestsnorkeling

Beware "pool"courses stick with CERTIFIED PADI dive shops.
We lost an inexperienced female diver to air embolus
in the Caymans a couple of weeks ago a victim of "drive-by" uncertified 1 day wonder pool lessons so BEWARE!.

Get certified properly like your fiance
or just snorkel you will have more fun and be safer...

LA_Teacher Apr 1st, 2012 07:19 AM

Thank you both so much! Hopefulist, your pics are wonderful! Qwovadis, I am so sorry for your loss...I was wondering how many accidents like that occurred after only taking a beginner class...I think I will stick to snorkeling for this trip. I don't have the time or extra money to take the PADI classes after planning and spending for this wedding!

TC Apr 2nd, 2012 10:06 AM

LA-teacher. I highly recommend that you take the schooling and pool course in LA before you go on your honeymoon. Then do the "Open Water" certification dive with a PADI shop once you are in R-Maya. You will be much better trained and <u>much safer</u>. There have been postings all week about a diver lost at sea in Cozumel. Here's a posting from the SCUBA Board discussion about that incident. I think it points out that SCUBA isn't something to be learned in an afternoon and then applied. It is tricky and you should be as absolutely well prepared as possible. Have fun. Its a beautiful world under the sea. But please be safe.

<i>"The currents have been whacky. In the last week we've had to abort one dive with divers in the water, lost two of our group (very experienced - they were fine.) It only took seconds for us to lose the reef and we were with VERY experienced DMs. Another dive, one of our group got caught in a downdraft and was lost for about ten minutes. I deployed my SBM for the first time, after our DM told us to ascend when my husband ran low on air. On the boat he said he wouldn't do that again with the currents - that he would have everyone ascend together. (I wasn't worried. We were approached by two boats asking if we needed help, and I could see our boat, albeit several hundred meters away. They radioed our boat and they picked us and the rest of our group up.) Most of our boat-mates have been more experienced than our group, but there have been a number of "Dive Discovery" people who should not be allowed in open water, period. They certainly should not be on dives where the current is more unpredictable than usual."</i>

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/coz...3-28-12-a.html


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