Okay so I need to write about my travels to Playa del Carmen. This way others can vicariously relive the experience through this blog.
It started out as a "budget" dive trip to Cozumel. My only reason for wanting to go was to get as much diving in as possible. I was planning on staying in a modest room in a fairly safe area.
Found several options in Playa del Carmen ranging from $60.00US to ~$120.00US/night. Some had pools; others offered continental breakfast while some had restaurants, bars and spa services.
Since my main focus was diving I figured most of the money I would spend would be on renting dive equipment and food. Oh it was supposed to be a solo mission but I was able to find a travel companion before departure.
We both decided on the Hotel Aventura Mexicana @ roughly $75.00US/night. It was a boutique hotel, which basically means "no frills" but it thoroughly exceeded our expectations. The room had A/C and they offered continental breakfast, had several pools and a hot tub, the rooms and grounds were meticulously maintained. They offered internet access in the lobby and most of the time the PC was unoccupied so no worries on surfing the net. It was not over the top but more than adequate.
Our maids name was Lupitia and she left towel sculptures on the bed after making the room.
As far as a room and hotel went, we were more than impressed with the Hotel Aventura Mexicana.
We stayed in downtown Playa del Carmen, the tourist area. I arrived to Cancun around 4:00 PM on Thursday and caught a bus to Playa. The bus ride was about an hour and cost $8US. It was the cheapest way to get to Playa and it was more like a greyhound bus than anything else. It had A/C, they played a movie (in espanol) and there was a lav on the bus. Basically it was the best damn $8 I spent in Mexico.
Got to the Hotel and took some pictures:
Dive Day 1: Cozumel
Trying to get in touch with the dive shop Diversity Diving, was a pain through email but once we rolled up on Carlos, the owner of the shop and expressed our concern, it was smooth sailing from that point on. They stand up to the motto on their sign. "You come as a guest, you leave as a friend".
As a matter of fact, I kind of regret approaching him the way I did – although it was in a jovial manner. Before I even introduced myself I was like "you can’t reply to nobody’s email?" He met my concern with a friendly smile and kindly asked my name, "AAAhhhhh, DELVIN!!! Nice to meet you!!!" it turns out he was having some PC issues that was preventing him from returning emails.
Carlos and his wife Angela took really great care of us. The first dive day was Cozumel. We left around 9:00 and took a 45min ferry ($24.00US) from Playa to Cozumel. Once on the island we hopped on a boat and went to on two dives:
It was awesome down there. This was the first time I took a camera with me so I am still developing my technique.
After the dive we went back to the room to clean up and spend a night out on the town with Carlos and his wife Angela. We went to bar named La Taberna (The Tavern). La Taberna had the best damn happy hour in Playa. Two for one drinks and they where all delicioso! The wings were off the chain as well.
After we finished up and the bill came, I[