any advice on diving in Cancun?? i.e. good dive companies?

[settinggirl]

Going to Cancun in mid-April and want to dive while I am there... a friend I am bringing is doing the first half of the certification up here and by referal will do the open water portion there.  Any suggestions of good places to check out...reasonable pricing and all.

thanks for any advice.

[jasondbaker]

I recommend using operators that take out smaller groups (12 or less).  Check out the Mexico section of Scuba Board to read current reviews of dive operators in the Cancun area: . Have fun! 

[settinggirl]

Thanks for the information.  I actually dove with a guide that worked right from the resort we stayed at. The reef was a 10 minute boat ride from where we stayed at in Riviera Maya.  Very strong drift so we dropped in the water and basically floated the whole way along the reef.  The boat picked us up at the end.  There was some hurricane damage on the reef from the 2005 hurricanes but not nearly as much as nearer to shore.   

[rodman4085]

Just adding some information for the upcoming cooler months in the midwest.....Cancun, for people staying in the hotel zone.......look for Nautilus Divers/Scuba Fred's    at the Best Western Clipper Club......inside the elbow that is the island of Cancun.....I did my referral O W dives with Octavio.....he is too mellow....too cool....then came back a year later and dove with Clemente......also too cool.....they rate very high on Trip Advisor for excursions in Cancun.....
    If you are staying in Playa del Carmen, look at some of the PADI shops there.....further south.....in Akumal...there are 2-3 very good shops , akumal dive center;, and akumal dive shop, 2 different places......

[WaterWolf]

I also dove with Octavio and Nautilus Divers. My wife did her OW referral down there with them. They were good to us too. There were only a few divers on the boat the few days we were down there so it certainly didn't feel like the dreaded cattle boat that you hear so much about down there. It was an older boat but it was definitely seaworthy. If I remember correctly, they didn't normally dive on Sunday. This might have changed by now. We were down there shortly after hurricane Wilma so it's been a few years. Anyway, we were strapped for time so they actually dove with us on a Sunday when they were closed so my wife could complete her certification.