YUCATAN SNORKEL SCENE

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YUCATAN SNORKLE SCENE
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QUINTANA ROO, YUCATAN, MEXICO
A remote wilderness area, not even a state, just twenty-five years ago, Quintana Roo, on the Costa Caribe of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, has jumped into the forefront of world diving areas. The clear Caribbean water, coral barrier reef, and convoluted limestone geology have created some of the greatest snorkeling in the world. Read more

GRIPPING TALES

STORY TEASER
Read On, MacDuff

LOCAL WEATHER

Weather along Mexico's Caribe coast is calm and HOT in summer, balmier in winter, but with recurrent "nortes" that cut windward side visibility, and in early fall BIG storms hit. A forecast from Cancun or Playa Carmen should be close.

YUCATAN LINKS
Links to dive shops, outfitters, and places of interest to snorklers. Just click here.

QUINTANA ROO DIVE SPOTS
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A remote wilderness area, not even a state, just twenty-five years ago, Quintana Roo, on the Costa Caribe of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, has jumped into the forefront of world diving areas. The clear Caribbean water, coral barrier reef, and convoluted limestone geology have created some of the greatest snorkeling in the world. The name "Quintana Roo" might not be familiar to you, but you're sure to have heard of Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Tulum, and Playa Carmen--all located along the Quintana Roo coastline. Along with the Cayes of Belize and the Bay Islands of Honduras, this is one of the most prime, most concentrated diving areas in the Americas. In addition to the clear Caribbean water and underwater fauna that give the bottom the look of an octopuses garden, the Yucatan has a geology that makes for exciting diving. The entire Yucatan is a plate of sedimentary limestone that has become perforated with Swiss-cheese holes by the same acidic process that produces stalactite caverns. This leads to beaches surrounded by cliffs that look like lace, the huge caves full of water called cenotes, and to the underwater environment being a warren of holes, tunnels, nooks, crannies, arches, collapsed rooms, and generally a haven for fish and a playground for adventurous free-divers. Cozumel is renown, of course, possibly the most famous Scuba ghetto in the world. But amid the clanking of tanks and donning of rubber, it also offers some prime snorkeling. Cancun itself is a sandbar, but offers dozens of trips and tours for snorkelers and tankers alike. Nearby Playa Carmen prides itself on being less glitzy than Cancun, but has all the appurtenances for less money and closer access to good diving, including a ferry to Cozumel. Another ferry route across beautiful Caribbean turquoise, connects Cancun to little Isla Mujeres, where there are mucho tours for both skin divers and tankies, and incredible walk-in diving of virtually any adventure level. Tulum, where the Barrier Reef is just off shore and you can swim in the shadow of a Mayan temple. The road to Tulum is sprinkled with Cenotes, a freshwater diving experience not found anywhere else, and with Snorkel Parks, major water fun resorts like the incomparable estuary at Xel-Ha.

YUCATAN LINX
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"Maya Riviera" As they've taken to calling it: the entire stretch of coast from Cancun south to the Belize border. Dolphin Discovery Way cool, or totally gross? Whichever, it's Swimming with Dolphins in in Isla Mujeres or Cozumel. AquaWorld, Eco-friendly delights like jetski tours and submarine trips--but also boat connections directly from Cancun to Isla Mujeres and Cozumel. Cancun South\" TARGET="_new" Good, organized site gives skinny on Cancun-Tulum "Riviera" Snorkel SItes Lists snorkeling areas from Cancun on south to Tulum Playa Guide Dive Page Material of interest to non-Tankers Playa Carmen Bulletin Board Message board for Playa Carmen Cozumel Bulletin Board Lots of snorkeler interest on both of these Reef Club Nude resort in Puerto Morelos (of all places) Tulum cenote

TULUM OR NOT TULUM
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SHORE SCENE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots Your first stop should be ruins and beach by taxi. Cabañ:as at the beach are often primitive, overpriced, and situated in achingly gorgeous settings. The cabañas are a genuine, hip International Scene, ranging from partying hippies to elegant European beachbums, depending on where you end up--and most have arrangements for boats to the reef for snorkeling. Ask about this stuff at the Weary Traveler, or check out this rundown. Tulum is perfectly situated to visit the impressive Mayan ruins at Coba, just 40 km. away and definitely the huge, impressive, Disney-esque, world class snorkeling parks at Xel-Ha, Xcaret, and Tres Rios, just up the road. Not to mention being surrounded by cenotes for underground diving in ancient shadows. THE BEACH Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots tulum HOW TO GET THERE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots A pretty easy bus shot from Cancun or Playa Carmen: there are runs every half hour or so from the central stations.. It's about a 2-3 hour trip from Cancun, just about time to watch the on-board movie, about an hour from Playa. The highway is totally boring. From the Tulum bus station there are taxis out to the beach and ruins, fare under four bucks. If you're just going down for the day, every travel agency in the area will happily ship you down there for twenty to forty bucks, including a tour of the ruins. It's an easy haul for a rented car, the highway might just be the best quality in Mexico, traffic is light, and the signage is up to U.S. standards.
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THE SCHEME PARKS
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Xcaret Xel-Ha Tres Rios SHORE SCENE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots THE BEACH Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots HOW TO GET THERE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots
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CANCUN? ¿CON QUIEN?
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SHORE SCENE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots BEACH AND DIVING Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots It's a hell of a long beach around the Hotel Zone, but it's mostly just sand (the famous powdery "air conditioned" sand) with eel grass starting a ways off shore. Nice enough for swimming a little and washing off suntanoil, but not a dive spot. No problem, though: you can't step out of your room without somebody trying to sell you on a dive trip to somewhere: Isla Mujeres, Manchones Reef, Sleeping Sharks, Cozumel...the thing is, if you came to Cancun to dive, you're going to have to go somewhere else to actually do it. HOW TO GET THERE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots Getting to Cancun is REALLY easy. You go into any airport in the world and fly to Cancun. Generally on some advantageous package deal. It's usually cheaper to fly there from Europe than the U.S. for some reason. Look into that: you might be able to get a few days in London for no extra cost. Cancun is where you get to the rest of the Yucatan FROM.
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VAMOS A PLAYA
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SHORE SCENE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots There's are those who think "Playa" is just incredibly charming (they always compare it to Cancun), but there are also those of us who consider it an obnoxious tourist trap. But whatever else it has or lacks, Playa has an incredible collection of absolutely charming take-your-honeymoon-or-your-honey type hotels in the $25-50 dollar range. Here's a reprint of a quickie hotel guide by the irrepressible "El Gallo". Some great coffee houses, too: we should mention the Coffee Press. And scads of cute boutiques and watering holes. Enjoy. THE BEACH Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots HOW TO GET THERE Shore Scene Getting There Dive Spots Getting to Playa is a piece of cake from either Cancun or the Belize border at Chetumal. There is very regular first and second class service from the big Cancun bus station on Avenida Tulum, but if you don't have a lot of luggage, you can get there faster and meet a goofier class of people, by walking across the street from the terminal doors, where there will a "Playa Express" bus waiting in the street. It's really cheap (under two bucks) and will leave when it's full. Trip is around an hour, hour and a half. From the Cancun station, you just walk out and you're right in the middle of it. Coming from Belize, Guatamala, or Tulum, you just end up being funneled into the Tulum-Playa bus service, a little over an hour. You can get to Playa from Cozumel by ferry, of course. But how did you get to Cozumel?
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CENOTES
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Yeah, you can go swimming underwater, underground! Check it out here.
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