Frequently Asked Questions — Seth Dive Mexico

We serve the entire Riviera Maya corridor from Cancun in the north to Tulum in the south, including Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Puerto Aventuras, and everything in between. We offer free hotel pickup and drop-off from any hotel, resort, or vacation rental in this area. Our most popular pickup locations are Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and Cancun.

Every trip is privately guided in very small groups: at most four divers to a guide, and never a big tour group. Divers may share their guide with one or two other divers. If you want the trip only for your own group, ask for the fully private upgrade when you book. Snorkel tours are always private for your group.

You can book by contacting us through WhatsApp (the fastest way), our contact form on the website, or by email at hello@sethdive.com. Let us know your travel dates, group size, experience level, and what activities interest you, and we will put together a personalized itinerary and quote. We recommend booking at least a few days in advance, especially during peak season (December through April).

To book, we take a deposit of $100 USD per booking through PayPal, and it comes off your total. The deposit is non-refundable. If your plans change, we can usually move your trip to another date. If we cancel because of the weather or safety conditions, or no guide can do your day, you get a full refund or a new date at no extra cost.

Yes, hotel pickup and drop-off are included in every trip, anywhere from Cancun to Tulum. Your guide picks you up at your hotel at the time they confirm the afternoon before, and drives you back after the trip. Prices vary a little with the distance from your hotel. A few places work differently: dive trucks can't enter Playacar, so you take a short taxi to just outside the gates; Vidanta needs a separate transport van, or you can meet the boat in Playa del Carmen; and ocean dives from Cancun meet the boat at the Aquafun marina.

Yes, cenote scuba diving requires an Open Water certification (or equivalent) at minimum. You will be diving in cavern conditions with overhead environments, so certified divers need to have completed their basic open water training. If you are not certified, you have two options: (1) Take our Discover Scuba program, which allows non-certified divers to experience a cenote dive with full instruction, or (2) Complete an Open Water certification course with us — two days of diving plus videos, quizzes, and exams done at home — and you're certified for life.

Cenote cavern diving, as we do it, is very safe. We stay within the cavern zone, which means we always have natural light visible and remain within a short distance of an exit. All our cenote dives are guided by certified cavern or cave divers who know the cenotes intimately. We follow strict safety protocols, use redundant equipment, and never exceed the limits of recreational cavern diving. That said, cave diving (going beyond the cavern zone into full caves) is a specialized discipline that requires additional training — our standard cenote trips do not enter caves.

The visibility in cenotes is extraordinary — typically 50 to 100+ meters (150 to 300+ feet). The water in cenotes is filtered through limestone over thousands of years, resulting in some of the clearest water on Earth. This exceptional visibility is one of the main reasons cenote diving is so spectacular. Many divers describe the feeling as flying rather than swimming because you can see so far in every direction.

Most cenote cavern dives range from 8 to 18 meters (25 to 60 feet). Some cenotes, like The Pit, have deeper zones that reach 30-40 meters (100-130 feet) for experienced divers. We tailor the dive profile to your certification level and comfort. Recreational cenote cavern diving typically stays within the 30-meter limit. If you want to go deeper, additional certifications like Deep Diver or Advanced Open Water may be needed.

Bring a swimsuit, a towel, a change of clothes, sandals or flip flops, biodegradable sunscreen (it's required at the cenotes) and your certification card. We provide all the scuba gear except a dive computer: in the cenotes you stay close to your guide, whose computer is used. If you have your own gear (mask, wetsuit, computer), you're welcome to bring it. A waterproof camera or GoPro is a good idea too.

Seth picks the cenotes on the day, based on your skill and experience, the conditions and where the big tour groups are heading, so we don't promise a cenote ahead of time. You're welcome to ask for a favourite, like Dos Ojos or The Pit, and we'll note it. The Pit is a deep dive for advanced divers; for a newer diver, Chac Mool is a great choice. A typical day is two dives, at one or two cenotes.

Basic swimming ability is helpful, but you do not need to be a strong swimmer. We provide life vests and flotation devices for anyone who wants extra support. Our guides are in the water with you the entire time, ensuring your safety and comfort. We have taken non-swimmers on cenote snorkeling trips and they have had an amazing time with the help of life vests.

Yes! Cenote snorkeling is one of our most popular family activities. Children as young as 4-5 years old can participate with a life vest. The calm, clear water and fascinating rock formations make it an incredible experience for kids. We adjust the pace and difficulty to accommodate younger participants, and our guides are experienced working with families.

While snorkeling in a cenote, you will see ancient stalactite and stalagmite formations, tree roots reaching down through the limestone, crystal-clear blue and green water, fascinating light effects from the sun filtering through jungle openings, small freshwater fish, and the unique geological features of each cenote. Some cenotes also have underwater caves visible from the surface, and the limestone formations are millions of years old.

Yes! Our cenote snorkeling tours include a delicious lunch of authentic Mexican cuisine as part of your day out. Vegetarian and other dietary options are available if you let us know in advance.

Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) is an introductory scuba program designed for people with no prior diving experience. It is not a certification course, but rather a supervised experience that teaches you the basics of scuba diving and lets you make your first dive under the direct supervision of a PADI instructor. The program includes a briefing, confined water skills practice, and one or more supervised dives. It is the perfect way to try scuba diving without committing to a full certification course.

No prior experience is needed at all. The Discover Scuba program is specifically designed for complete beginners. You just need to be at least 10 years old, in reasonable health, and comfortable in the water. Our instructor will teach you everything you need to know — how to breathe, how to equalize, how to communicate underwater — before you get in the water.

Yes! We offer Discover Scuba in a cenote, which is a truly unique and magical experience. After your skills session in shallow water, your instructor will guide you on a dive through a crystal-clear cenote where you can see ancient formations and incredible underwater scenery. Very few places in the world offer this kind of beginner dive experience.

During a Discover Scuba Diving experience, the maximum depth is 12 meters (40 feet). Most of the dive will be in the 6-10 meter (20-33 feet) range, which is a comfortable depth for beginners. Your instructor will be right next to you the entire time, monitoring your air, buoyancy, and comfort level.

Feeling nervous is completely normal and very common. Our instructors are specifically trained to work with nervous divers. We go at your pace, never rush you, and build your confidence gradually. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, your instructor will help you through it. Our groups are very small, so there is no pressure. If you need more time to practice in shallow water or want to take a break, that is totally fine.

The Caribbean reefs off the Riviera Maya and Cozumel are home to an incredible variety of marine life. Common sightings include sea turtles (green and loggerhead), spotted eagle rays, southern stingrays, barracuda, moray eels, lobsters, octopus, and hundreds of species of colorful tropical fish, and you may see a nurse shark. During certain seasons (November to March), you may also spot bull sharks off Playa del Carmen. Cozumel is particularly famous for its healthy coral formations and large marine life.

Playa del Carmen offers reef diving just minutes from shore, with a good variety of marine life and easy logistics. Cozumel, located across the channel, is world-famous for its wall diving, dramatic coral formations, and exceptional visibility (often 30+ meters). There are many reefs we go to around Cozumel, and where we make it to depends on the weather. On calm days we can make it all the way to Palancar; on rougher days we stay closer to the middle of the island. We take a direct boat to Cozumel from Playa del Carmen, so there's no public ferry. Cozumel is for certified divers only.

Water temperature in the Caribbean ranges from 25-29 degrees Celsius (77-84 degrees Fahrenheit) year-round. Visibility on the reefs is typically 15-30 meters (50-100 feet), and on Cozumel it can exceed 40 meters. Most reef dives are drift dives, meaning gentle currents carry you along the reef while a boat follows above. A 3mm wetsuit is usually sufficient, though some divers prefer 5mm in winter months.

No. A day is either cenotes or the ocean. Doing both in one day costs about double and gives you fewer dives, so we plan them on separate days, for example the cenotes one day and the reef or Cozumel the next. If you're here for a few days, we always suggest at least one cenote day: there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world.

The PADI Open Water course is two days of diving in Mexico, plus some videos, quizzes, and exams done at home before you arrive. Complete the online theory at your own pace, then when you get here, it is two days of hands-on diving in cenotes and Caribbean reefs. The Advanced Open Water course also takes 2 days with five adventure dives.

Yes. Day one of the course is usually at an open-air cenote, a cenote open to the sky: shallow-water skills in the morning, then your first two open water dives. Day two is two more dives in the ocean or a cenote, and you can do the whole course in the cenotes if you prefer. You train in crystal-clear, calm water instead of a swimming pool, which is a far better place to learn. The cavern zones themselves aren't used for training, but after you're certified, a cenote cavern dive makes a great next day!

The PADI Advanced Open Water course builds on your Open Water certification and introduces you to new types of diving. It involves five adventure dives (two mandatory: Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation, plus three electives). Popular electives include Night Diving, Drift Diving, and Underwater Naturalist. The course can include cenote dives as adventure dives, making it a unique training experience only available in this part of the world.

Course prices include all course materials, all scuba equipment for the course, your PADI certification card (e-card), all entrance and marine park fees, hotel pickup and drop-off for every session, and your instructor, one of Seth's team. There are no hidden fees or extra costs for courses.

Trips run every day, but we often fill up weeks in advance, so book at least a couple of days ahead, and earlier in peak season (December through April) and over holidays. A trip for tomorrow depends on a guide being free, so we can't guarantee it, but message us and we'll check.

Cenote days pick you up around 9 am and get you back in the early to mid afternoon. The Playa del Carmen ocean day runs from about 7:30 am to 1:30 pm, and Cozumel days start early, with pickup around 7:15 am for the boat. Your guide confirms the exact pickup time the afternoon before your trip.

Yes, you can dive the same day you arrive. There are no restrictions on diving after flying. However, you cannot fly within 18-24 hours after diving (this is a universal dive safety rule). So plan your dive days at the beginning or middle of your trip, not on your last day before a flight. We can help you plan your schedule to maximize your dive time while staying safe.

A $100 USD deposit per booking, sent as a PayPal request, secures your day. You can pay it by card without a PayPal account. The rest is paid on the day, after the dives: cash in US dollars or Mexican pesos is tax free, and paying by card or PayPal adds 10%. All prices are in US dollars. Tips for your guide are appreciated but never expected.