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Dive Review of Fantasea /Wyndham Viva Azteca in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Playa Del Carmen

Fantasea /Wyndham Viva Azteca: "Much better diving than expected", Oct, 2016,

by John kirkenir, NJ, US (Contributor Contributor 17 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 9382.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments I didn't expect the diving to be very good here but was very pleasantly surprised. The dive center is at the sister resort - Viva Maya which is a ten minute walk or a two minute cab ride away. You can leave your gear there all week so only have bring it over and back once. There are no piers or docks in Playa Del Carmen so you have to wade out to the boat. Depending on the conditions can be interesting but. The boat is an open boat with a raised platform for the captain to drive. There is a canvas cover for shade over half the boat. Entry is either off the back swim platform or backwards roll from your seat ( go for the roll). All dives are guided and most are drift dives. The visibility was great on most of the deeper dives 60-100 ft. On some of the shallower inshore reefs there was little current but the VIs dropped to 50 ft.. lots of turtles on almost ever dive. Loggerheads, green and hawksbill. We saw eagle rays on several dives too. No sharks on this trip ( last December I saw lots of them - mostly Bulls ). All kinds of typical reef fish in big schools. The micro stuff was good too. Sea Horses, blenny, garden eels, etc. the dive team was good and ran good safe dives. Props to Enrique our favorite DM. He was a great source for where to go in town too.
One highlight of the trip was the cenote dive at Dos Ojos. If you ever get to the Yucatán do a cenote it's a surreal experience. The water is so clear you feel like your floating in air. When you dive under snorkelors you feel like they'll fall on you. Give it a try you won't regret it.
The Viva Azteca is an all inclusive and we really enjoyed it. Reasonably priced and very clean. Food was good drinks plentiful.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Bonaire, Cozumel, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Florida, curaçao, Bermuda, North Carolina
Closest Airport Cancun Getting There Flight to Cancun, shuttle to resort approx 45 minutes

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, surge, currents
Water Temp 80-84°F / 27-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Normal restrictions on a drift dive alert DM at 1000 psi on boat at 500 use computer etc
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? no

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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