This new hotel witch is ideally in the heart of Playa del Carmen, just between the ocean shore and the most attractive and touristic street (the famous 5th Avenue or “Quinta” like we call it here).

After the renovation of the hotel, the decoration will be more modern that in our previous hotel. All the rooms will be totally refreshed just like if they were new. Depending of the rooms, they will count with 2 or 3 matrimonial beds, one frigo bar, one TV with cable, and an individual safe box.

5 family rooms equipped with private kitchenettes, beside the equipment already said and common to each room.

Some rooms have access to a private terrace and some others will have a direct access to the patio inside the hotel.

This Mexican style patio decorated with tropical plants and flowers has been totally designed as the typical Yucatan houses. In the center of this patio you will be able to enjoy the freshness of a pond. Just beside it, you will find a garden where a fountain will accompany yourself to help you to relax after an amazing day of scuba diving or of touristic excursions.

Just at the entrance of the hotel, you will find a very nice restaurant; witch will allow you to degust a fresh breakfast for a good start in the morning, or even later in the day to discover some local specialties.

The dive center by itself will also change his place and will also cross the street.

On the 15th of December (the opening date of the hotel), the dive shop will be moved just in front of the hotel Plaza, in our Boutique witch already exists (for those of you who already knew it).

Our Boutique will be also renewed and refreshed with a brand new organization of the space and rebuild half Boutique and half Dive Shop.

We will keep the same organization, always with the same principle of the personal plastic boxes for your diving equipment, but furthermore you will have a real cloakroom and showers for your best commodity.

Classrooms will be integrated at the hotel Plaza (just in front), with TV, DVD player, video projection, etc...

Phocea Mexico being the only Aqualung center in Mexico, we will still have the Boutique, where we will keep offering you scuba equipment for absolute beginners to expert and most requiring divers.

Career plan… Do you have any idea of how long you need to become a diving professional ? Phocea is offering you a «key in hand» solution to make your dream come true. Just know that scuba diving may be for you a real professional activity. Although one usually thinks that it is unrealizable or inaccessible and other negative adjectives, it is indeed much easier than it seems to become a scuba diving professional.

In several days, weeks or months, depending on your actual level, you will be able to make your dream come true, and so, among several things, teach scuba diving but also discover new prospects.

But pay attention, do not be misunderstood, as for any career, you will need a minimum of planning to reach your goal.

So, here follows a guideline for you prepared by our professional training team in order to make your way into the course to scuba diving professional levels.

This «career plan» has been set for someone that would be a beginner who would wish to discover the scuba diving world and turn it into his professional activity.

Obviously, depending on your actual level and experience, you will know where is your starting point on this career plan.

No, you are not dreaming...!! Even if you have never dove, you can become a dive instructor...!! You will need a total of 6 months training and courses and one hundred dives to reach your dream.

From the very beginning...

Day 1 to 4 : Open Water course – the incredible feeling of freedom and happiness of underwater strolls is just for you. Discover a new world safely and open the door towards a new life. This course includes 5 pool sessions, 4 open water dives and a theory part.

Day 5 to 8 : Advanced Open Water course – you will test the skills and knowledge you acquired during the Open Water course and you will learn more about planning and organizing various underwater activities. You will have the opportunity to experiment in particular new diving activities such as «deep dive», «wreck dive».

Day 9 to 30 : Dive as much as you can to improve your skills and get more experience. Just begin to focus on the aquatic environment and get trained to have benchmarks on the reefs. Also, begin to get your eyes used to sea life and develop your ability to observe the underwater fauna and flora. Discover and explore several diving environments.

After 1 month : It is time to get back to training and interested in Primary and Secondary Care. The EFR course will allow you to know everything about the care you have to provide depending on different situations ( not exclusively while diving), you will learn in particular to give oxygen, to use an AED (Automatic External Defibrilator), to give CPR (cardio-pulmonary ressucitation) and you will approach other problems that may put one’s life in danger. This course, that is valid for 24 months will grant you access to the next diving certification level : the Rescue Diver course.
This is the opportunity to apply everything you have learnt and to improve your ability to observe and react in function of several diving events. The Rescue course allows you first to become a safer diver, not only for yourself but also for the other divers. You will learn to recognize and so to anticipate different accidents that may happen while diving. It can be as easy as helping a tired diver at surface or a little bit more complex, such as organizing the search of a lost diver or doing assisted ascents. The Rescue Diver course will change the way you were used to seeing scuba diving an dit will turn you into a more responsible diver.
At that point, you have acquired enough knowledge to become a good diver. Now, you just have to work on your aquacity, to develop the right reflexes and increase your analyzing ability of diving situations. You must from now on begin to dive in a more « intelligent » way : observe the instructors and trainers out of water and underwater and try to understand their decisions and organization.

Month 2 to 4 : It is time to improve your skills and look forward. Get specialized... Develop as much as you can your diving knowledge and make sure to have all the chances on your side to ensure success to your future professional life. Enhanced air dive, deep dive, wreck dive, object search and recovery, underwater navigation, night dive. Learn as much as you can to become a better dive rand acquir new skills and knowledge that will be more than useful in your future.

Month 5 : It is time to begin with « serious things », your professional future depends on it. Participate to the Divemaster course, and discover all that will allow you to perfectly supervise underwater activities. Should it be with certified divers or should it be with student divers, you will learn during this course everything that is necessary to begin to work in the scuba diving world.

At last, the end... !!!

Month 6 : Here it is, you get there, your dream finally comes true, and you are now ready to participate to the EFRI/IDC course, what will allow you to teach scuba diving and to be able to begin your new career. The Southern turquoise blue water seas and multicoloured fish are just waiting for you. You have now all the assets on your side to be able to enjoy as much as you can all that you have been learning during the past months.

Just remind to take advantage of the diving specialities you have acquired participating to the MSDT Prep program.

See tings bigger, overpass the limits... !!

In a long term... Gain experience as a scuba diving instructor, try to teach different courses as much as you can. You will be able afterwards to become an IDC Staff Instructor, Master Instructor and why not Course Director.

Our professional training team will be pleased to orientate you towards the professional activities you are the most interested in. Phocea Mexico dive centre is also one of the rare diving operator that offers you to be helped to achieve your course at the Course Director level during 2 or 3 years.

So, do not hesitate anymore, make the big dive and come and join us right now to put on its way your career plan, and so to be able to earn your living thanks to your passion.

Last GOPRO program of 2010

This quite full last GoPro training session closures pretty well this 2010 year. Since August, Phocea has welcomed several candidates for this last GoPro session of the year. A little bit more of work and training for the next few weeks for our candidates who have spent the last 3 months improving their diving technique. Since the beginning of the internship, each candidate has passed 4 courses and roughly made 80 dives.
On November the 19th, that will be the final part beginning with the IDC. We will have the results on December the 5th. Waiting for that, come and join us on our blog to follow day by day our candidates adventures.

Being located close to the most beautiful, the most accessible and famous immersed cave systems in the world : the cenotes, and constantly looking for diversification and new services, we have launched for roughly 2 years within Phocea Mexico the «tec dive» branch. We are now the only and unique dive centre in the Riviera Maya to propose the totality of recreational diving courses, from the Open water course to the Instructorship, as well as underground diving courses, gas mixes dives and advanced Trimix.