Babieca Dive Center: The Complete Guide

Courses and Training

Babieca Dive Center teaches SSI courses, available year-round with one day advance reservation.

The Open Water course is described as providing a lifetime SSI licence and including "2 Beach Dive, 2 Boat Dives" — a useful structure at a hotel-based center, since the beach dives happen a short walk from the classroom. Advanced Open Water is described as five dives with specialty activities, again mixing beach and boat.

For neutral explanations of what these certifications involve, see the SSI Open Water Diver course in Cozumel, the SSI Try Scuba course in Cozumel, the SSI Stress & Rescue course in Cozumel and the SSI Divemaster course in Cozumel. The full agency overview is at SSI courses in Cozumel.

Because the center offers nitrox two-tank trips, the SSI Enriched Air Nitrox course in Cozumel is the certification you need to use them.

Night dives are on the trip list at $72 USD for one tank; the PADI Night Diver course in Cozumel explains the specialty for divers who want to formalise it.

Boats and Group Size

Babieca Dive Center describes its boats as well-maintained and fast, with an 8-diver capacity.

Eight divers is a genuinely small boat load by Cozumel standards. The site does not publish a divers-per-guide ratio, boat length or engine specification.

Location and Getting There

Babieca Dive Center is at Carretera Chankanaab Km 4.5, CP. 77600 Cozumel, Quintana Roo, inside the El Cid La Ceiba Hotel on the island's west coast.

The center describes itself as "just a 5-minute walk from the Most Important Cruise Ship Piers," which makes it one of the more accessible dive operations for cruise passengers with a limited port window — assuming it is operating.

For hotel guests there is no transfer at all: the dive center, the beach entry and the plane wreck are all on the property or immediately offshore. The site does not describe hotel pickup from other properties on the island.

Prices and What's Included

All rates are published in US dollars and the site states they are "subject to change without notice."

Boat dive formats

Note that the nitrox two-tank trip at $140 sits $24 above the standard two-tank at $116, which is the built-in cost of enriched air rather than a separate fill charge.

Rental

Snorkelling

Snorkelling trips include fruit, water and sodas.

Hotel and dive packages

Packages with the El Cid La Ceiba Beach Hotel run from 3 to 7 nights with 2 to 5 days of boat diving, in single, double or triple occupancy, on either the European Plan (breakfast) or All-Inclusive.

Packages are stated to include deluxe accommodation, the described days of boat diving at two tanks per day, unlimited tanks of shore diving, a welcome drink, water and soft drinks, box lunch service arranged 24 hours in advance, taxes and resort fee, a free equipment storage room, one group leader room upgrade, a welcome sunset cocktail and a farewell dinner. A 20% commission is offered to tour operators and dive centers.

Who It Suits Best

Babieca Dive Center suits divers who want to stay where they dive. Unlimited shore tanks turn the afternoon after a two-tank morning into another dive rather than a nap, and the plane wreck gives that shore diving an actual destination.

It suits cruise passengers, at least geographically. Five minutes on foot from the main piers is about as short as the walk gets in Cozumel, which removes the taxi-and-traffic risk from a tight port day.

It suits new divers. The SSI Open Water structure of two beach dives plus two boat dives is a gentle progression, and beach entries a few steps from the classroom are far less intimidating than a first descent off a boat.

It suits organised groups. The center explicitly says it can handle larger groups, offers a group leader room upgrade in its packages and pays 20% commission to operators — all signs of a business set up for block bookings.

Who Might Prefer a Different Shop

The obvious one first: the site says the center is temporarily closed. Until that changes, anyone planning a trip should treat Babieca Dive Center as unconfirmed rather than bookable, and have an alternative from the Cozumel dive centers guide ready.

Divers who want small-group guarantees will not find a published ratio. Eight divers per boat is good, but the center also says it can accommodate larger groups, and no divers-per-guide figure appears anywhere.

Technical divers should look elsewhere. The published course list runs to Divemaster plus recreational specialties, with no Tec, sidemount or rebreather training advertised.

Independent travellers may find the hotel-based model limiting. The value here is heavily bound up in the El Cid La Ceiba packages; if you have already booked a condo in town, a lot of the advantage — unlimited shore tanks, resort fees included, equipment storage — falls away, and a town-center shop may be a better match.

Anyone needing mainland cenote trips, underwater photography services or hotel pickup from elsewhere on the island should ask first: none of those are described on the site.

Practical Information

Not published on the site: founded year, boat length or model, divers-per-guide ratio, hotel pickup from other properties, cenote trips, or underwater photography services.

For a broader look at training options across the island, see dive courses in Cozumel and the PADI courses in Cozumel overview.