Dive Life
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Dive Life is a family of boutique dive centers scattered around Mexico that focus on small groups of friends or family and emphasize giving a personalized service. With more than 15 years in the industry focusing on this, we have the professionalism and knowledge to truly create amazingly enriching diving experiences. Dive Life’s belief is that every dive should be a new adventure, and we love sharing with our divers the unique and amazing underwater world that Mexico offers.
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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5.0
326 reviews
Excellent
313
Very good
9
Average
0
Poor
1
Terrible
3

Giulia & Matthias
Frankfurt, Germany64 contributions
Jul 2021
Your place to go when you want to go diving in the area of Playa del Carmen. We booked a total of 8 dives together with Dive Life while we stayed in Playa del Carmen. We arranged the dives with Carlos, a well trained, professional, friendly, cool and funny instructor who knows the area and suggested the locations.

We did 4 dives in Playa del Carmen, 2 in the nearby island of Cozumel and 2 in the Cenote Tajma Ha. Since we bought our own diving equipment for the first time and have not been diving for one and a half year, Carlos suggested an easy location first which was perfect.

The reefs, the corals and the wildlife are completely intact and we had so much fun diving there. Definitely do a dive in Cozumel. It is a little bit more expensive since there is transportation needed (which Dive Life took 100% care of) but it is so worth it. Also the cenote diving was a really cool experience.

The other crew members we dove with, Tomas, Javier and Manuel were also highly professional, well trained and friendly. We really enjoyed their company and they made sure that we felt safe and secure both above and below sea level. We can totally recommend Dive Life and will return once we are in the area.
Written August 4, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sandi J
Bellevue, WA22 contributions
Aug 2020
My husband and I have been diving with Francisco and Dive Life for 4 years now and each trip has been wonderful! He does everything necessary to make every dive safe and fun, and the level of service we have always gotten from him is the best we've had anywhere. Previously we've only been able to spend one day of our trip with him as we normally stay on Isla Mujeres and meet up with Fran for a day of cenote diving. This time we spent the whole week in Playa and dove every day with him, alternating between cenotes and reefs. His boat captain Rafael is very nice and you can tell safety is his highest priority. We all wore masks when not diving and I felt like Fran and Rafael both took the covid situation very seriously unlike some other dive boats we saw. We love diving with Francisco and plan to do it again soon!
Written August 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Damian A
1 contribution
May 2021 • Solo
I did my Open Water Certification with Carlos out of the Selina in Playa Del Carmen.. great instructor! Carlos is a true dive master, excellent explanations, experienced diver, and facilities and equipment were great. He was available for any questions via WhatsApp and made the whole process seamless.

In addition, I spoke with Thomas and he served as a great resource for any questions I had related to the training and coordinating meet up times. I was working during the week and so all only trainings were on the weekends only.

100% best value. They also have recreational dive tours to cenotes (certified cave scuba guides)!
Written May 24, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JollyDiver
21 contributions
Jan 2020 • Friends
We’ve been diving with DiveLife before, both on Isla Mujeres and in PDC. I never regret coming back. This time we traveled with friends but diving with DiveLife is like being among friends anyway. Whatever your preferences are they’ll make sure you’re having a good time.
Written January 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mexigo Bike Rentals @ Mayan Monkey
Tulum, Mexico4 contributions
Jun 2021
I have been diving in many places in the world, i have been in Playa del Carmen for the past few 5 months. I have used Dive|Life for all my ocean and cenote dives sin ce being here.

I can honestly say this company are the best i've had the pleasure of diving with. As i went review today i came across a very negative review, i am shocked to read such negativity about a company i have been diving with 50+ times. Some people really do see the world differently and i disagree with everything my personal experience allows me to.

You will have a great time with this team.
Written June 15, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Louise B
1 contribution
Nov 2019 • Couples
I highly recommend Dive Life in Playa del Carmen. I got my open water certification and the instructors, Carlos and Francieli, were both super nice and knowledgeable. They explained everything very thoroughly and made me feel comfortable during my first dives. They were also easy to communicate with and flexible with times to accommodate me. Will go back to dive with them next time I’m in playa!
Written January 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kimberly Ann B
2 contributions
Feb 2020 • Couples
Me and my boyfriend came to scuba dive at Dive Life located in the Selina Hotel. It was my first time scuba diving, and Allan, Matteo, and Ivan made sure to keep us safe. They were incredible! We had a day of instruction where we overviewed how ocean depth affects our bodies and how to use the equipment. We then practiced at the pool. The next day, we went to Coco Beach. At first, I was really nervous on the boat, but all the crew members were so helpful with calming my nerves down.

Overall, I absolutely loved this experience! It gives you an in-person opportunity to see marine life, and it’s life changing! I would highly recommend this to family and friends. We will definitely be back!!
Written February 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Earth Spinner Landing
13 contributions
Dec 2019
Fran is an enthusiastic diver with a huge experience and a great positivity present in his work every day. We did the rescue diver and EFR course with him and we really liked it!

We did 4 dives (4tanks) with Carlos in Cozumel, it was very nice. Carlos is very responsible, who cares about the environment and willing to do all just to make your dive more pleasent!

Long story short:
Professionally: they are providing a great service!
Personally: friendly, enthusiastic, positiv and responsible persons with who is great to talk!
Written January 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Andrea
1 contribution
Mar 2020
We stayed 3 months in Playa del Carmen and Cozumel 2019 December to 2020 March. We have a long experience with DiveLife so you will need to go through it all, and get all of it digested before you dive with them, ask me if anything is unclear.

We arrived in Playa del Carmen on the 14th of December and started with a fun dive with DiveLife, went with Carlos (divemaster, but not working for DiveLife anymore) to Cozumel, all good there. Next weekend we started the Rescue Diver Course with Fransisco who also put in his 2 people from internship with us to do the Rescue Diver (Ivan & Mateo). Ivan and Mateo after finishing the course with us started to guide trips for DiveLife, but for our future dives Fransisco did not give us these guys as guide, because we knew at what level they were..., nice guys, but not diving professionals, buoyancy problems, wrong position in the water, no experience etc. Today the shop operates with them as guides!!! BE CAREFUL!

After we completed the Rescue Diver I've asked if we can do the dive master course and additional dives before to get to the mandatory 40 dives to start the divemaster course. Fransisco gave me an offer for the 20 dives to do it and the divemaster course. As we were running out of time in Mexico, we had to say no to the divemaster course, because it was IMPOSSIBLE TO PLAN AHEAD WITH FRANCISCO. During our 20 dives that we did with DiveLife after the Rescue Diver course, Fransisco was sending us to dive WITHOUT A GUIDE for 10 dives! Even the other 10 dives were done guided by a guy, but he was also only a Rescue Diver, who worked with Fransisco for a long time guiding dives. Today this guy is begging to Fransisco to get his certification for divemaster done, because he completed his internship already (4-5 months), and he is not receiving the divemaster certification, although he fulfilled all conditions to receive this certificate.

In 1 of our dives with the rescue divers from DiveLife (Mateo, Ivan, Luis) we went for a deep dive where my wife's regulator failed at 20m+ depth and was out of air. The SPG was wrongly showing full tank, the primary second stage was giving in water, she then changed to the secondary second stage (yellow octopus), but soon she was out of air (after less than 20 minutes), so we concluded that the SPG was bad and probably her tank was also not full. As I was her diving buddy, I have sticked close, I've shared air with her, the other guys were in front and would've been unable to help in the situation if I don't share air. We started ascending and canceling that dive.

We've heard that DiveLife also operates with tanks which are not accepted by CUZEL (local air provider company) for filling, so they probably fill it in an unknown place with who knows what quality air and who knows what quality tanks.

DiveLife sent us to Cozumel (which is know also for DANGEROUS DOWN CURRENTS at the walls) with a DSMB and a diving computer without a guide which would've been our 30th dive ever, so we were not experienced ... At the boat the captains said that this is illegal here and if we get in trouble they might even confiscate the boat. So he did not only put us in danger, but also the other company which operates the boat in Cozumel. So we were not allowed to dive on our own in Cozumel.

Meanwhile he kept telling me that he miscalculated the offer he gave me, and it is not worth for him, he is making no profit on me, so he tried to cut back on all resources (not sending guides with us, when we went with his boat we could not choose to go to a new dive site but to the closest to save the gas etc). We were diving in Playa on our own with a DSMB and a diving computer from Carlos (his personal diving computer).

After this I wanted to be nice to him and pay a normal diving price without discounts and we went with Fransisco for a cenote dive (Dos Ojos), it was nice, I told him that I have enjoyed it, and he immediately asked me to write a review "because we are losing some positions there" on TripAdvisor. He thinks I should write only about the good experience, when everything around it is stinky!

We've been missing the reefs even when he gave us a guide, because he did not invest in the guides to get to know the reefs and be able to navigate them. THE GUIDE WAS NOT A DIVEMASTER BUT A RESCUE DIVER! How can you send somebody to guide a dive who has not even entered the first professional diving level?

Fransisco also said that another day one of his clients wanted to dive nitrox, and he gave him air in a nitrox signaled tank, because "anyway, it doesn't make a difference for a 15m dive". How can you mislead in such way a client? Oxygen level must be measured before use!!!
He also gave us nitrox in the beginning days (when we were more out of the nitrox topic), but we did not test it when we went for the shallow dives. (we were also stupid to accept just any mix)

Some additional points worth mentioning:
- DiveLife has a very rude captain on their boat! He can't even say "hello" or "you're welcome" when you thank him something.
- DiveLife is just another business of Fransisco, which he doesn't take seriously for sure, and doesn't offer quality service and gets you going diving illegally. He is probably too occupied with other businesses.
- If you plan to dive with DiveLife you will find out about the diving details late evening before the diving day, so you can't prepare. The same thing happens with his workers, they find things out late night.
- The diving equipment in general is very weak, broken and old. The regulators at DiveLife have no sand caps! The fins he uses are not good even for snorkeling. All the equipment we've seen was old, I had to ask every time to get a stronger fin.
- DiveLife can't offer dives if you have a reef preference. Remember: in Playa del Carmen not everything is nice, there are only a few reefs which still look healthy, the others are nearly dead.
- Now Carlos and Francieli (you can see positive feedback about them) don't work with DiveLife anymore, though they were nice people. Today only Allan is the only instructor at DiveLife who is very nice, professional and everybody else is a rescue diver (non-professional level): Mateo & Ivan.
Written March 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Simon L
2 contributions
Jun 2018 • Couples
We are two drivers who had a bad experience with dive Life in playa del carmen for many reasons:

1. Dives cancelled for bad weather condition : it should never happened according to them. But sometimes it does obviously.

2. We aren't refunded of our dives due to the bad weather since 2 months now : Despite the facts that we sent many e-mails. They replied us that it will be done shortly and that it is they "highest priority"... hopefully it isn't their lowest...

3. They didn't keep their words : the staff and the dive master promised us private dives with the dive master. The D day, they had 2 more people, we went with another freelance instructor...

4. No enough equipment: one of us had to dive with an equipment too big which had an impact on our experience especially in the tiny holes of a cenote. And we didn't know the brand of their equipment which didn't reassure us a lot.

We will send some news every week until get refund :-). We will share their e-mail next time.

Simon & Emilie
Written July 20, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Simon and Emilie, Thank you for your comment, it was a pleasure meeting you and taking you diving in the Cenote. Unfortunately we couldn't cover your expectations (as we actually did with the other customer that went diving the same day, as you can see in his review). Thank you very much also for the apologize you sent me directly by email, regreting for the score and the comment you gave us here on Tripadvisor. I would like to clarify your comments to avoid any missunderstood. 1- We have more than 17 years of experience and we know that weather conditions are most of the times unpredictable. So that day, we only mentioned that it was not common to have 10 consecutive days with such a bad weather, as it happenned during your stay here that time. 2- As you know, due to the many emails we sent you, we gave you options as pay pal to get your refund, Besides, it could have been easier for you not to recognize the charge with your bank. But, as you wanted and as we already agreed in one of those emails, we have your cash here to give it to your sister Danielle (the option that you proposed). So we are waiting for her. 3- As the manager and the guy who talk to you about it, I promise you to arrange the program based on your personal needs (this was to dive in a cenote near Tulum because after that you asked me to give you a ride to your new accomodation there, 60km away from our location, and we did it with pleasure). For private trips we charge more, and yours was the normal price. Sorry I couldn't go with you, but based on your experience, what I wanted was to give you the best experience and I had to go with the other customers to a more basic and simpler cenote, not as challenging as the one you did with our freelance instructor who have been working with us for many years, and is totally trustworthy as all the people in our staff that work according to our standards. 4- I don't understand what was the problem with the equipment since is part of our procedures to try with each one of you the equipmenrt before departs, and since then we had only 14 equipment from xxs to xxl, and now we bought 6 new bcds that you could use the next time you come to visit us. We can´t wait to meet you guys again and let us share our diving passion and knowledge with some more fun dives or with a course which will increase your scuba education and as I told you in one of our last emails we are willing to give Danielle your money in cash without the surcharge we had since you guys paid by credit card and also, if you want, to find a fare way to compensate the damage we could"caused". All the best, Francisco Davids. Course Director
Written July 23, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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