The Editor says: cave diving has always been one of the biggest temptations luring recreational divers into the world of technical diving. The intricate, seemingly endless caves of Cancun, Mexico — carved through by cold underground river systems — combined with the entirely different mindset that technical diving demands, never fail to draw cave diving enthusiasts from every corner of the globe. The common assumption, of course, is that travelling all the way from East Asia to Central America to dive must cost a fortune. This article is republished from the personal Facebook page of Coach Ryan Chan of the technical diving group 百鬼夜行 TEK Dive Team, in the hope of giving everyone the courage to take on the secrets hidden beneath the earth!
Cave Diving Course Costs in Cancun, Mexico
A cost breakdown for a 2019 self-organised, three-person trip to Playa del Carmen or Tulum, Mexico, covering TDI Cavern / Intro to Cave / Full Cave — three courses, three people, worked to the bone. Long read ahead, proceed with caution — but you are more than welcome to share, repost, and use this to organise your own group trip. No need to notify me first.
Let me put the number everyone cares about most right up front: round-trip airfare from Taiwan to Cancun, local transport, meals, accommodation, and tuition (study materials / academics / skills / gas / cave entrance fees) comes to just over NT$90,000 — let's just call it NT$100,000 flat. That's approximately RMB 22,000, or HKD 25,000. I'll include a full breakdown with screenshots at the end of this article.
I know there are plenty of people out there trying to put together group packages to make a tidy profit, but going independent is genuinely the better option. Where does all that extra money beyond NT$100,000 actually go? Probably some combination of the following:
- The organiser's accommodation and meal expenses
- The organiser's diving expenses
- The organiser's transport costs, possibly including airfare
- The organiser's coordination or translation fees
- The organiser's profit margin
I imagine the exact breakdown varies from operator to operator, but honestly, for a Mexico cave diving trip, none of those extra costs are necessary.
Sure, I understand that service has a price — but speaking from my own experience (having done the same course three times), as long as one person in your group speaks English, a Taiwanese group organiser adds essentially zero value. A DIY cave diving trip to Mexico is really not that difficult. Choose the right place to stay, and everything you need is within reach: supermarket, beach, restaurants, laundromat — all within a 15-minute walk at most. The room comes with a hot plate and toaster so you can prepare simple meals yourself. There are also plenty of good restaurants at every price point within walking distance of the hotel (everything except Chinese food, that is).
During the Training
During the training itself, don't think for a second that the guide who brought you there can keep you safe. The person who actually keeps you safe is the local instructor who is training you. Even if your group leader holds a cave instructor rating, they still cannot take you into the cave without a locally certified instructor leading the dive. And frankly, a so-called cave instructor who logs fewer than five dives a year — I genuinely cannot see what practical value they offer in terms of experience or safety.
Only locally recognised instructors are permitted to enter the cave and guide others inside. On top of that, many group leaders aren't even certified cave instructors themselves. If the person leading your group is an inexperienced cave diver, you're also taking on the added risk of someone who might run into trouble inside the cave — forcing your local instructor to split their attention to manage them. All that talk about taking great photos for you and acting as your translator is just a way to take your money — it's not worth what they charge extra. So honestly, for a well-documented dive destination like the caves of Mexico, rather than paying a Taiwanese organiser to come along for a holiday at your expense, you'd be far better off putting that money toward a proper tip for your local dive guide or instructor. Of course, if you've got the money and genuinely enjoy treating people to meals, dives, and hotel stays, that's a completely different story. When I take friends myself, we split absolutely everything equally — and I'm the one who handles the translation.
Three people is the perfect size for a private cave course, as long as one of them speaks English and you're set. Even if you went as a group of 15, one translator would still be enough — don't worry about there not being enough instructors, they'll call in backup from each other.
Local Accommodation and Food
When it comes to choosing accommodation, the priorities are simple: convenient location, reasonable price, and decent facilities — that's all you need to save a lot. If everything is within walking distance, you can cut your local transport costs to zero. A room with a hot plate, toaster, and water dispenser means breakfast and the first few dinners will cost almost nothing. And I mean that — trust me, during the first few days when jet lag is crushing you and your instructor has been drilling you for 10–12 hours straight starting at 8
a.m., you'll get back to the hotel and honestly, if you manage to shower before passing out cold, I'll be impressed. The three of us could barely finish the instant noodles we'd cooked for ourselves those first few nights — usually at least one person was already snoring before the water had even boiled. For breakfast, just walk to a nearby supermarket and stock up on a few days' worth of bread, ham, eggs, instant noodles, whatever you like. And yes, Mexican supermarkets do carry Asian instant noodles.Every morning at 7
, your instructor picks you up and takes you to the cave for a full day of drills and classroom sessions. Instructor pricing is generally based on a full-class-of-three rate — roughly US$200–350 per person per day, depending on the instructor. But cheaper doesn't mean worse. I'd actually advise against going straight for the highest-tier (most expensive) instructor right off the bat, because without a foundation in cave diving knowledge and technique, even the best instructor in the world can't hand you the essence of the craft in one go — and even if they try, you won't necessarily be able to execute it or absorb it. A middle-school student doesn't need an Ivy League professor. You get what I mean.That said, choosing your instructor still matters enormously. Mine falls in the US$200–300 mid-range bracket — with a full group of three, it worked out to US$210 per person per day. The key thing is that this instructor is recognised within the global cave diving community, and that matters a great deal. If your instructor isn't known in the community, the next time you approach another instructor for a course or a fun dive, you might find yourself spending an entire first day doing check dives at a boring site just so they can assess you — even if you're already certified. Any cave diving instructor who doesn't know you personally will almost always ask, within the first few exchanges, who your cave instructor was — and how you're treated from there will vary considerably. When I was consulting with a well-known European instructor about an advanced overhead environment course, I was asked exactly that question. Fortunately, they knew my instructor. (She's also very good-looking, by the way.)
Let's Crunch the Numbers
Here's the full cost breakdown for the trip:
- Round-trip airfare
- Round-trip transport between Cancun airport and Playa del Carmen
- Cave diving course fees
- Three meals a day for eight days
- Seven nights' accommodation
- Cave entrance fees
- Local transport
Here's the itemised breakdown:
- Searching online now, round-trip flights to Cancun in early November are around NT$32,500. See screenshot.
- One-way transfer US$60 × 2 trips = US$120, plus US$10 tip each way / 3 people = NT$1,450
- Full class of three, US$210 per person per day × 7 days = US$1,470 ≈ NT$45,400
- Roughly 200 Peso per meal; budgeting 600 Peso per day × 8 days = 4,800 Peso ≈ NT$7,800 — and this is a conservative estimate. Keep in mind breakfast comes from the supermarket, the first few dinners you probably won't have the energy to eat, and lunch is usually a sandwich eaten in the parking lot at the dive site during class breaks.
- The hotel I stayed in last time: 8 days / 7 nights came to approximately NT$16,7xx for one room with three beds, divided by 3 people = NT$5,570. See screenshot.
- Cave entrance fees run about 200–250 Peso per person per visit; instructors enter free. Budgeting 250 Peso × 8 days = 2,000 Peso ≈ NT$3,300
- If you choose your hotel location well, local in-town transport is NT$0 — everything you need is within a 15-minute walk. Like the place I stayed at.
Airfare estimate
Accommodation estimate
Time to add it all up: NT$32,500 + NT$1,450 + NT$45,400 + NT$7,800 + NT$5,570 + NT$3,300 = NT$96,020 = approximately RMB 21,100 = approximately HKD 24,400.
One more thing worth mentioning: make the most of your cave instructor. For local land-based activities — Mayan ruins and the like — your cave instructor will know operators they can refer you to, and booking through them will almost certainly be cheaper than going through a Taiwanese group organiser. On the diving side, beyond the caves themselves, the Playa del Carmen / Cancun area has plenty of other great dive options: the underwater museum, Bull Shark dive trips, Cozumel, and more — your instructor can usually arrange these for you too. About the only thing they probably can't do is book you a tee time at the golf course. Ha.
All the planning and prep work can be sorted in a focused hour and a half — and it might save you a meaningful amount of money. Why wouldn't you?
If you'd like details on accommodation, food, restaurant recommendations, instructor referrals (I know plenty), nearby dive site suggestions, land tour tips, private car hire, what to buy, where to go after class, or any other information about the Cancun – Playa del Carmen – Tulum area, feel free to ask me — don't be shy.
Hope everyone has a great time and doesn't get taken for a ride!
Cover photo: Photo by Bruno van der Kraan on Unsplash
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