Diving gloves allowed in Mayan Riviera

[MoneyGuy]

For those who have been diving in the area south of Cancun, are diving gloves allowed?

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

For those who have been diving in the area south of Cancun, are diving gloves allowed?

I dove twice South of Cancun in October: in Cozumel, and at the Costa Maya port - I forget its name. That was an RCI cruise dive (never again...), and the DM told me I wasn't allowed to wear gloves... I almost to her to screw off, that it was for my protection, because just the week before I got hurt diving (burned my forearm on some coral...). But I decided to not rock the boat (we were in a boat, actually :) ), and dove without gloves.

In Cozumel, I wore gloves for 2 out of the 3 dives.

 

BTW: if you have a choice between Costa Maya and Cozumel for diving: choose Cozumel, and DON'T do a cruise dive. I used Chucho Divers, and was very impressed with both the locations, and the DM. Nice long dives too: 50 minutes and 2 x 65 minutes. :)

 

You will see soooo much more nice stuff in Cozumel than in Costa Maya - no comparison, and I did the sites 1 day after the other - so no seasonal differences between them.

[adk0425]

Nope, not allowed to wear gloves and if you ever go to the Florida Keys, also not allowed to wear gloves there, hope this info helps.

The logic is if you are not wearing gloves then you will not be tempted to touch and thereby damage and/or kill the coral...it is for protection of the reef.

[NitrogenJunkie]

and the DM told me I wasn't allowed to wear gloves... I almost to her to screw off, that it was for my protection,

 

Long time reader, 1st time poster, and only to voice my opinion on this topic. I agree with Ottawa Cruise Man 100%. GLOVES ARE FOR PROTECTION.

 

Destinations saying no to gloves is a joke! Let me get this straight, an inexpierenced diver, with no bouyancy control, and way overweighted can basically walk around on top of the reef. But an experienced, responsible diver, who has no intension of picking things up can't wear gloves?

 

Or a photographer, who doesn't care what they kneel on, lay on, or hold on to, as long as they get the perfect shot is allowed but gloves aren't? I'm not saying all photographers, but a lot and I'm sure you've all seen them.

 

Bottom line is fin kicks do more damage to a reef then divers wearing gloves ever will. Think about it...It just sounds good...no gloves because we're trying to protect the reef. But in the long run it really does nothing for reef conservation.

[adk0425]

I'm just quoting what they are saying the reason for no gloves, It's not my rule:D but just as in everything else in life, if you want to participate, you gotta follow the rules. Can't follow the rules or don't like them, then pass on diving in the Caribbean, but don't ask a dive operator to break the rules for your sake.

[dirvin0500]

We've had multiple dives in Puerto Morelos (South of Cancun) and in Costa Maya (not a cruise ship operator) and had no problem with gloves.

[sddiver]

Gloves by rule and law are prohibited in the Cozumel Marine Park. Roughly 90% of the island dive sites are within the park. Now do people wear them, yes I've seen some, but not many. Your dive operator may or may not enforce the rule on you. If a park employee sees you with gloves you could potentially be fined. But I've never heard of it actually happening.

You should be good everywhere else, unless the dive operators have a policy.

 

Rich

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

Gloves by rule and law are prohibited in the Cozumel Marine Park. Roughly 90% of the island dive sites are within the park. Now do people wear them, yes I've seen some, but not many. Your dive operator may or may not enforce the rule on you. If a park employee sees you with gloves you could potentially be fined. But I've never heard of it actually happening.

You should be good everywhere else, unless the dive operators have a policy.

 

Rich

I did nor know I was not allowed to wear glove in Cozumel parks - I don't necessarily touch stuff, but if you are needing to protect yourself with your hands, it's nice to have a layer protecting them.

I see the other side of the story too, and I understand why they do that.

 

But don't let this rule stop you from diving in Cozumel: it is a must-see spot!

[dirvin0500]

I didn't know about the rule in Cozumel either. We have dove multiple times with multiple operators and nobody has said anything about the subject. We don't wear gloves to pick things up but rather, if we need to touch the coral to protect ourselves in the current, we can use one finger and have protection for that finger. I'm sure there are a lot of folks that want to touch....(just like a little kid in a candy store)...but experienced, responsible divers that want to ensure healthy coral and body shouldn't be frowned upon. As with many thing...."One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch"...