PADI Specialty Courses in Playa del Carmen

No. Nitrox does not add gas to the cylinder and it does not extend your maximum depth. Its main recreational benefit is reduced nitrogen exposure, which can increase no-decompression limits on many suitable dive profiles. Oxygen exposure and maximum operating depth must still be respected.

You work on weighting, breath control, trim, hovering, fin efficiency, body position and moving close to the reef without contact. Your instructor identifies the habits that cost you control or gas and gives you specific corrections.

For Xico’s current PADI Deep Diver course, we require students to be at least 15 and hold Advanced Open Water Diver or an accepted equivalent. Xico also checks recent experience, depth comfort, medical screening and suitability for the planned deep dives.

Xico uses several possible wreck routes in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Puerto Morelos. Transport, site/operator logistics and the final training plan can change the actual course cost, so Xico confirms an all-in quote instead of publishing a misleading fixed number.

Yes. DPV use during the two training dives is included together with the standard rental scuba gear needed for the course, unless you arrange a different personal-equipment setup with Xico.

Xico is not currently offering the PADI AWARE Shark Conservation course. The previous in-water format was seasonal around the local bull shark period, November 1 through March 31. If Xico reactivates the course, the current instructor, shark-operation, weather and availability requirements will be confirmed before booking.

Yes. Xico can run its courses with one booked student, so you do not have to wait for us to fill a group. Your requested start date still needs instructor and operational confirmation.

Send us your preferred start date. Xico will check the appropriate instructor, training schedule and any required training logistics before confirming the course. Start dates are flexible, but a website request is not an instant booking confirmation.

You must be at least 15 and hold PADI Open Water Diver or a qualifying equivalent certification. Xico also checks your recent diving, basic buoyancy control and required medical screening before confirming the Ocean or Cenotes training option.

Choose Ocean for real-world current, waves and boat-diving conditions, or Cenotes for exceptional visibility and precision-focused skill work. Xico runs both options as two-day programs with four training dives and the same PADI Sidemount Diver certification.

The Ocean and Cenotes base course prices do not include the specialized sidemount rental set. Xico offers a full-course sidemount gear rental option separately. The current rental amount is shown on the Sidemount course page when you choose your training option.

No. This page is for the recreational PADI Sidemount Diver certification. Xico keeps technical sidemount and Full Cave preparation as a separate TDI pathway for divers whose goal is technical or overhead-environment progression. Tell us your long-term diving goal before booking so we can point you to the correct route.

For Xico's scuba course format, you must be at least 10 years old and hold PADI Junior Open Water Diver, Open Water Diver or a qualifying equivalent certification. Normal diver medical screening and eligibility requirements also apply.

No. PADI Dive Against Debris is a one-dive specialty. Xico includes a second guided Playa del Carmen reef dive so your course runs as a complete two-dive ocean day. The second dive is an Xico inclusion, not an additional PADI certification requirement.

The survey findings are sorted and recorded so the data can be submitted through the PADI AWARE Conservation Action Portal. The standardized survey information contributes to PADI AWARE's marine-debris data program.