My wife and I dove with Geraldine Solignac owner of Deep Dark Diving in Playa in March 2017. We are very experienced divers and wanted to fully experience cenote cavern diving and booked 4 days of private guided diving. Geraldine is very experienced as a full cave instructor and offers private guided dives and various technical courses. She also can guide ocean boat dives and open water courses but got tired of not being able to provide a higher level of service with the dive shops.

She has great knowledge of the cenote cave system and it's origins as both a cave diver and dry land caver. Dark deep holes are her passion!! The diving logistics are very simple as she supplies any rental equipment needed and picks clients up in her Ranger at your accommodations. The gear was all first rate, we rented BCD, regulators, strong lights were provided, and shorty 3 mm suits to go with our 3 mm Caribbean suits as the freshwater is cooler. A hood or beanie is very useful to keep warm.
At the briefings on site you see her instructor approach, careful, thorough and safety first. Yet this does get not in the way of her easy going style matched to your desires. She provides wonderful diving, freedom within the cavern diving rules to go at your own pace following her safe lead. Dives were often 45-50 minutes.
Her briefings and onsite dive map poster really added to our dive experience as you knew which highlights to look for. As clients pay fir their site entrance fees the schedule is restricted by the number or cost of the sites visited on any day.

We dove 8 different sites from Dos Osos and El Pit to Taj Ma Ha, Chac Mol and another cenote deeper in the jungle that fewer divers go to at the end the trip. (It's a secret we will let her share). We have made over 1000 dives in cold and warm water around the world. I will say these cenotes are the most unique dives we have ever made and every diver looking for something special I urge you to make a trip to Playa and Geraldine! The caves are breathtaking, the water so clear and blue. As the dives are only in small guided groups, far fewer divers see the cenotes in a year. The formations are always, not like the elusive fish in the ocean. The only thing she cannot guarantee is the sunlight casting beams into the water!
Geraldine offers a wonderful experience and her service reflects a business owner who cares about her customers having a great time diving in her special world. For a similar price to the local dive shops you receive personalized service to your schedule and level of experience with no more than 2 divers with Geraldine. The shops go with up to 4 divers per guide.
As a well educated multi lingual business woman with a special passion for technical diving I highly recommend Geraldine and Deep Dark Diving. She is a lovely "smily" person and her dives are " perfect" !!! We will be back for more cenotes with Geraldine and the chance to dive with bull sharks and sailfish in the waters of Playa. It is obvious we loved every moment!!!

I was certified just a few weeks before heading to Playa De Carmen to dive. We did 6 dives over 3 days with Geraldine. Due to the weather, the conditions in open water were somewhat challenging, but I felt absolutely secure and looked out after. I also had some equipment issues that she corrected in water. The Cenote dives were incredible. Geraldine is so knowledgeable. The briefing was thorough, concise , and more importantly for me, reassuring. I would ( and will) dive again with Geraldone, and would recommend her highly to anyone.

The operator/dive guide thoroughly described the dive plan and all necessary things we need to pay attention for during the dive. For a beginner like me, it was very assuring and comforting :-). During the dive, she shown all unique aspects of the Cenote, from the halocline, fossils, natural formation of stalactites, etc, including how from several meters underwater we can see the sunlight plays the color spectrum beautifully on the surface. All the while she always check our safety and concentration, how much air left, coldness, equalizing process, etc.
In the whole trip (2 Cenotes) my enjoyment and safety was superbly taken care of! Regardless of our level, she can provide very memorable dive experiences.