Cozumel Dive Sites
Cozumel has a number of terrace and wall reefs located directly in front of the west coast beaches.
Do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions or need assistance.
Barracuda Reef
Minimum depth: 45 ft/ 14m.
Maximum depth: beyond 100ft/ 30m
The most Northerly reef. Strong currents in the area, all divers must be experienced open water drift divers. This is a flat strip reef with sand around, sloping into the depths. The attraction is the above-average chance to see large pelagics, such as barracuda, jacks, rays and sharks. Very large barrel sponges, rope sponges and elephant’s ear sponge can all be found here.
San Juan Reef
Minimum depth: 69 ft/ 21 m.
Maximum depth: 80 ft/ 25 m
This is a flat strip reef with sand around, sloping into the depths. Wire coral and purple sea fans are common, but the large pelagics are the attraction here.
Villa Blanca Wall
Minimum depth: 69 ft/ 21 m.
Maximum depth: Beyond 100 ft/ 30 m
This is a wall dive, but unlike the walls to the southwest of the island, which are vertical, it slopes steeply. This dive is rated as one for experienced divers only. The currents can be quite fierce and you do not get much chance to view the marine life unless it is swimming alongside you. Its is only suitable for wide-angle photography. This dive involves a great deal of work for rather mixed results.
Paradise Reef
Skill level: Novice
A series of three separate reefs running parallel to shore approximately 200 yards out. This is one of the few reef areas accessible to beach divers. All three sections have abundant marine life including octopi and the reclusive Splendid Toad Fish which lives only in Cozumel waters. Most popular spot for night dives.
Chankanaab Reef
Skill level: Novice to Intermediate
A long continuous band of colorful coral reef filled with cracks and crevices and holes which attract all sorts of marine life looking for shelter. There are sand rays under the coral ledges, stonefish and scorpion fish as well as splendid toadfish and lots of trigger and tang fish. The incredible quantity of very large sized lobster and crab in this area as well as octopus which are all typically shy in daylight, makes this a superb choice for night dives.
C-53 Wreck Xicotencatl
Skill level: Novice to Intermediate
Marked by a highly visible buoy, the vessel is 184 feet long & 33 feet wide, and consists of 4 decks. The sinking job by the Mexican Navy & wreck experts was quite remarkable in that it rests almost perfectly upright & flat with the bow facing SSE & stern NNW. According to my depth gauge, the superstructure starts at 26’, the main deck at 54’ & the bottom, which is secured to prevent movement in storms, is at 78’. The craft is intact as sunk with the exception of one rudder which is now about 25’ to the stern.
San Francisco Reef
Skill level: Intermediate
Begins on the Southern end of Old San Francisco Beach. This half mile reef is broken into three sections, separated by about 60 yards of sand. This is one of the shallowest wall dives and is loaded with life. Skim along between 35 and 50 feet and enjoy the big grouper and playful green moray eels.
Punta Tunich Drop-Off
Minimum depth: 50 ft/ 15 m.
Maximum depth: Beyond 100 ft/ 30 m
The Northern end of this reef is the most interesting. The wall at this end is near vertical, with numerous caves and crevices which bisect the reef, running from the crest at around 66ft/ 20m down to much deeper water. Squirrelfish and pairs of angelfish can be approached fairly easily. A number of very large green moray eels can be seen along this reef.
Paso del Cedral Reef
Minimum depth: 33 ft/ 10 m.
Maximum depth: 60 ft/ 18 m
This is a very good photographic dive with lots of opportunities to photograph schooling fish. There are large aggregations of grunt and snapper, particularly the bluestriped grunt and the schoolmaster. The Corals are fairly short, as you would imagine on this exposed strip reef, but where the reef is cut by sand chutes there are some very interesting small coral, such as disk coral and cactus coral. The southern stingray feeds in the sandy areas to the inside of the reef. Among numerous mollusks is the occasional the queen conch, which is becoming increasingly scarce.
Tormentos Reef
Minimum depth: 30 ft/ 9 m.
Maximum depth: 69 ft/ 21 m
This is an exposed, widely spread and fairly broken-up patch reef system interspersed with wide, sandy channels. It is quite a popular site for the second dive of the day, since the top of the reef comes to within 30 ft/ 9 m of the surface. It drops steeply to 69 ft/ 21m on the outward side of the slope, where there is a secondary reef. The reef consists of around 60 separate coral heads covered in a wide variety of brain corals, sea fans and whip corals. Colorful sponges adorn the canyons and there are many different invertebrates hiding in the rocky crevices. At the end of the dive, as the current takes you gently north, there is a huge underwater formation similar to a terrestrial sand dune, which can be seen quite clearly from the air as you fly into the island. Although the current can occasionally be strong, the boat-handlers are very experienced along this reef and will drift along with you in the current. Schools of Creole wrasse move over the reef crest.
Yucab
Minimum depth: 40 ft/ 12 m.
Location: Due west of Yucab.
Maximum depth: Beyond 100 ft/ 30 m Large coral buttresses jut out and
form a convoluted, scalloped outer reef edge with numerous gullies and
swim throughs. Like most of the outer reefs, Yucab Wall does not have
many fish, but the fish that inhabit the site are large - such as black
grouper. This is a particularly nice dive and its popularity is well
deserved.
Yucab Wall
Minimum depth: 33 ft/ 10 m.
Maximum depth: Beyond 100 ft/ 30 m Large coral buttresses jut out and
form a convoluted, scalloped outer reef edge with numerous gullies and
swim throughs. Like most of the outer reefs, Yucab Wall does not have
many fish, but the fish that inhabit the site are large - such as black
grouper. This is a particularly nice dive and its popularity is well
deserved.
Punta Dalila
Skill level: Intermediate A healthy reef strip populated by angel fish,
squirrel fish and schools of grunts.. There are a lot of out croppings
and overhangs of coral on the outer wall of this reef closest to the
wall which are home to crabs and green moray eels. Good variety of
corals and sponges along with the typically mild current makes this a
good choice for photographers and it also makes a good second dive of
the day.
Santa Rosa
Minimum depth: 33 ft/ 10 m.
Maximum depth: Beyond 100 ft/ 30 m
This site can easily be split into three separate dives. Its profile becomes larger and more convoluted the further North you travel. As in any exposed area, the Southernmost section is low-lying and scoured by currents. The middle section has some very large tunnels which completely cut through the reef crest, and the most northerly section has tunnels, caves, overhangs and under-hangs and some sections of wall becoming so steep they are near-vertical. On the steeper slopes there are numerous rope sponges. File clams can be seen in the recesses, their orange or white tentacles waving in the current. Many species of hermit crab can be found and there appear to be thousands of tiny gobies and blennies flitting in bursts over the corals and sponges. Barracuda and large specimens of the back grouper which shelter under the overhangs above the reef crest, can always be observed here. Stoplight parrot fish seem to blend into the multi-coloured reef.
Palancar Shallows
Minimum depth: 17 ft/ 5 m.
Maximum depth: 69 ft/ 21 m
This is a very interesting reef offering a wealth of diving experiences without the need to travel far. It rises to about 60 ft/ 18 m. The strip reef is more than 66 ft/ 20 m wide in much of the area and is cut and dissected by many fissures and caves. There may be current flowing over the reef, but there are so many sheltered areas and shallow water that it never causes problems. Huge stove-pipe sponges stretch out from the reef and there are black corals, such as Antipathes pennacea, in its deeper areas. Bright yellow tube sponges may be associated with juveniles of the yellowhead wrasse and other fish hide in the deep tubes for protection at night. Butterfly fish, angelfish, parrot fish and damsel fish can always be seen. To the south, before Palancar Caves the reef drops much lower and becomes less defined. This dive should not be missed.
Columbia Shallows
Skill level: Novice
To go any deeper one needs a shovel. This is the perfect dive for photographers wanting maximum bottom time. This seemingly never ending sea garden is a popular second dive full of schooling snapper and grunts. Barracuda lurk around divers as they concentrate on the colorful reef fish that populate the site.
Columbia Deep
Skill level: Intermediate
Impressive drop off at 60 to 80 feet. Deep diving at its finest, at least as spectacular as any part of the Palancar. A series of gigantic coral pinnacles, most over 90 feet, marked with caves, tunnels and caverns. Large marine life such as eagle rays, turtles and large barracuda often seen.
Punta Sur Reef
Minimum depth: 80 ft/ 24 m.
Maximum depth: Beyond 130 ft/ 40 m
There is an inner strip reef which rapidly falls away to what is becoming one of the most popular dive locations on the island. Although the site can be visited only when weather permits, the sheer majesty of the deep wall, caves, caverns and fissures put the site at the top of most divers’ lists. You enter the larger of the cave systems down a sand chute at 90ft/ 27 m where you enter a superb complex of coral tunnels and caverns which are absolutely bursting with life. One of the larger caves, called the Devil’s throat, opens up into an underwater room with four passageways, one of which leads to the Cathedral, a vast cavern with another three passageways, all interconnecting. Only experienced divers should consider entering these for any distance and any diver intending to explore them should be accompanied by a dive master or instructor. There are perhaps not as many fish at this site due to the exposed nature of the sea area, but the usual angelfish and butterfly fish can always be spotted swimming in pairs along the reef edge. The deeper coral walls have whip corals, which spiral out into the depths, and large black corals. There are also brightly colored small gorgonian.
Maracaibo Reef
Minimum depth: 60 ft/ 18 m.
Maximum depth: Beyond 100 ft/ 33 m
This very deep reef and steeply inclined wall are subject to unpredictable currents. When descending through open water to reach the descending terraces you must move swiftly and keep close in to the reef or you may be swept away from your planned position on the reef. Wide-angle photography is best, as you keep moving along the reef, the depth is great, and you do not have time to study the reef and its inhabitants. However, you can marvel at the complexity of the old coral limestone structures, caverns, caves and swim throughs. Only the most experienced divers should attempt this site and only under supervision of a very experienced local dive master carrying a signal marker buoy and a seasoned boat-handler. Although this reef is best seen at depths exceeding recreational limits and engaging in deco procedures, a no- decompression dive with very limited time at depth is possible, groups will be kept together by the dive master and a mid-water decompression safety stop is obligatory on the way to the surface.
El Islote
Minimum depth: 10 ft/ 3 m.
Maximum depth: 30 ft/ 9 m
An exposed location with unpredictable currents. This site is only accessible during the calmer months between may and September. This single large coral Island is situated on flat sand and is a natural haven for all manner of marine life. The shallower areas inshore split up into less distinct spur and groove reef formations. An interesting dive site, but there is always surge present. Good for parrotfish.
Do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions or need assistance.