Diving in Cozumel In 1961, Jacques Cousteau deemed Cozumel one of the most beautiful scuba diving areas of the world and since then, divers come from all over to Cozumel and few, maybe even none, have ever left disappointed

All boat dives in Cozumel are considered drift dives, allowing divers to exert little to no energy while drifting by stingrays, turtles, nurse sharks, and not to mention an expansive variety of colorful fish and coral. The crystal clear, azure blue waters of Cozumel presents a vast array of sea life for every experience level.

Being part of the second largest reef system in the world Cozumel offers three main categories of dives:

                                         1- Shallow/ near shore coral gardens (like Paradise reef)

                                         2- Vertical walls with dramatic drop-offs (like Santa Rosa wall)

                                         3- Coral Pinnacles and Caves ( like Palancar)

Some key dive sites are:

 Palancar Gardens - Beginner to Intermediate

Just inside the Palancar Wall, dominated by coral mountains plunging from 30 feet into the abyss, lie two broad reef beds. They gently slope north to 70 feet and are filled with cuts and valleys, finger canyons and tunnels. Novice divers can safely view the massive pinnacles at the drop-off's edge, swimming among whip and brain corals and cleaning stations every few kicks.

Palancar Horseshoe

This U- shaped crescent of towering coral pinnacles rises from a sand ledge at 100 feet and climbs almost to the surface, forming an amphitheater for troupes of grouper, Creole wrasse and Bermuda chub. Just north of the horseshoe there lays a labyrinth of caves and passageways that weave throughout these ancient towers teeming of life.

Colombia - Advanced to Intermediate

Although Palancar is better known, many Cozumel veterans place Colombia among the world's most majestic wall dives. The coral mountains rise from beyond the limits of visibility to within feet of the surface and support rich coral beds in the shallows. Over the wall's edge, you sail through steep valleys, drifting from mountain to mountain, as if on an aerial tour of the Grand Canyon. Light streams through the sea fans and black coral in silhouette patterns often broken by the outline of eagle rays and schools of black tip shark.

Santa Rosa Wall

Another reason so many divers repeatedly visit Cozumel is that reef systems are so large and they require multiple dives to see. Santa Rosa's southern end is a solid coral ridge rising to 45 feet before drastically giving way to buttresses reaching up from 130 feet. These mountains are riddled with tunnels and cuts covered in thickets of rope sponges, tube and barrel sponges. Be prepared for the black groupers who get in your pace and green morays eels angling for a handout.

San Francisco

Beginning on the South end of Old San Francisco beach, this half-mile reef is broken into three sections by approximately 60 yards of sand. This is one of the shallowest wall dives and is loaded with life. Playful green moray eels and large grouper skim along between 35 and 50 feet, posing for that perfect vacation snapshot.

Tormentos

Tormentos Reef is Cozumel drift diving at its swiftest. Cruise along a sandy bottom at 60 feet past coral spires in a line so long their called Upper, Middle, and Lower Tormentos. Drifting by all three is not difficult when the current is really flowing and it is here divers learn why school of margates, snapper and chub chill in the coral valleys.

Maracaibo

This is one of the southern most dive sites on the island and it is very exposed to currents and topside surf. This end of the island drops off gradually, making Maracaibo a wall dive, but a very deep one. Due to its more remote location, it is not uncommon to see schools of hammerheads or shoals of eagle rays as divers drift in the midwaters high above the ocean floor. This is not a dive for those who need to be "up close and personal" with the wall for the midwater drift is where the most of the action lies.

Barracuda

Located on the north end of the island, this area of the reef can be dangerous and is best for small groups of experienced, drift/current divers. Due to the severity of the conditions, the Port Captain heavily monitors and restricts most tourists diving in this area. Even in good weather, the current runs 2 to 3 knots and down-currents are not uncommon.