Cozumel Scuba Diving

Great Cozumel hotels and scuba diving package deals.

World Class Scuba Diving. Exquisite snorkeling for the entire family. White, sandy and unspoiled beaches.

Get the best prices on Cozumel Scuba Diving through our dive shop.

This jewel is Mexico’s largest inhabited island, and located just 12 miles off of the Yucatan coast. While just a short hop from Cancun, it has a very different feel than its glitzy neighbor. It is a quiet, sleepy island with the charm of a fishing village it once was and famous for fantastic scuba diving, snorkeling and the warm hospitality of its people. It is the perfect destination for those who want to do some great scuba diving , snorkeling and relaxing. The world-class reefs and gin-clear waters attract water sports enthusiasts from around the world.

Cozumel is part of the Great Maya Barrier Reef, a system that extends from the Northern Yucatan to Honduras and is the second largest in the world. The island's 32-km long reef system is located off the island's southern leeward coast.

Swept constantly by the same Giana Current that has carved the shoreline of this coral island into sharp, pitted ironstone patterns for millions of years, these reefs offer some of the most spectacular and exciting diving opportunities in the world.

Thanks to the strong, steady current, the waters are constantly being flushed making for excellent visibility--100 ft plus--and ideal conditions for coral and sponge growth. Reef fish thrive here as well, protected by a 1980 ban on fishing along the southern coast of the island.

In 1996 the Mexican government designated the area from Paradise Reef south as a National Marine Park. In the years since, island dive operators have worked closely with the government to protect this invaluable international resource. As a result, there are currently limits on the number of boats and scuba dive operators allowed on the reefs and each diver must pay a $2.00 per day park entrance fee which goes towards enforcing the rules.

Spear-fishing, touching the coral and the taking of marine life will get you booted from the park if you're caught. But there are much more serious penalties for guides and boat-captains who violate the rules. As a result, despite an ugly incident in 1996 when the government allowed a cruise ship pier to be built over north Paradise Reef, the system has remained vibrantly alive and healthy.

Although there are more than 30 chartered reefs and umpteen sites from which to choose on each of them, Cozumel's coral chain can basically be divided into 3 types: On vertical walls like Santa Rosa with depths from 40 to 130 plus feet you'll find gorgonian and plate coral, enormous sponges and a splendid assortment of reef and pelagic species.

Pinnacles like Punta Sur and Palancar Horseshoe with depths from 40-70 feet are maze like structures with tall, statuesque pinnacles and wide coral shelves. Here you can swim through tunnels in and out of caves and between dramatic, towering coral.

For the less experienced divers (or ones who have not yet become accustomed to drift diving) coral gardens make exciting first experiences.

These 20-40 foot deep coral patches don't have the lushness of sponge and coral life found further from shore. But they're the best place to dive in and experience the rich abundance of fish life that flourish in these waters.

In Cozumel, SCUBA diving is as good as it gets! And we believe that we are the best there is on an island rated as one of the top five SCUBA diving destinations on the planet!

Cozumel Scuba Diving and Sportfishing Charters