Diving in Cozumel

DIVING: COZUMEL

THE VIBRANT UNDERWATER WORLD OFCOZUMEL MAKES IT ONE OF THE PLANET'SMOST POPULAR DIVE DESTINATIONS.

When Jacques Cousteau first visited Cozumel in 1962, it didn’t take long for him to declare it one of the most spectacular scuba diving areas in the world.

Since that time, the island has gained an international reputation as one of the planet's premier diving destinations, attracting thousands of divers and snorkelers to its underwater panorama.

Cozumel was rated as one of the top five dive destinations in the Caribbean based on value, visibility and advanced diving. Readers also rated it among the top 10 dive destinations for its marine life, exceptional wall diving and advanced diving. Dive operators and hotels also placed high on lists for Most Popular Land Based Dive Operators and Most Popular Dive Resorts.

Home of the largest reef system in the Western Hemisphere, Cozumel is ringed by more than 40 dive sites teeming with tropical fish and a kaleidoscope of multi-coloured coral reefs. The exceptionally clear aquamarine waters are virtually transparent, providing divers with up to 200 feet (61m) of visibility. Contributing to the island’s allure is the bathtub-like water temperature, which ranges from 77F to 82F (25C-28C) year-round. Topside, the island is embraced by an average temperature of 76F (24.4C).

Cozumel’s coral reefs are sprinkled with limestone caves, tunnels, and rare trees of black coral. More than 30 reefs, ranging in depth from 15 to 90 feet (14.5m-27.5m) , team with marine flora and fauna – moray eels, sea turtles, nurse sharks, giant anemone, great groupers, queen angel, hermit crab, parrotfish, giant sponges, cactus coral, gorgonian fans, multicolored globes of brain coral, and the “Splendid Toad Fish”, endemic to the area.

The island offers a plethora of underwater adventures. Divers can explore great mounds of coral “bolones” at Chankanaab Park, face off with great grouper and moray eels at Tormentos or plunge 120 feet (36.5m) into the brilliant green abyss of San Francisco.

But the most famous dive site is the magnificent mountain of coral known as Palancar. Monstrous heads of coral climb to a height of 80 feet (24m), crowned with red gorgonian fans and enormous yellow sponges. Internal fissures create dramatic passages between the masses of coral, which plummet abruptly into the depths below.

Known as the drift-diving capital of the world, Cozumel’s constant southto-north water current allows divers to jump from the boat, explore the dive site while adrift with the current, and ascend to find the boat waiting at the surface.

An offshore current of about 2 to 4 knots runs northward throughout the year and forms the beginning of the Gulf Stream. Although the current poses very little risk, divers are urged to use support boats when diving farther from shore.

For those divers venturing into the coral canyons, knowledgeable Cozumel guides add a margin of safety and can help pinpoint otherwise hard-to-find diving sites. There are more than 50 certified dive operators on the island and most hotels also have on-site dive operators for the convenience of guests.