Cozumel,
Mexico is home to the world's second largest coral reef, and perhaps the
best drift diving in the world.
Visibilities here range over 200 feet, and the water never strays far
below 80°F. Home to over 100 dive shops, Cozumel is Mexico's only
Caribbean island. For more information about Isla De Cozumel, and
photos from our trip, please visit our
Cozumel page. This page
will focus on our diving experience. For other diving information,
you may want to check out our scuba
page, our snorkeling page,or
our Playa Del Carmen page.
For these dives, water temperatures were generally about 80°F on the surface,
and about 75° at depth. I wore a 3mm shorty and Sandra wore a full
3mm wetsuit. We were quite warm, though on the deeper dives, especially
the drift dives where we weren't moving much, I got chilly at the end.
Air temperatures were in the low 80's all week and the water was placid
and clear. Just beautiful.
We arrived
in Cozumel Christmas Day, 1999, and stayed through the Millennium.
We opted out of any millennium dives, as we were flying to Cancun on New
Year's Day. We chose
Dive With Martin
as our dive operator, as they offered good packages at good prices.
They shot an underwater video for us and included dive computers and equipment
in their prices.
Dive With Martin
had very fast boats with no more than 8 people (usually six), and well-maintained
equipment. They offered unlimited shore diving from their dive shop
at the International Pier, a free night dive, and had friendly and helpful
staff. The boat operators generally allowed us to choose where we
wanted to go, and other boats made trips clear to the east side of Cozumel
for some (apparently) really great diving. These were to be our
first boat dives after receiving our certification and we were a bit nervous,
but the divemaster helped us out and everyone was patient. Overall,
we thank Dive
With Martin and our divemaster, José, Jesus and Scott for their part
in making our stay very enjoyable, and we highly recommend them to anyone.
Choose
a link from the table below to visit our experiences on each reef, or
click here to see our
photos of our dive trip
in Cozumel.
Dive #1International Pier
(Dive With Martin Dive Shop) 12/27/99 Depth: 25-30 feet
This
dive was a shore dive, primarily made to inspect our equipment and rehearse
our skills before going on a boat dive. We checked our weights and
hand signals and everything seemed okay. We didn't actually make
it all the way out to the pier, where we're told there is a lot to see,
but it served our purpose. On the sandy bottom were several species
of sponges, a few grunts and other fish, and one really weird-looking
arrow crab. Visibility here was probably only 60 feet or so, with
some surface chop and 80°F water. Bottom time was about 50 minutes.
This was
our first boat dive, so we were a bit nervous, and my ears didn't equalize
well at all. Unlike diving in Puget Sound, however, I could keep
an eye on everyone else while I descended, even though they were as much
as 110 feet down. I was really nervous about getting separated from
the group, but it was no problem at all. This dive was a drift dive
with a moderate
current. We spent a lot of time keeping track of each other and
I missed a good portion of the dive trying to descend, but it was still
fun. A large portion of our dive was spent getting used to our buoyancy
and equipment and just exhilarating at the underwater world. Yucab
is a large reef on one side with a deep wall on the other. We stayed
at about 50 feet or so (conscious of our open-water certification), while
other divers descended a bit deeper. The reef was alive with fish,
especially butterfly fish, remora, parrotfish, and grouper. The
reef itself was nice, with a large assortment of sponges and sea fans.
We also saw a great barracuda, over six feet long, looking at us.
That made us a bit nervous, as we were only fifteen feet from it, but
it just hung out. Our bottom time was 52 minutes, and visibility
was over 100 feet, which was great at the time, until we saw what other
areas Cozumel had to offer...
After stopping
at a
beach-side restaurant for lunch, we made our way to Las Palmas Reef, which
was similar in constitution to Yucab, with the primary difference being
that it didn't offer the deep wall dive that Yucab did, and that we were
much more comfortable now. We got a fabulous view of a spotted eagle
ray in the distance. They are so graceful and beautiful... We also
saw huge clams and lobster (5-6 feet), spotted moray eels, lots of featherduster
worms, an array of sponges, and lots of grunts and parrotfish. After
we had ascended to our 15' safety stop, other divers reported seeing small
reef sharks down below, but we didn't get to see any. Bottom time
was 51 minutes with visibility again around 120 feet.
The next
day, we set out again, this time to Santa Rosa Wall. Our guidebook
spoke highly of Santa Rosa, so we were
excited. This was our first wall dive, so we didn't know what to
expect. On this day, descent was easier for me, as my ears were
adjusting to being equalized, although I had a bit of hearing loss after
rupturing a few blood vessels on my eardrum the day before. We backrolled
off the boat and were soon surrounded by incredible beauty. The
coral which had attached itself to the wall was fabulous. Sponges,
Anemones, Sea Fans, Sea Cucumbers, Angelfish and other gorgeous neon-colored
fish abounded, and simply overwhelmed us. Sandra was a bit afraid
to approach the wall, and struggled a bit with the current, but close
to the wall the current
was perfect. It was enough to carry you, but calm enough that you
could thoroughly examine whatever you wanted. There were crabs running
in and out, moray eels hiding in the crevices, and just about anything
you could want to see. At the end of our dive, as we began our ascent,
we ran into another great barracuda. He was a little smaller than
the last one, this one only measuring 4 1/2 to 5 feet, but he looked hungry.
Then, as a school of grunts enveloped us and the barracuda, and he just
sat there, we realized that they just always looked like that! This
was a fantastic dive, one of our favorites. I would do this one
again in a heartbeat. This wall is as deep as you want to go, and
visibility is easily 150 feet.
For our
shallow dive of the day, we chose Paradise Reef, which was close in to
the shore and a popular site for night dives. We were a bit skeptical
of this dive at first, as we approached it and saw a lot of dive boats
all around, but we were pleasantly surprised. Tropical fish were
everywhere, and the reef was just a flurry of activity. Although
the reef itself was rather short, the current was mild, and you could
thoroughly explore the ins and outs. We saw large crabs, some huge
triggerfish, a scorpionfish camouflaged in the reef, some huge shrimp,
and just about any variety of fish you can imagine. Butterfly Fish,
Squirrelfish, Angelfish, Parrotfish, Grunts, and more were absolutely
everywhere. After drifting past the reef, we encountered a sandy
bottom with patches of reef. Although the fish life diminished greatly
here, we saw a number of flounder, hermit crabs, and an enormous Snapper
(6-8 feet long). The snapper had really big teeth and was checking
us out, so we moved on quickly... Visibility was over 150 feet,
despite the popularity of the site, and our bottom time was about 51 minutes.
This dive
was aimed more at seeing larger marine life than fish, and our group went
pretty deep. We weren't certified for this, but we stayed close
to the divemaster. Sandra was very nervous on this dive, aside from
being 100 feet deep, the vastness of the open ocean on the far side of
the reef was spooky, as it was so deep you couldn't see the floor, and
fish life was scarce. "Perfect Shark Water", she insisted.
The reef was amazing in its
formations, and there were caves and tunnels throughout the reef that
we explored, thoroughly freaking Sandra out. We d
I think we would have enjoyed it more if we were certified
to that depth, so we weren't guilty, and Sandra was more comfortable.
It was
back to Paradise Reef for our second dive. We had already been to
Las Palmas, and the other couple we were
with had been to Chankanab, but nobody but us had been to Paradise yet.
This was so far Sandra's favorite dive, as it was calm, lots of fish,
and not too deep, so we all headed off there. Again we were swarmed
with millions of fish, especially grunts, angelfish, butterfly fish, parrotfish,
and squirrelfish. We again encountered our friend the Giant Barracuda,
who again did nothing, and saw several huge lobster and crabs. Sea
Cucumber many feet long and lots of flounder also flourished. This
time we spent most of our time on the reef, looking in and out and chasing
schools of fish. Another good dive, but we had to move
along, as another group of divers was approaching. Visibility was
again over 150 feet, and this dive was a lot of fun. Bottom time
was 49 minutes.
Wow.
Gorgeous reef formations all around us and fabulous fish life. Visibility
ranged over 200 feet at the beginning of the dive, diminishing down to
around 100 feet toward the end,
where the fresh water runoff was entering the salt water, bringing the
previously 80°F water down to 65° in places. That was a shock!
But this was a dive where you could have just sat in one place and screamed
"WOW!" and still had a good time. We didn't see that much in the
way of large sea creatures, but a large variety of fish life abounded
at all depths, which could be as shallow or as deep as you desired, and
tunnels in and around the incredible formations of reef were fun, and
this reef area was unlike any other we had seen. A great dive, with
bottom time around 51 minutes, and a beautiful sunny day when we got topside.
We stopped at a beach for our surface interval (complete with topless
sunbathers), with a really beautiful jungle. Probably my favorite
dive.
This reef
was swarming
with activity. Beautifully-colored fish swarmed everywhere.
We found a cave with 8 or more giant lobster, and another with an octopus
trying to cover himself with hermit crabs. The current was moderate
in this area, and although you could swim against it to look at certain
things, it was a bit too strong for our liking. We ended up just
floating over the reef, admiring the plethora of fish life. Visibility
was well over 150 feet and the water was warm. Bottom Time: 51 minutes.
Unfortunately,
that was our last dive in Cozumel. I wanted to do more, but we just
didn't have enough time. We did, however, enjoy some really good
snorkeling at our hotel, Coral
Princess Club, and some more at Chankanaub. We never got to see Columbia
Reef, where other groups were sighting sea turtles, or anything on the
easterly side of the island, but for our first diving trip, it was great.
Cozumel was everything we'd heard it was and more. We had said that
this would be our last trip to Mexico, but after seeing the reefs of Cozumel,
I'm not so sure...
.
Visibilities here range over 200 feet, and the water never strays far
below 80°F. Home to over 100 dive shops, Cozumel is Mexico's only
Caribbean island. For more information about Isla De Cozumel, and
photos from our trip, please visit our
ces.
They shot an underwater video for us and included dive computers and equipment
in their prices.
This
dive was a shore dive, primarily made to inspect our equipment and rehearse
our skills before going on a boat dive. We checked our weights and
hand signals and everything seemed okay. We didn't actually make
it all the way out to the pier, where we're told there is a lot to see,
but it served our purpose. On the sandy bottom were several species
of sponges, a few grunts and other fish, and one really weird-looking
arrow crab. Visibility here was probably only 60 feet or so, with
some surface chop and 80°F water. Bottom time was about 50 minutes.
oderate
current. We spent a lot of time keeping track of each other and
I missed a good portion of the dive trying to descend, but it was still
fun. A large portion of our dive was spent getting used to our buoyancy
and equipment and just exhilarating at the underwater world. Yucab
is a large reef on one side with a deep wall on the other. We stayed
at about 50 feet or so (conscious of our open-water certification), while
other divers descended a bit deeper. The reef was alive with fish,
especially butterfly fish, remora, parrotfish, and grouper. The
reef itself was nice, with a large assortment of sponges and sea fans.
We also saw a great barracuda, over six feet long, looking at us.
That made us a bit nervous, as we were only fifteen feet from it, but
it just hung out. Our bottom time was 52 minutes, and visibility
was over 100 feet, which was great at the time, until we saw what other
areas Cozumel had to offer...
beach-side restaurant for lunch, we made our way to Las Palmas Reef, which
was similar in constitution to Yucab, with the primary difference being
that it didn't offer the deep wall dive that Yucab did, and that we were
much more comfortable now. We got a fabulous view of a spotted eagle
ray in the distance. They are so graceful and beautiful... We also
saw huge clams and lobster (5-6 feet), spotted moray eels, lots of featherduster
worms, an array of sponges, and lots of grunts and parrotfish. After
we had ascended to our 15' safety stop, other divers reported seeing small
reef sharks down below, but we didn't get to see any. Bottom time
was 51 minutes with visibility again around 120 feet.
excited. This was our first wall dive, so we didn't know what to
expect. On this day, descent was easier for me, as my ears were
adjusting to being equalized, although I had a bit of hearing loss after
rupturing a few blood vessels on my eardrum the day before. We backrolled
off the boat and were soon surrounded by incredible beauty. The
coral which had attached itself to the wall was fabulous. Sponges,
Anemones, Sea Fans, Sea Cucumbers, Angelfish and other gorgeous neon-colored
fish abounded, and simply overwhelmed us. Sandra was a bit afraid
to approach the wall, and struggled a bit with the current, but close
to the wall the cu
rrent
was perfect. It was enough to carry you, but calm enough that you
could thoroughly examine whatever you wanted. There were crabs running
in and out, moray eels hiding in the crevices, and just about anything
you could want to see. At the end of our dive, as we began our ascent,
we ran into another great barracuda. He was a little smaller than
the last one, this one only measuring 4 1/2 to 5 feet, but he looked hungry.
Then, as a school of grunts enveloped us and the barracuda, and he just
sat there, we realized that they just always looked like that! This
was a fantastic dive, one of our favorites. I would do this one
again in a heartbeat. This wall is as deep as you want to go, and
visibility is easily 150 feet.
e
everywhere, and the reef was just a flurry of activity. Although
the reef itself was rather short, the current was mild, and you could
thoroughly explore the ins and outs. We saw large crabs, some huge
triggerfish, a scorpionfish camouflaged in the reef, some huge shrimp,
and just about any variety of fish you can imagine. Butterfly Fish,
Squirrelfish, Angelfish, Parrotfish, Grunts, and more were absolutely
everywhere. After drifting past the reef, we encountered a sandy
bottom with patches of reef. Although the fish life diminished greatly
here, we saw a number of flounder, hermit crabs, and an enormous Snapper
(6-8 feet long). The snapper had really big teeth and was checking
us out, so we moved on quickly... Visibility was over 150 feet,
despite the popularity of the site, and our bottom time was about 51 minutes.
was aimed more at seeing larger marine life than fish, and our group went
pretty deep. We weren't certified for this, but we stayed close
to the divemaster. Sandra was very nervous on this dive, aside from
being 100 feet deep, the vastness of the open ocean on the far side of
the reef was spooky, as it was so deep you couldn't see the floor, and
fish life was scarce. "Perfect Shark Water", she insisted.
The reef was amazing in i
ts
formations, and there were caves and tunnels throughout the reef that
we explored, thoroughly freaking Sandra out. We d
I think we would have enjoyed it more if we were certified
to that depth, so we weren't guilty, and Sandra was more comfortable.
re
with had been to Chankanab, but nobody but us had been to Paradise yet.
This was so far Sandra's favorite dive, as it was calm, lots of fish,
and not too deep, so we all headed off there. Again we were swarmed
with millions of fish, especially grunts, angelfish, butterfly fish, parrotfish,
and squirrelfish. We again encountered our friend the Giant Barracuda,
who again did nothing, and saw several huge lobster and crabs. Sea
Cucumber many feet long and lots of flounder also flourished. This
time we spent most of our time on the reef, looking in and out and chasing
schools of fish. Another good dive, but we had to move
along, as another group of divers was approaching. Visibility was
again over 150 feet, and this dive was a lot of fun. Bottom time
was 49 minutes.
where the fresh water runoff was entering the salt water, bringing the
previously 80°F water down to 65° in places. That was a shock!
But this was a dive where you could have just sat in one place and screamed
"WOW!" and still had a good time. We didn't see that much in the
way of large sea creatures, but a large variety of fish life abounded
at all depths, which could be as shallow or as deep as you desired, and
tunnels in and around the incredible formations of reef were fun, and
this reef area was unlike any other we had seen. A great dive, with
bottom time around 51 minutes, and a beautiful sunny day when we got topside.
We stopped at a beach for our surface interval (complete with topless
sunbathers), with a really beautiful jungle. Probably my favorite
dive.
warming
with activity. Beautifully-colored fish swarmed everywhere.
We found a cave with 8 or more giant lobster, and another with an octopus
trying to cover himself with hermit crabs. The current was moderate
in this area, and although you could swim against it to look at certain
things, it was a bit too strong for our liking. We ended up just
floating over the reef, admiring the plethora of fish life. Visibility
was well over 150 feet and the water was warm. Bottom Time: 51 minutes.