Diving in Cozumel

Cozumel, Mexico’s largest Caribbean island located right in front of Playa del Carmen, is one of the Top 10 most beautiful diving spots in the world. Its name comes from the Mayan word “Cuzamil” which means Land of the Swallows.

The Cozumel Coral Reefs National Marine Park, or “Arrecifes de Cozumel” as it is known in Mexico, is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second largest coral reef system in the world. The park was created back in 1996 to protect, conserve, and restore the natural resources which play important roles in this ecosystem. 

It is important to point out that by the end of 2018, Cozumel’s coral reefs have seen a huge decline after it was infected by a disease called Stony Coral Tissue Loss (SCTL)…not to be confused with coral bleaching, which is something completely different. This suspected bacterial infection rapidly spread killing many species of hard coral such as flower coral and brain coral. Most of the brain coral is gone but other life has taken its place. And, at present, after the partial closures of the Marine Park to divers, parts of the national park are looking good again.

Most of the diving in Cozumel is drift diving, following the pre-dominant south to north current, along towering walls where divers can admire large coral structures, sponges and gorgonians, and encounter turtles, seahorses, rays, nurse sharks, and many other tropical species of fish including Cozumel’s splendid toadfish.