Dive Travel In Cozumel Mexico – General Travel Information
One of the most popular scuba diving destinations and considered a dive mecca is Cozumel in Mexico. Cozumel is an island off the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and has its own international airport so travellers can fly directly into the island. Those travelling to Cancun or Playa del Carmen on the mainland can take a ferry over to Cozumel as well.
Cozumel is also a cruise ship port too so it’s possible to visit for just one day and still get in some scuba diving as many of the dive shops are set up to accommodate cruise ship passengers. For those staying on the island, there are many dive resorts each with its own dive shop right on the premises. In fact, much of the island was developed primarily for scuba diving before the cruise ship port was built. I’ve been to Cozumel both ways with stays at dive resorts there as well as day dive trips via cruise ship.
What’s Unique About Cozumel Scuba Diving
Cozumel has become a premiere scuba diving destination for a couple of reasons. First, the diving is really good and Jacques Cousteau promoted it a lot during his years. The water temperatures are fairly consistent all year round at 78-84 degrees F or 25-29 degrees C.
Many of the dives here are drift dives but don’t let that scare you. Even though there are some currents at many of the Cozumel dive sites, they are fairly relaxing group dives. There’s a lead divemaster out in front of the group and a second divemaster in the back. The group of divers simply follow the lead divemaster down the current to take in the marine life show. As long as divers control their buoyancy, they will be okay. Since the group is just floating with the currents, there’s very little kicking required with the fins so not much energy is required for these drift dives.
The dive boats do not anchor as they follow the dive group during the dives. There are no buoys for dive boats to moor on since all dives are drift. When the lead divemaster signals that it’s time to surface at the end of the dives, the dive boat will be there waiting. Cozumel was where I did my first ever drift dives and I had no problems.
If you have a sharp divemaster who can point interesting marine life out, you might be lucky enough to see a toadfish that is endemic to the waters of Cozumel. This little striped fish is not found anywhere else in the world. I was lucky enough to see this fish a few times but without the divemasters, I doubt that I would have been able to spot them myself.
The scuba diving at Cozumel is also one of the most affordable places to dive at as both accommodation and diving rates are cheaper than many more expensive islands in the Caribbean. This is another reason why Cozumel is so popular among scuba divers.
When not diving, one can rent a scooter to tour the entire island and explore some of the remote beaches on east and south sides of the island. And since the cruise ship port was built, expect many shopping opportunities as well.
There are no liveaboard dive boats around Cozumel however. All of the scuba diving is resort based on the island. I used Aqua Safari as my dive operator for the two trips I took to Cozumel and was quite pleased with them. The first time I stayed at rooms they have on site while the second time I dived with them as a cruise ship passenger visiting for just a day at port. For my last dive trip there, I stayed at a popular dive resort called Scuba Club Cozumel which in addition to boat dives, also have their own house reef where I had unlimited dives after the boat dives.
Here’s a video which shows some nice scuba diving in Cozumel.
Combining Mainland Mexico With A Cozumel Trip
If you have the time, I would suggest that in addition to scuba diving in Cozumel that you do spend a few days over on the mainland side of Mexico. A ferry took me over from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen over on the mainland. From November to March, it’s bull shark dive season over there. That part of Mexico known as the Mexican Riviera, is also where you can dive in the cenotes which are the fresh water springs inland. I did both bull shark and cenotes dives as part of a bigger Cozumel trip which gave me three different type of dive experiences. Although there is regular scuba diving off both Playa del Carmen as well as further north near Cancun, those dive sites are nowhere near as good as in Cozumel. So my dives on the mainland were purely for the bull sharks and cenotes.
