Trip Report

OVERALL RATING: 7
One word for Cozumel diving...Indy500! As we waited on the dock for our dive boat to pick us up, we were amazed at the number of boats. Big, small, all of them racing by headed for the dive sites along the western coast of Cozumel island. And when we got to the dive sites, you felt like an underwater tourist. In front of you, behind you, under you, and above you... divers! On some of our dives, I felt that we couldn't take the time to stop and enjoy the sites. You always had to push on.
Drift diving... fun and frustrating. When you didn't have much to look at, you could sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. But when you wanted to photograph anything, you had to swim against the current, exerting additional energy. Some advice for drift diving, keep a close eye on your dive buddy. If a situation arises, it could be difficult to reach them. Most, if not all, sites are drift diving, and some days of drift are faster than others.

I felt the highlight of our diving experience in Cozumel was the sighting of larger wildlife. We saw numerous sharks, rays, lobsters, eels, and large fish. During a mid-week dive, we had a close encounter of the Spotted Eagle Ray kind. The ray gracefully swam toward us and stopped right beside us. It was surreal. He waited for everyone to photograph him and then moved on. The octopus were out during our night dives. We saw several species each night.

Cozumel Overview
The numerous reefs along the west side of Cozumel form a long coral barrier that is 2nd largest in the world, only to the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Mayan Barrier extends from Contoy Island in the north (located on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula) to the Gulf of Honduras in Central America.

These reefs rest on a narrow shelf and form terraces. The 3 terraces are found at 15, 30, and 60 feet below sea level, and the shelf edge lies at approximately 60 feet. The "wall" dives are those done along and just below this shelf edge. The shelf ledge drops off to a depth of about 1200 feet on the west side of the island.

An interesting aspect of diving off the island is the strong year-round water currents of 2 to 4 knots. These currents run from the south to the north and are a branch of the Gulf current system. While diving the current, or drift, it does the work for you. You glide along the coral reefs and enjoy the sites. Water temperatures range from 77 to 82 degrees.

Find a Cozumel Dive Site Map at: http://www.cozumel.net/1maps/divemap.htm