Trip Report: Scuba Diving in Cozumel, Mexico

Introduction 

At the beginning of 2023, my partner and I decided to quit our jobs in the UK and take some time out to travel Central and South America. It was no accident that our choice of destination meant lots of opportunities to dive (other posts can be found here). The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico was our first stop and we planned four days of scuba diving in Cozumel to kick off the trip.

Cozumel

Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean, located off the East coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It’s a renowned diving destination (with over 100 dive shops), particularly for folks living in the USA given the short flight distance. It’s also a popular stop on Caribbean cruise ship itineraries.

The island itself is very water sport focused, particularly scuba diving and snorkelling – I’m not sure we would’ve come if not for the diving. The ferry arrives into the main town of San Miguel de Cozumel. We based ourselves here though lots of people choose to stay in the (more expensive) resorts south of the town. English is widely spoken though as with everywhere in Latin America, your life will be much easier with at least some basic Spanish. Plus the locals will appreciate the effort.

Getting to Cozumel (from the UK)

Cozumel is relatively easy to get to thanks to its proximity to Cancun and its international airport. You can also fly direct to Cozumel – though for non-US international visitors this will involve a stopover in the US or Mexico.

We flew direct from Manchester in the UK to Cancun with TUI Airways for only £280 (one-way) on the 9^th of January. From Cancun airport you can take a direct bus to Playa del Carmen with ADO (Mexico’s main bus operator) for MX$230. You can buy tickets in the airport after you pick up your luggage. We waited in line in the terminal for 30+ minutes to buy a ticket but there are more places to buy tickets outside when you walk around to the pickup point. The journey takes around 90 minutes and drops you in the centre of Playa del Carmen.

From Playa del Carmen to Cozumel you take a 45 minute ferry with one of two ferry operators – Ultramar and Winjet. A a boat leaves every hour from 7am until 10pm and costs US$13 per person. 

Where to Stay and Where to Eat in Cozumel

We stayed in the Kinta Kan hotel, a five minute walk from the main part of town. The rooms are basic but well equipped and the common areas include a small pool with hammocks and sun beds and a kitchen. For £50 a night (including breakfast), it was ideal and gave us somewhere to relax after a morning diving. The location felt safe even when walking back at night after dinner.

I was expecting to enjoy the food in Mexico (this was my first trip) but my expectations were exceeded – the food really is incredible almost everywhere. One mediocre huevos rancheros was the exception but that was in a touristy place on the water front. Our general rule was: the worse the place looks, the better the food. There are eateries all throughout the main town but my advice is to explore a little further out from the built up areas.

My partner is vegan and we weren’t expecting a great selection of vegan food for her – but we were pleasantly surprised. Our highlight was Paradise Vegan – it’s a simple, small, one-room restaurant with a basic kitchen behind a canvas screen, but the traditional Mexican cuisine is delicious (see above general rule). I’m not vegan and it still earns my recommendation. Other highlights included Miss Deleites (not vegan but has good vegan, vegetarian and meat options), and Casa Cuzumil (good vegetarian and meat options).

Preparing for Diving in Cozumel 

There are a lot of dive shops on Cozumel. This is most apparent when you arrive at the marina and are greeted by the sight of hundreds of boats and the hum of thousands of instructors, divemasters and divers preparing for a day of diving. 

The number of dives shops on the island makes the task of choosing one to dive with somewhat overwhelming. We found plenty of options with good reviews on all the usual review sites. We also checked ScubaBoard for reviews as the majority of their users are US based and therefore have lots of experience of diving on Cozumel.

After much searching we settled on Blue Magic Scuba (BMS). Pre-trip organisation and communication was good – we booked four days of diving around 2-3 weeks before departing the UK. January is peak season and boats fill up quickly so it’s worth booking rough dates a few weeks in advance. BMS were flexible in allowing people to move dates around with a few days notice if needed. Rental gear was in relatively good condition and the divemasters and boat teams were friendly and safety conscious. A special call-out to the excellent Renata who led my partner’s Nitrox course and guided us on two days of diving. BMS have two boats – a smaller boat set-up for six divers (plus DM and crew) and a larger boat for 12 (plus two DMs and crew). We paid US$54 per dive including all rental gear other than masks and computers which we took with us.

We originally booked four days of diving (two morning dives per day) but unfortunately a northerly wind (‘el Norte’) blew in during our trip and we lost one day. On our first day of diving, the wind had already started to change and the sea was noticeably choppy (sea sickness medication is recommended for those who are still working on their sea legs). After the wind switched back to blowing from the East, it was much calmer for our second and third days.

The Diving – Santa Rosa and the Reefs

We arrived on Cozumel on the 12^th, and after checking into our hotel, dropped in past the dive shop to complete the paperwork and arrange our rental gear. On the 13th, we walked the five minutes from our accommodation to the dive shop for an 8:45am start. The boats all leave from Marina Fonatur which is a 15 minute taxi ride from town. Once all the divers arrived at the shop, we jumped in a taxi (BMS covered the cost) and were dropped off at the marina. We boarded the boat and set out for our first dive of the trip.

Our first dive of the day was a drift dive on the Santa Rosa Wall – many of the dive sites in Cozumel are drift dives. A drift dive is one where rather than finning against a current for part of the dive, you dive with the current for the duration and start and finish the dive in different places. Typically with drift diving you also need to descend quickly as a group to avoid getting separated as the current flows at different rates depending on depth. 

This was our first ever drift dive and based on how much fun we had, certainly won’t be our last. Diving is often very relaxing but drift diving takes it to a new level. Your fins are almost redundant and only really used for balance and changing direction. All propulsion is handled by the current so you can sit back (or lie flat) and enjoy the view.

The Santa Rosa wall is a beautiful reef filled with corals and plenty of life. One of the highlights included an incredibly diverse array of corals covering the sea floor including Giant Barrel Sponge corals almost as big as I am. Some Giant Barrel Sponges in the Caribbean are estimated to be as much as 2,000 years old and many of the largest are over 800 years old. Sadly there was some evidence of bleaching on many of the corals.

Dives two, three and four of the trip were more drift dives on similar vast and beautiful coral reefs. Sea life sightings included nurse sharks, giant barracuda, porcupine fish (1:19 in the video), trumpetfish, bearded toadfish, queen triggerfish (1:11), turtles, eels, and vast numbers of snappers, angelfish and many others. 

The Diving – Palancar

On dive five we moved to the Palancar area for a dive in Palancar Bricks. This dive site is made up of a number of clustered pinnacles which makes for a beautiful dive of swim throughs (see 1:05 of the video). The undersides of the pinnacles are covered with corals and sea life and the varied depth and size of the swim throughs makes for a challenging and enjoyable dive.

Dive six of the trip was on another reef. We were expecting to drift with the current down the reef but after around 15 minutes it increased in pace and started to flow west, off the reef and out into the open sea. This meant we spent most of the dive kicking hard into the current to stay on the reef. One of the divers in the group had to share air with our Divemaster guide at the safety stop after breathing through so much air trying to stay with the group. As ever though, with great current comes great sea life and we spotted a huge turtle eating coral at the end of the dive – we did however struggle to stay within viewing distance!

We had an absolute blast diving in Cozumel and hope to be back in the near future!

Dive Summary

• Date: 13^th, 15^th and 16^th January 2023
• Dive Log: #61-66
• Max depth: 26m
• Max water temp: 28C (82F)
• Min water temp: 26C (79F)
• Dive shop: Blue Magic Scuba
• Price per dive: US$54 (including rental equipment)

Dive #	Date	Dive Site	Duration (mins)	Max Depth (m)	Avg Depth (m)	Temp High (C)	Temp Low (C)
61	13/01/23	Santa Rosa Wall	41	23.7	17.1	28	27
62	13/01/23	Tormentos	52	18.5	13.3	28	27
63	15/01/23	Paso del Cedral	51	22.8	13.6	27	27
64	15/01/23	Yucab	61	16.8	12.7	27	27
65	16/01/23	Palancar Bricks	50	25.7	14.9	27	26
66	16/01/23	Punta Tunich	48	20.2	12.9	27	27