Dive News
Reef reports, dive-site deep dives, course comparisons and practical island advice.
Dive SitesCozumel wreck diving comes down to one ship. The C-53 Felipe Xicotencatl is a 184-foot Admirable-class minesweeper sitting upright off Chankanaab, superstructure at 45 to 55 feet and sand at about 80, so the whole hull is inside recreational limits.
Luisa Carmona · March 6, 2026 · 20 min read
Dive SitesThe depth band is the whole difference: Palancar Gardens runs 30 to 80 feet on a beginner rating, Horseshoe 50 to 110 feet on an intermediate one. At Gardens your air ends the dive; at Horseshoe depth does it first.
Luisa Carmona · March 5, 2026 · 15 min read
Dive CentersSeventy dive centres, no commission, and the six checks that separate a great week of diving from a crowded one. An honest guide to picking the right Cozumel operator for the diver you actually are.
Luisa Carmona · March 3, 2026 · 7 min read
Cozumel DivingCozumel works for beginners with one qualification: every dive here is a drift dive, not most of them. The conditions are forgiving, warm and clear with no surf on the leeward side, but the technique is not what you practised in a quarry.
Luisa Carmona · March 2, 2026 · 17 min read
Dive SitesDevil's Throat is a vertical tunnel through the reef at Punta Sur. You enter at about 80 feet, drop through a narrow shaft in near-darkness and exit onto an open wall at 130 feet, in roughly ninety seconds. Divers have died here.
Luisa Carmona · March 1, 2026 · 15 min read
Cozumel DivingYes, a non-swimmer can do Discover Scuba Diving in Cozumel: no swim test, direct instructor supervision, 12 metres maximum. Certifying is a different standard, requiring a 200 metre swim and 10 minutes of treading water with no aids.
Luisa Carmona · February 21, 2026 · 15 min read
Cozumel DivingOne animal justifies a Cozumel night dive: the splendid toadfish, sitting back under a ledge with yellow fin margins your torch catches first. Basket stars, reef octopus and lobsters out walking in the open come with it.
Luisa Carmona · February 21, 2026 · 15 min read
Trip PlanningThe Cozumel marine park fee is 225 Mexican pesos per person per day in 2026, roughly US$13. It is set in pesos rather than dollars, usually wanted in cash, and it is rarely part of the dive price you paid online.
Luisa Carmona · February 19, 2026 · 13 min read
Courses & TrainingOpen Water certification in Cozumel runs $450–650. Here is what that covers, the three costs that are usually extra, and why the cheapest quote on the island is cheap for a reason.
Luisa Carmona · February 16, 2026 · 9 min read
Cozumel DivingPacking for Cozumel is mostly an exercise in bringing less. A 3mm wetsuit is the thickest thing most divers need, tanks and weights are always included in a boat dive, and gloves, knives and reef pointers are prohibited in the national park.
Luisa Carmona · February 8, 2026 · 16 min read
Trip PlanningA standard two-tank morning boat dive runs $120 to $180 USD per diver. That benchmark makes shops comparable; the spread comes down to boat size, group numbers and what the price actually includes.
Luisa Carmona · January 31, 2026 · 3 min read
Marine LifeTwo species do nearly all the work on Cozumel's west-side reefs: hawksbills picking at sponges and green turtles grazing the shallows, both there every month of the year. There is no turtle season, and you watch rather than swim with them.
Luisa Carmona · January 30, 2026 · 4 min read
