Dive News
Reef reports, dive-site deep dives, course comparisons and practical island advice.
Cozumel DivingCozumel is a boat-diving island, and shore diving here serves three people: the diver with a free afternoon, the photographer who wants ninety unhurried minutes, and anyone on a rest day who does not want to give up a whole morning to a boat.
Carmen Novelo · March 15, 2026 · 20 min read
Gear & EquipmentFull rental scuba gear in Cozumel runs about US$25 to US$40 a day in 2026, with most shops near US$30. Per item it is roughly $10 to $16 for a BCD or regulator and $10 to $18 for a computer, which cheap sets almost never include.
Carmen Novelo · March 14, 2026 · 19 min read
Trip PlanningThree rules catch out most visiting divers: the park fee is charged per person per day in pesos and is rarely in the price you paid online, gloves are not allowed, and you cannot dive the reefs without an authorised boat and guide.
Carmen Novelo · March 13, 2026 · 20 min read
Dive SafetySeasickness on a Cozumel dive boat is prevented, not treated: stay on deck with the horizon in view, rig your gear before the boat leaves, sit mid-hull, and ask to get in early. Mid-island reefs also cut a 40-minute crossing to about 12.
Carmen Novelo · March 12, 2026 · 20 min read
Courses & TrainingThe course is the easy part. What almost nobody tells you about a Cozumel divemaster internship is the immigration position — you cannot legally work on a tourist entry permit.
Carmen Novelo · March 11, 2026 · 11 min read
Courses & TrainingThree prerequisites get you onto a PADI Rescue Diver course in Cozumel, and a logged-dive count is not one of them: you need to be 15, hold Advanced Open Water or Adventure Diver with navigation, and have EFR training under 24 months old.
Carmen Novelo · March 10, 2026 · 18 min read
Courses & TrainingA scuba certification does not expire. PADI and SSI both certify for life, so what fades is your currency, not the card, and a refresher restores it in two or three hours of shallow water. The requirement comes from the shop, not the agency.
Carmen Novelo · March 9, 2026 · 20 min read
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.
Carmen Novelo · 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.
Carmen Novelo · March 5, 2026 · 15 min read
Dive CentersSeventy dive centers, 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.
Carmen Novelo · 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.
Carmen Novelo · 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.
Carmen Novelo · March 1, 2026 · 15 min read
