Sea Fan in Cozumel

A flat purple mesh fan, always oriented across the current rather than along it, with a fine net-like structure.

Quick ID

Where You Will See It In Cozumel

Sea Fan works the 6 to 82 foot band. On this island that means the sheltered west-coast reefs — these are the sites where the depth and the habitat line up for it.

Without a boat. It is worth looking for at El Presidente, Money Bar and Playa Corona — all shore entries, so you dive them on your own schedule.

On an ordinary beginner boat dive. It should be within reach at Casa Blanca, Chankanaab Bolones, Columbia Shallows, El Cielo and La Francesa. No advanced certification needed.

Deeper, and on the walls. It is also plausible on Santa Rosa Wall, Tormentos, Villa Blanca Wall and Barracuda Reef.

Conditions change the odds more than the site does — the current, the time of day and how much the group has already stirred up the sand. Ask your guide what they have been seeing that week.

Behaviour

A colonial soft coral that filters plankton from moving water, which is why every fan on a reef faces the same way. Host to flamingo tongue snails and, on many Cozumel reefs, to small brittle stars sheltering in the mesh.

Commonly Confused With

• Sea plume — Sea plumes are feathery and three-dimensional rather than a flat mesh.
• Sea rod — Sea rods are thick stiff branches without a mesh.

Diving Etiquette And Safety

Fragile and directly in the current line where divers get pushed. This is the animal most often broken by a diver who fails to control a drift.

Part of the Cozumel marine life guide · see Cozumel dive sites · plan your Cozumel dive trip