Cozumel Scuba Diving: A Diver’s Dream Amidst Controversy
September 10, 2024
Cozumel’s Caribbean waters boast next-level visibility and vibrant blue hues, certainly in part due to the sponges, making it an always-on diving hotspot. With 300 diveable days a year, Cozumel scuba diving offers opportunities for divers of all skill levels. The Mesoamerican Reef has been a draw for the dive community since the 1960s, and now, it was our turn to experience it firsthand.
Cozumel Scuba Diving – What is it Really Like?
Countless lobsters charged toward us while giant schools of grouper gathered around healthy coral formations. Juvenile spotted drumfish and the endemic splendid toadfish hid under rocks, and yellow, orange, and red sponges covered the reef in wild formations. Even given all we had seen since exploring the world consciously, it was a scene for our expedition team. We had not seen anything quite like it. The drift was strong, and we stuck our legs and arms out to slow down, allowing us to take it all in for just a little bit longer. Every ledge, rock, and crevice revealed something remarkable under or within it. The vibrant sponges, reminiscent of the soft palette of 1970s technicolor, left us only wanting more.
Sponges are some of the simplest species of the animal kingdom, coexisting with their coral neighbors, yet functioning in the ecosystem very differently. According to NOAA, there are about 8,500 sponge species, some dating back 600 million years, making them ancient inhabitants of the ocean. They provide habitats for other organisms and contribute to water quality by filtering water, collecting bacteria, and supporting the carbon cycle. This diversity in sponges is vital for maintaining the overall health and balance of the reef environment.
The sponge cover was a clear indicator that we had finally made it to Cozumel, a destination many divers insisted we had to experience—and often mentioned the sponge life in great detail.
Cozumel scuba diving lived up to the hype, with spectacular underwater scenes we had heard about since the start of our collective diving journeys.
Some consider Cozumel, an island off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, to be underdeveloped outside of its main port, San Miguel de Cozumel. San Miguel serves as the entry point for cruise ships and ferries, shuttling approximately 3.7 million visitors annually. This influx, especially when it comes to cruise tourism, has sparked controversy within the diving community, particularly among those who have dived these reefs for decades. The question remains: can Cozumel’s reefs handle this level of mass tourism? And the answer is of course, no.
The more wear and tear on the reef from excessive interaction and ship traffic, the more the ecosystem suffers—that is unless there is a robust management and enforcement system in place. This is where Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Cozumel (Cozumel Reefs National Park) becomes crucial. Covering 12,000 hectares (29,600 acres) of both coast and ocean waters in the southern part of the island, this marine park enforces strict rules to protect the reef.
Local guides and dive operators, particularly those from Salty Endeavors, adhere to these regulations diligently. Working with the Salty team, they emphasized the importance of reef conservation, fully acknowledging that the overall success of Cozumel scuba diving depends on a healthy reef.
For those who call this island home, maintaining a thriving marine ecosystem is essential for a sustainable future.
In 2022, a determined group of women in Cozumel led a community effort to halt the construction of a fourth cruise ship pier, aiming to protect their vulnerable reef. Biologist Germán Méndez, who manages a coral farm in the Caribbean waters, and environmentalist Guadalupe Martín Cab, spearheaded the campaign against this development, alongside local dive operators such as Salty Endeavors. They feared that the new pier would cause irreparable damage to the coral reefs that form the backbone of the island’s tourism industry.
Despite the government’s post-pandemic plans to increase tourism, these activists and loyal locals highlighted the underutilization of existing piers and advocated for preserving Cozumel’s natural beauty over expanding unnecessary commercial activity. The fight against the new pier unified the community, who relied on the reef for their survival. They collected signatures for a public consultation and filed injunctions to stop the construction, driven by concerns about environmental degradation, the impact on endangered coral species, and the island’s already strained infrastructure.
We had managed to take this all in on the way to meet our ever-passionate, Cozumel scuba diving guide, David Mora with Salty Endeavors. His enthusiasm and underwater expertise gave us one of the most enjoyable dives we have had in a long time, reminding us just how fortunate we are to witness this thriving reef, given the immense threats it faces.
We could not help but wonder if we would be among the last generations to experience Cozumel scuba diving in such vibrancy, with the technicolor sponges practically engulfing us. But the threats were not just from the cruise ship industry; our own diving community plays a role too.
When researching diving in Cozumel, you are bound to encounter some naysayers. Some divers claim that Cozumel scuba diving is overrated, or even boring. They will often cite that "if you do not like drift diving, small creatures, or coral reefs, this is not for you". While every diver is entitled to their opinions and preferences, calling Cozumel boring seems like a far cry from reality to us.
We were diving just ten minutes from the high-traffic, cruise ship-studded area of San Miguel and were blown away by what we saw.
Even with conditions too rough to reach the farther sites, we were captivated by the marine life around this heavily scrutinized area. This perspective comes after visiting 24 locations over 11 months, making our awe for Cozumel scuba diving as real as it gets.
What it all comes down to, after diving with countless operators in diverse ecosystems and with wildly varying conditions on our global expedition, is the importance of careful planning for your dive experiences. Choose the right dive center, ask pertinent questions about timing and environmental conditions, aim for off-peak or shoulder seasons to avoid overcrowding and harming the reefs, and opt for anything but a cruise ship to get you there.
If after thorough research and consultation with local experts with extensive experience diving these waters, you decide that Cozumel—or any location—is not for you, that is okay. But if you dive often and can do so, give Cozumel scuba diving a try and form your own opinions. Do not just take our word for it.
Most importantly, remember how fortunate you are to witness these underwater marvels—whether it is drift diving, spotting pelagic species, or exploring the sponges of Cozumel. After all, the privilege of diving and seeing these vibrant reefs is something our future generations might not have unless we take the small steps necessary to change our way of being on land and out to sea.
Interested in diving in Cozumel?
Check out Cozumel’s best dive centers on MyDiveGuide and plan your next adventure:
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Andi Cross is an SSI Ambassador and lead of the Edges of Earth expedition, highlighting stories of positive ocean progress and how to explore the world more consciously. To keep up with the expedition, follow the team on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and their website.