The best dive sites in Cozumel, Mexico feature drift diving, swim-throughs, and endless exploration of pristine coral ecosystems.

It’s easy to see why Jaques Cousteau (“The Father of Scuba Diving”) first visited the reefs of Cozumel in 1961 and declared it one of his favorite places in the world. Since then it’s been a legendary destination for scuba divers.

Get the shortlist on Cozumel’s best dive sites (by skill level), based my own experience and tips from a recent trip in 2023.

My Experience of Drift Diving in Cozumel (+ What I Didn’t Expect!)

It was my first time diving in the Caribbean, so I knew to expect beautiful coral and colorful reef fish from my Cozumel dives.

What I didn’t know is the how large the dive sites are — drift diving is an advantage here!

The reef system (a subset of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef) is simply huge and covers almost the entire coastline on the island of Cozumel!

Strong currents, while not insane, move at least 1-2 knots on average. This allows you to cover a lot of ground and see a lot of the coral formations.

The water pushes you along as if you’re in an underwater safari. So rather than worry about the current, relax and try to stay horizontal so you don’t get pushed around as much.

Then enjoy the clear waters and take in the colorful coral: bright yellow tube and red bell sponges, sea fans, and more.

An abundance of tropical reef fish, turtles, and rays are easy to spot. Peek beneath coral overhangs and crevices and you may find a nurse shark hiding or a moray eel coming out to say hello!

The other thing I was surprised by is how many of the divers are regulars. It felt like half the divers I met keep coming back to Cozumel and it’s easy to see why! 

Getting there is super easy with direct flights to the island or ferry transfer from Playa del Carmen right off the Yucatan Peninsula.

No liveaboard needed. And considering the great dives you get, Cozumel dive trips are truly an astonishing experience!

Best Dive Sites in Cozumel for All Levels

Palancar Reef

Palancar Reef is enormous and the crown jewel of Cozumel dive sites.

It is by far the most popular dive site in Cozumel because it tends to be suitable for advanced divers and newer levels alike. Your dive center will most likely take you here as this destination is world-class and not to be missed.

The reef is so large that it’s made up of multiple dive sites (Gardens, Caves, Horseshoe, Punta, Bricks, and many more). Let’s walk through my top dive sites below.

1. Palancar Gardens

My first dive here made me gasp. I was astonished by the size of the coral pinnacles, adorned with soft and hard corals and teeming with fish.

There are generously large swim-throughs and tunnels, all covered in bright sponges and sea fans.

Palancar Gardens are a good place to start your dives, even if it’s been a few years, as your dive master can start you off in a sandy bank area to monitor your first descent.

The sandy banks are also likely to have sting rays, even spotted eagle rays to see!

Divers of all levels will have plenty to look at, like green parrotfish, queen angelfish, peacock flounders, jacks, and grunts, and sea turtles.

Max depth: 50-80 feet (15-25 meters)

2. Palancar Caves

Palancar Caves is another common favorite amongst divers, as its coral formations and underwater landscape is full of caverns, crevices, canyons, and very tall pinnacles.

Where there are lots of cracks that also means there’s hidden gems of marine life like lobster, nurse sharks, crabs, and eels hiding out.

There’s a lot to explore here, and in fact the site features a very dramatic drop-off that can go as deep as 2,000+ feet (610 meters).

Max depth: 30 feet (9 meters) – as deep as you want!

3. North of Palancar (Punta Palancar)

Punta Palancar is a lesser-known Palancar Reef dive site — but it was one of my most memorable Cozumel dive locations because there were no other dive boats and we saw a magnificent loggerhead turtle.

Unlike sea turtles or hawksbill turtles, loggerhead turtles are much heftier with a massive neck and head in order to crush conch shells.

The loggerhead turtle was very curious and stayed with our group for several minutes, all the while pausing to munch on invertebrates off the sea floor.

It’s possible to combine this on the same dive as Palancar Gardens as they are close together. It starts shallow, but presents lots of swimthroughs and caverns.

Max depth: Depth 40-60 feet (12-18 meters)

4. Yucab Reef

Yucab is quite popular for underwater photographers as it features an attractive array of colorful corals and reef fishes.

The top of the reef is teeming with pufferfish, box fish, the majestic queen angelfish, and many goldentail and moray eels.

If you check under every nook and cranny of coral overhangs, you might find something small and unique like the endemic Splendid Toadfish, or something as large as a 9 foot long Nurse Shark — a bottom feeder that acts more like a ray than a shark!

The other nice feature worth exploring is the sand banks on both sides of the reef, which may have crabs, shrimp, pipefish, and flounders hiding inside.

Max depth: Depth 40-60 feet (12-18 meters)

5. Paso del Cedral

One of the most famous dive sites for photography is Paso del Cedral.

This popular site has lots of schools of fish (think grunts and snappers, but potentially Great Barracudas and Groupers), moray eels, nurse sharks, and turtles. Similar to Yucab reef, it’s a great place to spot the Cozumel Splendid Toadfish (it’s very cute as its bearded face is always frowning!).

Currents can become strong here, so intermediate divers can explore swimthroughs at 60 feet, and more experienced divers can make the most of the wall that has beautiful coral reef deeper than 60 feet.

Max depth: Depth 40-60 feet (12-18 meters)

6. Santa Rosa Wall & Shallows

The Santa Rosa Reef can offer a few kinds of experiences depending on skill level.

The Santa Rosa Wall famous dive site that is very exciting for experienced divers, and in fact Nitrox tends to be the standard to extend your bottom time.

The Santa Rosa wall starts at around 50 feet (15 meters), and then goes very deep (900+ feet / 275 meters) as if it were endless. You can feel like a bit of an astronaut floating over the unknown.

It’s a fun experience to glide across the wall, observing the coral and sea fans jutting out, as well as clocking the moray and goldentail eels that might pop their heads out.

As classic to Cozumel diving, there are also signature swimthroughs, tunnels, and caves to dive through.

By contrast, the Santa Rosa Shallows is an easy dive with a lighter current on the reef.

There’s still plenty to see at Santa Rosa Shallows: I spotted two gorgeously large moray eels, swimming completely out of their hiding places to hunt in the early morning.

Depth: 50 feet / 15 meters – as deep as you want!

Best Dive Sites in Cozumel for Beginners

Cozumel is very popular amongst vacation divers, so naturally there are a good range of beginner-friendly dive sites for new divers or those who have been out of the water for a few years.

These sites tend to be shallower, allowing you to conserve more air and potentially still have a nice, hour-long bottom time.

7. San Clemente

While the coral reef here is not as impressive as other dive sites (like Palancar and Yucab), there’s still a ton of sea life to enjoy.

For beginner divers, it’s a great place to take it slow and learn to keep an eye out for small life on the reef, and bigger life on the sides of the reef.

For example, I spent an hour here and had a great time finding multiple goldentail eels, a school of barracuda, shrimp, squirrelfish, a very large balloonfish (a kind of porcupinefish). I even saw multiple spotted eagle rays here.

Max Depth: starts at ~ 40 feet / 12 meters

8. Paradise Reef

Paradise Reef is located right near the Puerto Maya Cruise Ship Pier, and is the first dive site in Cozumel’s Marine Park. The numerous sandy banks here are helpful for new divers.

My partner did a night dive here and had an incredible experience. In the day, this dive site can be very tame compared to other Cozumel dives, but in the evening all marine life gets very active. It’s highly possible to see octopus, crawling around, changing colors, as they hunt for prey!

Max Depth: starts at ~ 40 feet / 12 meters

9. Punta Francesca

Punta Francesca reef has an easy sandy descent, and lots of beautiful coral gardens and marine life to behold.

I not only saw multiple eagle rays, but also saw a honeycomb cowfish, splendid toadfish, puffers and porcupine. The highlight for me was finding a day octopus boldly napping in plain sight (disguised as a mossy lump of rock).

This site is so rich with small life, that it’s popular with macro photographers. So if you ever feel like you aren’t “seeing anything cool,” look again more carefully!

Max Depth: 40-60 feet / 12-18 meters

Best Dive Sites in Cozumel for Advanced Divers

Cozumel is a delight for advanced PADI divers looking to test their limits and experience the thrill of a wall dive, deep dive tunnel, or a wreck.

10. Ship Wreck C-53 (Felipe Xicotencatl)

This large ship wreck was intentionally sunk in 1999 to serve as an artificial reef in Chankanaab Park.

Originally an American mine sweeper from the 1940s, the ship then became a Mexican Navy boat in the 1960s.

The wreck sits upright, and is easy to enter and navigate due to it’s large corridors and doorways.

You can see groupers, moray eels, and other fish life who have now made the wreck their home.

Max Depth: 50-80 feet / 15-24 meters

11. Cantarell (Eagle Ray Wall)

For advanced divers that are OK with strong currents, Cantarell (Eagle Ray Wall) is an exciting dive destination.

December to February features the possibility of seeing groups of schooling eagle rays in the winter.

The dive can be potentially short without nitrox (30 minutes) due to its depth and strong currents, and ends in the shallows where there’s more small life to see and potentially even sea horses.

Max Depth: 40-100 feet / 12-30 meters

12. Columbia Deep

Columbia Deep is another world-renowned dive site because of its clear waters and varied coral formation (think very tall pinnacles and swim throughs).

You’ll have the chance to see beautifully adorned pinnacles with hard/soft corals and sponges. There’s a flourishing reef system also hosts the possibility of big groupers, turtles, and numerous other fish.

Similar to Santa Rosa wall, the wall doesn’t “end” within your eyesight so you get the thrill of flying across the deep blue.

Experienced divers are recommended as the currents can become quite strong.

Max Depth: ~100 feet

13. Devil’s Throat

Considered to be a rite of passage, the Devil’s Throat is as formidable as it sounds.

Currents can be strong, and it is a deep dive that carries a risk of narcosis which is dangerous for inexperienced divers.

The dive starts with a narrow and very dark entranceway (90 feet deep), that becomes a claustrophobic tunnel. Based on accounts, the beauty is emerging from the darkness to a passage full of light at a max depth of 130 feet.

Then on your ascent, you’re more likely to see marine life — potentially sharks that are more rarely spotted in Cozumel waters like bull sharks and hammerheads.

Max Depth: 90-130 feet.

Frequently Asked Questions about Diving in Cozumel

What are the best months to scuba dive in Cozumel? 

Diving in Cozumel is great year-round! The water is always warm, with a 78 – 86 F (25.5 – 30 C) range depending on season.

The best months to go scuba diving in Cozumel depends on your preference.

December through April is high season because of American tourists rolling in for the holiday season and spring break. It’s also dry season with less rain.

May through November is lower traffic, but hurricane season also starts in June. That said, what’s most common is short spurts of rain as hurricanes are rare.

In conclusion, May is best if you’re looking for fewer crowds, but November through March is when eagle rays migrate through!

Personally I’d pick the eagle rays 😉

Summary:

Months	Weather	Crowds	Marine Life
December – April	Dry season	High season	Eagle Rays from December to March! 🙂
May – November	Rainy season, Hurricane season starts June	Low season

What kind of marine life can I see diving in Cozumel?

There’s a ton of marine life in Cozumel, ~500 species of fish, and 60 types of coral. Here’s a summary of what I’ve seen in my dive log:

Sharks: Nurse sharks mostly. Hammerheads and Bull Sharks are possible but very rare.

Turtles: Sea turtles, hawksbills, and loggerhead

Fish: Some of my favorites are Cozumel splendid toadfish, goldentail eels, green moray eels, smooth trunkfish, scrawled filefish, queen angelfish, french angelfish, honeycomb cowfish, balloonfish, queen triggerfish, yellowtail damselfish (the juveniles are very sparkly).

My least favorite are lionfish as they are invasive. 🙁

Rays: Spotted eagle rays, stingrays

Eels: Goldentail, spotted, green moray

Octopus: Common octopus, carribean octopus