Paradise Reef Cozumel?

[Stormeeann]

We are planning a trip to cozumel soon, and would like really good shore diving. We have read that paradise Reef is excellent. Can anyone tell us if there are hotel accomodations right off the reef?
Also, how far is the reef from town ? And are there nearby resturants, shops, etc or do you have to go to town ?
Thanks

 

[DocVikingo]

As you may know, Coz not a shore diving destination, but here's a few sites.

1. Nice reef & sunken barge in front of El Presidente . On site shop, Scuba-Du, will rent you stuff. You'll be stopped by a guard in the driveway (very chi-chi hotel)--make up a room number, like 78.
2. Broken up small airplane in front of El Cid/La Cieba. On site shop, Aqua Safari, will rent you stuff.
3. Some nice patch reef, e.g., Pico's Reef, off Villablanca Hotel. Near to Papa Hog's Scuba Emporium which will rent you stuff.
4. Trash dump off Barracuda Hotel is not scenic but loaded with marine life. Serviced by Dive Paradise, they will rent you stuff.
5. Chankanaab Marine Park has a modest entry fee & some nice patch reef. Bring your own gear.
6. Paradise Reef across from Villa Dzul Ha (between Presidente & Chankanab). Hog's is about 1/2 mile north for rentals.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[MsParamedic]

I dove Paradise Reef about a month ago. We went through Snorkel Center and Dive Center.

 

[ggunn]

Stormeeann once bubbled...
We are planning a trip to cozumel soon, and would like really good shore diving. We have read that paradise Reef is excellent. Can anyone tell us if there are hotel accomodations right off the reef?
Also, how far is the reef from town ? And are there nearby resturants, shops, etc or do you have to go to town ?
Thanks

Shore diving Paradise Reef is not easily done, as it is just south (and up-current) from the southern cruise ship docks and there is no shore access to it. You could, I guess, get in at El Presidente and drift onto it, but finding a place to get out would be tough. You do not want to get swept under a cruise ship.

Since there is a respectable current in most locations off Cozumel and not a lot of access to the water at the reef locations, shore diving can be problematic. The vast majority of diving there is from boats, and a boat dive on Paradise is easily arranged.

You can, however, swim out to the wall from La Ceiba or Villablanca and drift to a takeout spot further north. A word of caution, though; the boat traffic is pretty heavy along there, so you'll need to get out and back at depth.

 

[gem1]

Are you prepared for the currents there? Cozumel diving is almost all drift diving with a steady, strong current. Lots of boat traffic following the hordes of divers. I would not even think of swimming out to the reef, and traversing at depth while dealing with the current most likely would be exhausting. Better to consider diving at Chakanab. There is a tremendous amount of marine life to see there and the fish are larger out on the flats away from shore. I once watched my wife while diving there surrounded by a cloud of perhaps a hundred parrotfish attracted to her nail polish. My advice, save up and do the boat dive thing - it is truly lazy man diving at Coz. Also, you can stay on the reef(s) much longer.

 

[SueMermaid]

I concur. I did one dive on Paradise reef where we cut across the current to get to another part of the reef in the middle of the dive. It was VERY strenuous, and most of the group sucked down all of their air. I wondered what the DM was thinking.
If you did shore dives, you would probably miss all the good stuff.

Ah, I have to get myself back to Cozumel. The most amazing night diving is to be had there.

 

[MAGELLAN]

We've done paradise reef from shore several times. You do need to have a good sense of where your going and react to the current, take a compass reading before leaving, etc. We went last night, in fact, and the current was almost non-existant, then it ran South for about 15 minutes before running strongly in the typical North direction. To access the reef you need to enter the marina (caleta) and go to the right, down the dirt road. From what I understand the Private property signs refer to the adjacent land which belongs to El Presidente. When you reach the "beach" however, there is a national park sign which indicates to me at least that it is public property...

This is probably the best shore dive we do while here, one of our favorite times to go in is very late, after all the other night dives have left.

 

[RaginCajun]

Just got back yesterday from a very nice stay at the Blue Angel.

Blue Angel has a nice & easy shore dive. It's right next to Sting Ray City (?) a sting ray pen, so we entered at the dive shop and swam around the edge of the sting ray cage. Depths were only ~20-25 feet but we did see Moray Eels, lobster, a starfish and all of the usual tropical critters. You can also peer into the stingray cage and see some really huge stingray too. It's an easy dive since you basically stay within sight of the cage. I didn't venture much farther south than the edge of the cage (toward the Villablanca reef) but one could if you were adventurous. I've been told that some folks will enter at the Villablanca pier @ Papa Hogs and drift north toward Blue Angel, but as mentioned above this can be tricky.

 

[firstdive2005]

International pier and to the south is park and you need a dive master who is approved to lead. This includes Paradise and Chankanab. The only shore diving one can do without a dm is from the international pier north.
I stay at Park Royal a lot and do shore dives to Villa Blanca a lot. I use Scuba Mau for gas and equipment if needed. They will give free gas if you do boat dives with them. They are second to none as a dive operator. A lot of fun and very safe. Fast boat, snacks on board, beach surface intervals. And great deals on dive packages, and can get great deals on hotels. Email Opal at scubamaucozumel and she will give you tons of info.
Your gonna love it there. kev

 

[scubafanatic]

...um, this thread is over 7 years old!