Favorite Cozumel Dive Spot(s)? (Reefs, not ops)

[scubamum3]

Hi Everyone! We are going to Cozumel in February. We are a family of 5 and diving with a smaller op, so we will basically have our own boat and get to pick our own spots to dive. I have several books on Cozumel Reefs, but they all sound so great I want to dive them all!!! Since that isn't possible, I wanted to get peoples opinions on what are the "must dive" reefs (and why, if possible). (It's been 18 years since my husband and I were there as newbies, so my memory and even my dive log book aren't much help). Thanks

 

[sharky60]

Ahhh the old "what's your favorite dive site" question...

You'll get as many answers as there are sites.

The truth is, if you have never been to Coz, they're all good. I like to say, "stand on the water's edge and point out to sea...that's the good diving on Coz."

But just to get things started, here's my top list:

Shallow dive: Columbia Shallows, you'll need a shovel to go deeper than 30', but by far this is an all-time top Cozumel dive site for many, many divers. Lots and lots of fish and bottom time to match.

Mid-reef and deep dives:

1.) Columbia Bricks is by far one of my favorite deep dives, it has it all, swim-thrus, pinacles and walls.

2.) Francesa & Yucab for mid-reef garden dives.

3.) Tormentos, always a crowd pleaser, beautiful reef dive, turtles, ocotpus, morey eels, baracuda all regulars on this dive.

4.) Palancar Gardens, lots of deep sea fans, large grouper and lots of blue chromis milling about. (actually any of the 4 Palancars are great Gardens, Deep, Caves or Horseshoe...love horseshoe)

5.) Villablanca Wall, a great true wall dive, just a sheet steep slope covered with barrel sponges and lots of sea life.

This is a VERY short list, and changes depending on my mood :d I personally pefer to talk to the Dive Master and see where he thinks we should go.

Those guys dive the reefs every day and know better where to take you to see things you might want to see, rather than just tossing out a divesite name because someone says it's thier favorite site.

On all deep dives you can expect to see, lots of blue chromis, midnight parrot fish, other types of parrots; French, Queen and Gray Angel fish, different types of butterflies, tangs, and grouper.

Baracuda are readily available, hawksbill sea turtles, Eagle rays, Southern stingrays, electric rays and the ever present Yellow stingray all can be seen.

As for sharks, the most common shark is the nurse shark, but black tips are occaisonally spotted at the southern dive sites.

Night dive: Paradise reef is a very nice dive during the day, my second favorite shallow dive, but at night it is very special with the night critters running about.

Also Villablanca Shallows, the area between Blue Angel Resort and Hotel Villa Blanca, is a nice daytime shore dive, with lots of juvinile critters to explore, but a great night shore dive, especially around the Sting ray enclosure right next to Blue Angel, just hang out there and see what shows up.

 

[pjhansman]

Can't add much to what sharky said. Couldn't agree more.

Columbia Bricks and just about anything Palancar

 

[TV Mark]

It's beautiful up north! Barracuda or Cantarel for your first dive, then San Juan after your
surface interval. We saw 15-20 Eagle Rays each time we went to Cantarel last March.

 

[jpomerantz]

Ahhh the old "what's your favorite dive site" question...

You'll get as many answers as there are sites.

The truth is, if you have never been to Coz, they're all good. I like to say, "stand on the water's edge and point out to sea...that's the good diving on Coz."

But just to get things started, here's my top list:

Shallow dive: Columbia Shallows, you'll need a shovel to go deeper than 30', but by far this is an all-time top Cozumel dive site for many, many divers. Lots and lots of fish and bottom time to match.

Mid-reef and deep dives:

1.) Columbia Bricks is by far one of my favorite deep dives, it has it all, swim-thrus, pinacles and walls.

2.) Francesa & Yucab for mid-reef garden dives.

3.) Tormentos, always a crowd pleaser, beautiful reef dive, turtles, ocotpus, morey eels, baracuda all regulars on this dive.

4.) Palancar Gardens, lots of deep sea fans, large grouper and lots of blue chromis milling about. (actually any of the 4 Palancars are great Gardens, Deep, Caves or Horseshoe...love horseshoe)

5.) Villablanca Wall, a great true wall dive, just a sheet steep slope covered with barrel sponges and lots of sea life.

This is a VERY short list, and changes depending on my mood :d I personally pefer to talk to the Dive Master and see where he thinks we should go.

Those guys dive the reefs every day and know better where to take you to see things you might want to see, rather than just tossing out a divesite name because someone says it's thier favorite site.

On all deep dives you can expect to see, lots of blue chromis, midnight parrot fish, other types of parrots; French, Queen and Gray Angel fish, different types of butterflies, tangs, and grouper.

Baracuda are readily available, hawksbill sea turtles, Eagle rays, Southern stingrays, electric rays and the ever present Yellow stingray all can be seen.

As for sharks, the most common shark is the nurse shark, but black tips are occaisonally spotted at the southern dive sites.

Night dive: Paradise reef is a very nice dive during the day, my second favorite shallow dive, but at night it is very special with the night critters running about.

Also Villablanca Shallows, the area between Blue Angel Resort and Hotel Villa Blanca, is a nice daytime shore dive, with lots of juvinile critters to explore, but a great night shore dive, especially around the Sting ray enclosure right next to Blue Angel, just hang out there and see what shows up.

Mark,

I agree - would add Villa Blanca wall as a great night dive too!

 

[ColoDale]

My answers, which may be repetitive of other posts, include my preferences.

Dive sites are a matter of personal choice - walls, pinnacles, deep, shallow, fish life, macro life, fast or slow drift, etc. The dive op we use has diver’s choice on sites so the first thing the owner/DM asks onboard is “Where are we going?”. Since you say you should have the whole boat to yourselves, you should have this option. You might also ask specifically to see/do certain things - creatures, coral, less current, deep, walls, etc. While no one can guarantee seeing something specific, they can recommend sites.

Since you are going in Feb you should see more Eagle Rays especially at the northern sites. These are more advanced sites with faster currents so the entire group should be up to diving there.

These are all on the West side of the island. The East side is not dived nearly as much.

If I had to pick a favorite now it would be a toss up between Cedral Wall and Cedral
Pass. My favorites will probably change as they have in the past.

Cedral wall is built a little differently than others like Santa Rosa and San Francisco. Not really any swimthroughs like Santa Rosa. Not always steep but has stairsteps/benchs but does get deep. We have seen large eels, large fish and turtles here.

Cedral Pass is one of my favorites since it has many breaks in the reef that provide cover from the current where large numbers of fish congregate. Eels, groupers, drums are seen. The beginning of the site is fairly flat and we look for toadfish, drums, and an occasional octopus curled up in holes. You can start on Cedral Pass then cut over to the Wall if you want but organize that prior to the dive.
We frequently dive Cedral Pass at night as well. It has lots of protected areas from the current which is useful at night and quite a lot of life especially octopus, sharks, turtles, fish life (esp. toadfish in the open), and massive schools of grunts in lines who seem to be going somewhere but I haven’t figured out where. The swimthroughs are good at night if you’re up to it.

Others I like:

Palancar caves and Gardens - Both of these have excellent coral, pinnacles, good fish life, turtles and occasionally reef sharks and generally mild currents. We did find a bait ball here once. Palancar Horseshoe is good but not one of my favorites. Palancar bricks is a good shallow dive. Unfortunately the Palancars are packed with divers in the morning.

Colombia Deep - One of my favorites and used to be the top coz dive site for me. Excellent and large coral formations here but not a lot of fish - lots of blue chromis though, occasional eels and individual reef sharks at depth (rare for me to see) and turtles. I am not sure what Sharky60 (Mark) is referring to when referencing Columbia Bricks. I know of Colombia deep and shallows. I have dived Palancar Bricks which is shallower than other Palancar sites. Maybe it’s a new one I need to try.

Punta Tunich, Tormentos and Yucab are good but the current can be faster. Tormentos is coming back after hurricane Wilma. We dove Punta Tunich this last November and I like it but others in the group found it boring. Some think it’s sparse but looking around close to the bottom is the key - I think there is a lot to see. If the current is fast then these can become superman dives.

Dalila, La Francesa - I like these dive as the current is rarely really fast and there is very good coral, sharks, eels, many fish and are good long dives. Lately we have been diving these two in the morning after gauging how many boats are over the deeper sites like Colombia, the Palancars, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, etc. Doing Dalila or La Francesa on the first dive almost guarantees that no other groups will be there at the same time.

Santa Rosa and San Francisco walls - I like these especially the large swimthroughs on Santa Rosa. Lots to see. You can dive the tops of them or go lower on the walls. I have done San Francisco at night and it was very good - many octopus, but be careful at night on the wall as currents can change, especially going down over the wall.

North end - As said, you may see schools of Eagle Rays and large turtles here but the currents can run very fast and sometimes out and down. The whole group should be good divers. The Barracuda site is the last stop before Cuba. Have signaling/spotting devices. After one of our first dives and just after getting back on the boat, the boat was circled very closely (a few feet) by a small pod of dolphins.

South end - These are deeper more advanced dives. I have dived Punta Sur (Devil’s Throat and Cathedral) 3 or 4 times and while I like it, it’s not like I have to keep diving it. I think this one depends on the being with a good group. Be careful of this dive as it is advanced in confined spaces and I have been at the tail end swimming through sand someone at the front churned up. I have dived Maracaibo once and want to go back but it is deep and my wife doesn’t want to do it again.

Other:
Paradise, Las Palmas, Chankanaab shallows, C-53 - I have only dove Paradise twice with one being a night dive. Unfortunately the current was running fast and out that night and the dive was getting deeper towards the end. The day dive did provide the seahorses we were lokking for. Paradise is a favorite of many.
These sites we don’t dive much as we stay south on the island. I have yet to dive the C-53 wreck - not sure why.

So I have pretty much named all the sites on the West side. I am not sure I have offered anything a dive site book didn’t already print, but you have my favorites.

I would think about what kinds of dives you want and the skill/interests of the group, research the sites and pick some. After a few dives you will know what you like.

 

[Leann H]

All dive sites in Coz classify as "a must dive"!!!!!!

 

[ggunn]

Two things...

One, the dive boats are not a taxi service. As an individual diver, you will be able to lobby and vote if you are on a boat which decides on sites by consensus, but you will not be able to dictate unless you hire a private boat.

Two, there are no bad dives at Cozumel. When I am there, my favorite dive site is a tossup between the one we just left and the one we are headed to. It's all good.

 

[tridacna]

If you're all experienced, do not scissor kick and have a good SAC, Devil's Throat is my all-time favorite dive in Cozumel. It's part of Punta Sur. It's an almost vertical cave that starts at 80' and you exit the system at 135'. It's a magnificent dive.

 

[muzikbiz22]

It's true, every dive site is an A+ in Cozumel. I particularly enjoyed Columbia Deep, Tormentos, and the C-53 wreck was a blast ! Nothing like a good sunken ship, (unless it's the one that YOU are on C-53 can be a bit of an advanced dive if the current is ripping. If it is, bring some gloves (allowed at this site), as you will be hanging on tightly on occasion. Some of the Dive Guide's may discourage the C-53 or try to charge you "extra" to go there. Our's didn't, and we had a great dive in and out of the wreck.