DIVE

The Best Scuba Diving in Cozumel may be a Surprise to You!

Gorgeous Social Feather Duster Worms

Fantastic Diving in Cozumel!

The best scuba diving in Cozumel might surprise you! I’ve been diving here for longer than I want to admit (30 years!), but there is always something new! That is always exciting for divers. Cozumel is famous for incredible, towering pinnacles of coral, so beautiful and so colorful it is a wonder to see. Turtles, eels, nurse sharks, fish…and the amazing drift diving is always a draw. When the Cozumel drift is just right, you barely have to kick, drifting happily down the reef, where the boat will always be waiting to pick you up. Fabulous! But there’s another side to scuba diving in Cozumel. It’s not quite muck diving, but it is the next best thing, looking for the little critters! How many frog fish and seahorses have you seen scuba diving in Cozumel? These sites are a photographer’s dream!

Tikila Restaurant, Cozumel
I love pelicans!

As long as I  have been scuba diving in Cozumel, I have not spent much time at all shore diving. Mostly I’ve been diving off of boats, which is awesome, but lately I’ve been concentrating on shore dives before and I have found a few spots, known well to locals and expats in Cozumel, where I have seen animals I knew were here, but I’d rarely been able to find them. There are a few shore dives well worth doing, and they are Blue Angel, Villa Blanca, and Tikila. I have mapped walking directions to them, they are within two miles of one another, south of town.

I have been going to a shore dive spot off of the Tikila Restaurant, north of the international port. Mario, of Scuba with Mario, has introduced me to an exciting array of critters I am thoroughly enjoying…I can’t get enough of them! He is a terrific dive master and instructor, and I highly recommend him for anyone who wants to try diving, see Cozumel’s critter diving, or divers looking for superior customer service. He is a terrific photographer and shares his photos with his customers. Going to Cozumel? Be sure to get in touch with him, and remember, scuba diving in Cozumel is varied, it is not all drift diving!

I have seen so many sea horses at Tikila!
Here is a large pregnant male…yes, it is the males who give birth!
Here is a cute Banded Coral Shrimp posing for me in a Sponge Barrel! This guy is sooo tiny! Maybe the body is an inch?

Diving off Tikila is shallow, under 25 feet, which is great for those who want endless bottom time and lengthy dives. My dives are generally 90 minutes or so, and I love photographing the small critters I never really saw much of before, if I saw them at all. You don’t have to be a diver to enjoy the area, Cozumel snorkeling is awesome, too. Be sure to check it out next time you go to the island!

A Lantern Bass
Check out these Arrow Crab eyes! So cool.
I have been told several times this was a Trigger Fish egg case, but actually, it is not. It is the egg casing of the West Indian Chank, a mollusk.
West Indian Chanks can grow up to a foot long.
This is a Barbfish, related to the Scorpionfish.
Elkhorn coral is not too common these days, but it seems to be doing very well at Tikila.
A Roostertail Conch
I am always fascinated by the eyes!
Blue Eyed Balloonfish
Orangeball Corallimorphs are nocturnal. They are tiny, and so pretty!
Zoanthids…this reminds me of Cinderella’s glass coach.
Circle marked Brittlestar
A Netted Olive is a mollusk, see it’s eyes??
I love the little creatures in Cozumel!
Photo by Mario Ceh

***SHORE DIVING IN COZUMEL CAN BE WONDERFUL, BUT EVEN EXPERIENCED DIVERS NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL! GO WITH SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE AREA, THERE ARE MANY DIVE MASTERS ON THE ISLAND, AND THESE SPOTS IN PARTICULAR HAVE DIVE MASTERS TO GO WITH. CAUTION, ALWAYS BE CAUTIOUS!

You would also enjoy:

Share:
Tam Warner

Award Winning Travel Journalist and Blogger, writing about Eclectic Travels in the Empty Nest! From scuba to luxury cruises to kayaking to expeditions, Tam is ready to go! Contact me at travelswithtam@gmail.com

Share
Published by
Tam Warner

Recent Posts

Gifts That Give Back: A Guide to Eco-Friendly and Thoughtful Holiday Gifts

Gifts That Give Back: A Guide to Eco-Friendly and Thoughtful Holiday Celebrations! As the holiday…

4 months ago

The Christmas Trees in the National Parks Honor the Holiday Spirit and Ancient Traditions

The history of Christmas trees goes back to the symbolic use of evergreens in ancient…

4 months ago

Journey Through the 12 Days of Christmas Gazebos: A Spectacular Holiday Delight at the Dallas Arboretum

Step into a winter wonderland unlike any other as the Arboretum unveils its spectacular 12…

4 months ago

Grandparents and Kids can Enjoy Christmas Movies Together and Bond!

Grandparents and Kids can Enjoy Christmas Movies Together! Looking for a way to create a…

4 months ago

Dallas Arboretum’s Children’s Adventure Garden Celebrates Annular Solar Eclipse on Saturday, October 14

Dallas Arboretum’s Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden Celebrates Annular Solar Eclipse on Saturday, October 14 October…

6 months ago