PRIVATE DIVING

Local Reefs (Tankha or Puerto Aventuras)

Part of the second longest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican reef system, you can find a variety of sea life such as Turtles, Trumpetfish, Parrotfish, Angelfish, Lobsters and many other typical Caribbean reef fish, corals and critters in a depth range from 40ft/12m to 130ft/39m.

Divers: 2 divers minimum

Dives: 2 dives per day.

Price: Depending on size of group

C-56 Wreck - Puerto Morelos

Launched in 1943 by the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio, the then USS Knave (AM-256) was an admirable class minesweeper built for the US Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic during WWII and was decommissioned in 1946. In 1962 she was sold to the Mexican Navy and in 1994 she was renamed ARM Cadete Juan Escutia (C56).

In October 2000, the C-56 was purposefully sunk off the coast of Puerto Morelos by the Mexican Government as a new attraction for divers coming to the Riviera Maya.

The C-56 is laying perfectly upright, with the keel on the sand at 27m/90ft, the 56m/184ft long Mexican Gun Boat was quickly inhabited by various marine life. The deck, at 19m/64ft, is teeming with life and it’s common to see a large shoal of Bigeye Trevallies (a.k.a. Bigeye Jack) hunting there. As we travel around the wreck we commonly see large Wrasse, Groupers, Morays and Spotted Eagle Rays. Soft corals have colonized the wreck and now offer a home to many arrow crabs and fire worms among other small crustaceans and invertebrates. And, close to the wheelhouse watch out for the resident barracuda!

Location: Puerto Morelos (about one hour drive from our dive center in Akumal)
Divers: 2 to 4 divers
Dives: 2 dives per day. This dive is followed by a shallow reef dive full of marine life!
Price: Depending on size of group

Cozumel Diving

Please note that, at this time, we do not offer any ocean diving services in Cozumel.

For your information, the Marine Park of Cozumel has closed the southern part of the marine park as of 7. October 2019, until further notice.

The fact is that at the end of 2018, Cozumel’s coral reefs have seen a huge decline. The reef has been infected by a disease called Stony Coral Tissue Loss, SCTL. Not to be confused with coral bleaching (something entirely different). This suspected bacterial infection rapidly spreads killing many species of hard coral such as brain coral and flower coral being the first to go. The first sighting of it was in the Miami area in 2014.

The Cozumel Marine Park has acknowledged that cruise ships and the mismanagement of waste at coastal hotels along the marine park are among the issues that fuel the spread of the disease.

The closing of part of the marine park to divers is to create awareness of the problems that the reefs in Cozumel are now facing.

Though the temporary closure does not affect all sites within the national park (there are still at least 16 dive sites open to divers), we have decided to not bringing more divers to Cozumel to give this highly trafficked area a rest, helping better preserve the sites long-term.

Therefore, if you wish to dive in Cozumel please get in contact with dive operations directly in Cozumel who know the area very well and can provide you with firsthand information.