Diving in Mexico: Where to Dive?
From the secrets of the Pacific Ocean to the coasts of the Caribbean Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico is a paradise for divers from all around the world. It’s a place full of freshwater and fascinating caves. There are ample locations ideal for diving in Mexico, from Guadalupe to Cozumel. To make your choice as easy as possible, I’ve listed the best below as a guide.
Caribbean Sea – the east coast of Mexico
Cozumel
- Location: the largest island of Mexico located 16 km from the Yucatan Peninsula
- Best dive site: Palancar Reef
- Goal: the world’s second largest barrier reef
- Season: year-round, except September (hurricane season)
Playa del Carmen
- Location: Riviera Maya Coast Yucatan Peninsula of the Yucatan Peninsula
- Purpose: to see the habitat of bull sharks
- Underwater world: dozens of blunt (bull) sharks at its sandbank
- Type of diving: watching sharks while sitting on the sandy bottom
- Diving experience: advanced
- Season: November – March
- Water temperature: 25–29 ° C
Cancun (Isla Mujeres)
- Location: an island located north of Yucatan, near Cancun
- Best dive site: Manchones Reef
- Purpose: sunken ships and the underwater Museum MUSA as well as night dives
- Underwater world: varieties of reef fish, turtles and nurse sharks
- Diving experience: beginner to advanced
- Season: year-round
- Water temperature: 25–29 ° C
Cancun (whale sharks)
- Location: ~ 40 km from Yucatan Peninsula
- Goal: the world’s largest whale shark habitat
- Underwater world: the most whale sharks in one dive
- Type: Snorkeling
- Season: June – September
- Water temperature: 25–29 ° C
The Cenotes
- Location: one of the world’s largest freshwater cave systems, located in the central part of the Yucatan Peninsula south of Playa del Carmen.
- Best Dive Site: Dos Ojos, or “Two Eyes” because they begin and end in one place. The length of the first, which is called the “Barbie branch,” is 500 m and is located along the branch of the “Two Eyes”. The generous daylight penetrates the water, so you can enjoy the beauty of underwater stalactites, columns, and stalagmites. The “second eye”, or the “bat cave branch”, is darker and more mysterious. It received its name from the haven for bats that occupy the cave’s surface.
- Purpose: the system of caves under the Yucatan Peninsula
- Diving experience: average preparation to advanced
- Season: year-round
- Water temperature: 25 ° C
Banco Chinchorro
- Location: between Mexico and Belize on the Costa Maya
- Best dive site: Aquarium I / II
- Objective: the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, covering about 800 km² of sea surface and the “graveyard” of over 200 vessels, many of which sank in the 16th century
- Underwater world: varieties of coral and sponges, as well as some reef fish
- Type of diving: diving from a bot to explore the secrets of sunken ships and freediving / snorkeling
- Diving experience: beginner to advanced
- Season: May – November
- Water temperature: 25–29 ° C
Xcalack
- Location: near the border of Belize within the eponymous national marine park on the southern coast of Mexico in the Caribbean Sea
- Best dive site: La Poza
- Purpose: representatives of the marine fauna
- Underwater world: tarpons, manatees, sharks, and dolphins
- Season: year-round, but from May to November, visibility is better
- Water temperature: 25–30 ° C
Pacific Coast
Guadalupe
- Location: 240 km from Bach
- Best dive site: Discovery Bay
- Purpose: white shark discovery
- Underwater world: one of the largest white shark populations in the world
- Type of diving: cage
- Diving experience: beginner to advanced
- Season: August – October
- Water temperature: 19–22 ° C
La Paz, Sea of Cortez
- Location: The southern end of the water lying between the Baja California peninsulas and the Mexican mainland
- Best dive site: La Reina / Los Islotes
- Purpose: sea lion and manta ray discovery
- Underwater world: hammerheads, sea lions, whale sharks, and gray whales
- Type of diving: offshore
- Diving experience: beginner to advanced
- Season: September – October for hammerheads; December – May for sea lions; December – February for whale sharks
- Water temperature: 26–28 ° C
Volcanic Island Socorro
- Location: ~ 400 km from the city of Cabo San Lucas on the Bach Peninsula.
- Best dive site: Boiler
- Purpose: UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Underwater world: hammerheads, stingrays, whale sharks, and humpback whales
- Peculiarities: take into account the time of plankton flowering as its peak during a full moon attracts the largest fish
- Diving experience: advanced
- Season: November – May
- Water temperature: 26–28 ° C (November); 20–22 ° C (February); 24-26 ° C (May)
Cabo San Lucas
- Location: the lowest point of the Southern Lower California Peninsula
- Best dive site: Pelican Rock / Gordo Banks
- Purpose: huge habitat of marine fauna from fish varieties to sharks and whales
- Underwater world: hammerheads, mobula rays and other species of rays, dolphins, silky sharks, seals, and humpback whales
- Type of diving: freediving / snorkeling
- Diving experience: beginner to advanced
- Season: year-round – whales from December – March and mobula rays from July-August
- Water temperature: 23–28 ° C (the warmest month is November)