Best "shallow" dives on Coz

[richhagelin]

I'm taking my recently certified son down to Coz for a trip. What are the best couple of <60' dives on Coz?

Rich

 

[driftdvr]

There are so many good shallow dives in CZM, you'll have a difficult time making a selection!! There is a complete chart of dive sites/depths, descriptions under diving on www.cozumelinsider.com But I would try to hit these first:
Columbia Shallows
Paradise Reef
Dzul Ha or Villa Blanca are good shallow beach dive sites!
have fun!!

 

[Depth Gauge]

My favorite shallow dive in Coz is Columbia Shallows. Check it out!

Jason

 

[Walter]

I like Tormentos.

 

[Charlie99]

Paradise/Paraiso is a very popular shallow dive, as well as a popular night dive.

My favorite shallow dive is Punta Tunich. Teeming with fish.

 

[raviepoo]

Can it be reached from shore?

 

[redacted]

raviepoo once bubbled...
Can it be reached from shore?

"Rock Point" is only a short way off shore just north of Reef Club and the Sand Dollar dock. Probably no more than 100 meters. But the current is very strong and carries you north while the land north of the point takes a couple hundred meter cut to the east so you end up 1/4 mile or more from shore very quickly. Current tends to be so strong that some ops avoid the more challenging portions of the site.

 

[Charlie99]

raviepoo once bubbled...
Can it be reached from shore?

Punta Tunich is S. of Tormentos, north of Playa San Francisco, and I think it is inshore from Yucab. The boat captain did the navigation, I just hop in and have a nice dive .

I've only done it from a boat, and wouldn't recommend it as a shore dive.

For a shore dive, you could go in at the south end of Paraiso, from the shore just north of the small boat harbor by Presidente Intercontinental.

Paraiso is a nicer reef than the other common shore dives, where you hop in from just about any hotel or pier N. of the International Pier and drift northward towards Plaza Las Glorias, Scuba Club Cozumel, or any other convenient place to get out.

 

[ggunn]

Charlie99 once bubbled...


Paraiso is a nicer reef than the other common shore dives, where you hop in from just about any hotel or pier N. of the International Pier and drift northward towards Plaza Las Glorias, Scuba Club Cozumel, or any other convenient place to get out.

Paraiso is south, not north, of the international pier, between it and Hotel Presidente. Drifting north from the international pier puts you on Villablanca Wall (which starts out as just a dropoff about 100 yards out and gets better as you drift north), but under normal conditions PLG or SCC is way farther than you'll get on one tank from there. You can make Hotel Villablanca or Lorena, though, depending on the current. Also, you'll want to swim to shore along the bottom, as that stretch of shoreline has a lot of boat traffic. Do NOT surface out over the wall.

Shore diving on Paraiso from the Presidente could be problematic, as there is no place that I can think of to get out between the Presidente and the international pier, and being dragged underneath a cruise ship is not an experience I'd like to have.

 

[Charlie99]

ggunn once bubbled...
Paraiso is south, not north, of the international pier, between it and Hotel Presidente. Drifting north from the international pier puts you on Villablanca Wall (which starts out as just a dropoff about 100 yards out and gets better as you drift north), but under normal conditions PLG or SCC is way farther than you'll get on one tank from there.

Bad punctuation on my part.
It's the "other common shore dives" that start north of Intn'l pier.