Favorite dive sites in Cozumel

[jrwalsh20]

Aldora will take you to Maracaibo (most dive ops will not), very southern tip of the island - amazing coral and sea fans.

Then no matter how many times i do it, i love Santa Rosa Wall, in the swimthroughs i almost always see lobster that are the size of a 120 cylinder. You will love it, have a great time.

 

[MMM]

First, I must confess that I've only dived Cozumel once, and I probably only went on the "typical tourist sites" you refer to.

If you go further north (in or near the Barracuda area), the currents get much stronger, but you can be treated to schools of eagle rays.

You must have been there in January/February? That's when the Eagle Ray squadrons appear. I don't think there will be many of them in June when the OP says she will be there.

 

[sawyersdad]

I like the Horseshoe and Bricks.. Shallow, I like Balones.. Let me preface this by saying you should always watch your gauges or comp but at the Horseshoe it is easy to get to 120-130' without skipping a beat. Yes, it happened to me once, just once. LOL!

 

[Dkweb]

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Does anyone have any experience with Palancar? I know they took over for sand dollar and I'm sure they're a great outfit, I just want to hear from you about any experiences anyone has had.

During my first trip to Coz a few years back I used Palancar. They are a fair operation as far as their boats and capt. are concerned but their DMs are top notch. If you are given the opportunity try to get a dive with Gustopho Juarez. He grew up on Coz, is not an import, and knows the best of the best. Also to his credit, he is a stickler for the rules. I have since been back to Coz twice and haven't experienced any bad dives. My only issue that is it seems to be getting a bit crowded.:^)

 

[judydivescoz]

Aldora will take you to Maracaibo (most dive ops will not), very southern tip of the island - amazing coral and sea fans.s

That simply is not true. The majority of dive ops are happy to go to Maracaibo with divers they have had on board for a couple of days. They most likely will not take a diver if they are not familiar with their ability. It is an amazing deep dive.
Cedral Wall has to be one of my favorites

 

[spector39]

I'll be using Dive Palancar in June (never used them before,) and have heard good things about them. When I was in Cozumel, my favorite dives were Palancar Caves and Santa Rosa wall. But I agree with the rest - they are all good!

 

[kwinter]

If you go north to Barracuda/San Juan, you will have ripping currents. Don't forget to bring your speargun and bug bag. The northern sites are outside the marine park and fishing is allowed.

 

[DandyDon]

If you go north to Barracuda/San Juan, you will have ripping currents. Don't forget to bring your speargun and bug bag. The northern sites are outside the marine park and fishing is allowed.

From reading ND777's profile, he's kinda new with mostly lake experiences so I hope no Op would take him to Maracaibo or Barracuda. I'm sure he will be impressed with any of the popular sites more commonly dived.

Dive Palancar is a well known and reputable big boat Op which limits dive times so as to keep on schedule isn't it? I haven't been out with them since my first trip, but I guess they still run large, nice, comfy boats that some prefer. I prefer the 6 to 8 diver fast boats used by other Ops.

 

[yaml]

been going to cozumel since 1975. just got back 2 weeks ago. i highly recommend diving with jeremy anschel with living underwater. true concierge diving. uses steel 95's and maximizes bottom time (one of my dives was 92 minutes from surface to surface); as the others have stated - just get underwater - its all good. santoa rose caverns is nice. tons of great swim thrus. lots of people love delila. i love it all . going back in oct. and wife wants to finally buy a place. can/t wait.

 

[dougchartier]

Wow, then that makes me feel even more grateful for the great dive staff we dove with at Blue Angels! I knew that going up north was advanced, but I didn't know that going to Devil's Throat or Cathedral was unusual. I guess they did take us to those sites after I complained that I didn't want to continue being stuck on the "Discover Scuba" boat.

LOL, you described 3 of the most non-toursity dive sites at Cozumel, the only one you left out was Maricibo. LOL

All 3 of those sites are considered advanced dives. If a guy like newdiver777 ends up at any one of them he'll be very lucky, (or maybe unlucky) cause he will have to show some real substantial dive skills to be allowed to dive them, or he's diving with a really reckless dive op.

Newdiver777 - Cozumel's one of the most consistant above average dive site destinations you can go to. You having never been there and only being there for 2 days, it's really limiting what you will be able to do and see, however unless your dive op keeps taking you to the C-53 wreck for 4 dives in a row over 2 days, you will have little chance of having a bad dive experience.

The dive profile Cozumel dive ops use there is a deep 1st dive which is almost always multi-level and then after a surface interval a shallower 2nd dive. That's pretty much the dive experience day in and day out. The 1st deep dive usually shows you some spectacular formations and the 2nd shallower dive usually shows you some great sea life.

You'll have a blast. Pick a high quality dive op for the most bang for your buck, cheap dive ops will work against you making the most of your time.