I thought I'd do a little post here as I've heard quite a few people say that they didn't think there were many lionfish in Cozumel anymore. The truth is there are plenty but you'll typically find them in less commonly dove spots outside the marine park or at deeper depths that don't see a lot of traffic. DMs have done a really great job of culling them in the marine park and in some dive sites you might have to try really hard to find good numbers but I still often see large ones at Maracaibo / Colombia / Punta Sur, etc.
My wife and I typically go in at Playa Casitas downtown when we want to go hunting without using a dive operator and go do a shore dive by ourselves. I think many people are familiar with this dive site. Some people call it Two Boats? There are two smaller artificial wrecks (Laguna de Mandinga and Laguna de Pátzcuaro) that are separated by rubble / broken reef that was originally from Paradise Reef in about 35-40ft of water. It is a great little shore dive although we are usually taking DPVs out to the wall from there when we hunt and then usually end up deco-ing and hanging out of the wrecks for a little bit to off-gas.
Better information about the dive site is here: Cozumel shore diving?
It is a honestly a fun little dive and I do know some people swim out to it but you want to make sure your navigation is good. Currents can be quite strong here and boat traffic is also an issue so you'd definitely want a good SMB.
Here is a few video from a few weeks ago that I just finished editing. Sorry for the cheesy music..
And here is another one from last month
My wife and I typically go in at Playa Casitas downtown when we want to go hunting without using a dive operator and go do a shore dive by ourselves. I think many people are familiar with this dive site. Some people call it Two Boats? There are two smaller artificial wrecks (Laguna de Mandinga and Laguna de Pátzcuaro) that are separated by rubble / broken reef that was originally from Paradise Reef in about 35-40ft of water. It is a great little shore dive although we are usually taking DPVs out to the wall from there when we hunt and then usually end up deco-ing and hanging out of the wrecks for a little bit to off-gas.
Better information about the dive site is here: Cozumel shore diving?
It is a honestly a fun little dive and I do know some people swim out to it but you want to make sure your navigation is good. Currents can be quite strong here and boat traffic is also an issue so you'd definitely want a good SMB.
Here is a few video from a few weeks ago that I just finished editing. Sorry for the cheesy music..
And here is another one from last month
