Ok for anyone in the future who is interested in diving Chankanaab Park, here's the scoop.
We just got back yesterday from our Cruise and short shore leave in Cozumel. The ship pulled into Puerto Mayo around 8am and my wife and I were some of the first off the ship. We headed to the taxi stand at the port and hailed a cab for the ride to Chankanaab Park ($10USD for as many as you can fit in the cab).
We were delivered to the front gate at the park and paid our park admission fee ($12USD each). We then proceeded to walk the several hundred yards to the Palapas where the dive/snorkel operators are housed. Currently there are 3 or 4 dive operators located in the Palapas in the park. We chose Ramon Zapata Divers which is located in the Palapa closest to the main park gate. We chose based on information I had read about here on Scubaboard.
Victor (Ramon Zapata's grandson) was our divemaster for the dive and he set up our equipment while we were getting ready. We chose to dive just in swimsuits as the water temp was a balmy 87 degrees Farenheit. We then donned our gear and proceeded down the steps into the water. We were the first three people in the water which made it really nice. After a quick equipment check, down we went...
The dive took us all up and down the reef in front of the beach. We saw all manner of coral and marine life. I have the Reefcomber's Guide to Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean laminated marine life ID card, and I think we saw just about every species listed on it (and a few that aren't listed on it). Among the highlights, we saw a 3-4 foot long Baraccuda, two smaller 1 foot long baraccuda, a Green Moray, and a squadron of 3 reef squid swimming together watching us and changing colors to match whatever coral color they happened to be swimming in front of (very cool!).
We also got a quick tour of the vestibule of the cave at the southern steps of the park. This was very cool since initially, the entrance was obscured by a wall of small fish. As we swam up to the wall of fish, they parted in the middle like a curtain, revealing the entrance to the cave. There is cooler freshwater that enters from the interior of the cave and mixes with the saltwater in the top part of the cave. This creates a very strange phenomenon which makes the water seem blurry (much like if you mixed clear oil and water together).
After exiting the cave, we then proceeded back north along the reef seeing a couple of lobsters, tons of shrimp, and even a flounder attempting to hide in the sand at the bottom near the steps in about 10 feet of water.
All in all it was a very easy, enjoyable dive. Victor was an excellent guide and even offered to take my camera a couple of times to take pictures of my wife and I underwater.
The reef was fairly sandy and there were some broken coral from the aftermath of the hurricane earlier this summer. All in all, however, the reef seemed to fare pretty well considering how shallow it is and how far south on the island it is.
There is also another dive which Victor can take you on out in front of the cages where they keep the dolphins for the "Dolphin encounters". That area is supposed to be a large hangout for baraccuda. We opted to just take some time on the beach and snorkel the rest of the afternoon until it was time to head back to the ship.
Hopefully this will be useful info for someone in the future thinking about Chankanaab Park. It was a very enjoyable dive and I would highly recommend it for novice divers looking for a place to blow some bubbles while on Cozumel, and I would highly recommend Victor and the staff at Ramon Zapata Divers.
I'll post some underwater pictures as soon as I get them developed.
