Is there diving, SCUBA or snorkeling in and around Yucatan: Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Merida, etc.?

The diving, scuba, and snorkeling in the Yucatan, specifically around Cozumel, Tulum, and Playa del Carmen, is some of the best in the world. Quintana Roo (a state in Yucatan with an area called Riviera Maya that has within it Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum) has the second largest reef in the world; second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. I have experienced diving about seven times and it is amazing! When you get out to the reef, you will see a lot of the...

The diving, scuba, and snorkeling in the Yucatan, specifically around Cozumel, Tulum, and Playa del Carmen, is some of the best in the world. Quintana Roo (a state in Yucatan with an area called Riviera Maya that has within it Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum) has the second largest reef in the world; second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. I have experienced diving about seven times and it is amazing! When you get out to the reef, you will see a lot of the different species of fish, plants, and the water is crystal clear. Some of the best diving in the world is here.  

 

Snorkeling is a very popular activity here in Yucatan because a lot of people are scared to dive and once they put all that equipment on, they kind of freeze up and so diving is not enjoyable to them. The best alternative for them would be snorkeling. 

 

There is also diving in the beach areas of Chelem and Progreso (in the Yucatan Peninsula state of Yucatan, near to the city of Merida), but it’s nowhere near as popular as the diving in the Quintana Roo area. We don’t have the reef in Chelem and the water there is not quite as clear as the Caribbean. In the state of Quintana Roo you are diving in the Caribbean whereas at the beach in Chelem, you are diving in the Gulf of Mexico. They are two very different entities. Diving in Chelem and Progreso is still good but it is not world class like what you will have if you dive in the Quintana Roo area.   

 

(Diving in a cenote, an under water cave, off Tulum, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)

The best diving in the Yucatan peninsula is on the east coast, which is Cozumel, Playa del Carmen going down to Tulum because that’s where the Caribbean is, and that’s where the reefs are. There is a little diving north of the peninsula, but that’s in the gulf, where the visibility is poor and it’s very shallow. 

 

There’s one island about 6 miles north of Progreso where you can dive. I haven’t done it but it’s...

The best diving in the Yucatan peninsula is on the east coast, which is Cozumel, Playa del Carmen going down to Tulum because that’s where the Caribbean is, and that’s where the reefs are. There is a little diving north of the peninsula, but that’s in the gulf, where the visibility is poor and it’s very shallow. 

 

There’s one island about 6 miles north of Progreso where you can dive. I haven’t done it but it’s something you can do. There’s also cenote diving, which is for all intents and purposes cave diving.

 

Diving is a lot more organized in Quintana Roo, which is where I did it. The diving is reasonable- on the Mayan Riviera, it’s usually called"‘drift diving." That means you jump in, submerge, the current will push you, and then you will ascend in a different place than where you got in, and then the boat comes and picks you up. That’s different to the diving people may have done elsewhere, where you go in on a point, you swim round, and then come back up at the same point. Most of the Riviera diving is drift because there’s a fairly strong drift there. The diving is okay - the water’s warm, the reefs are in average condition, and wildlife is reasonable. 

 

The best diving in the world is probably around the Cayman Islands where I lived for many years. Belize is a little better than Yucatan because it’s not as beaten up. There’s also the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef. Yucatan is not the best diving spot in the world, but it’s decent diving. Visibility is reasonable, and it’s warm enough. 

 

Caribbean water is a lot deeper, which means the water is blue, and the sediment’s further down. The Caribbean has a number of shelves in it, which is what you want because a shelf means that there’s a wall, and a wall means good diving. The Gulf, on the other hand, is actually not very deep. In fact, in places it’s incredibly shallow. It has a fairly particulate bottom which means when it gets stirred up, which happens all the time, especially with hurricanes and whatnot, those particles are suspended closer to the surface and the visibility becomes really low. 

 

Across the Gulf, there’s contained water. In other words, the water is not moving around. It’s in a basin, so the water will switch out only a certain amount. The water in the Caribbean, for example, the water that goes past Cozumel, could just as easily be in the United Kingdom in a year’s time. On the other hand, the water that’s in the Gulf is going to stay in the Gulf for a lot longer because the Gulf is enclosed.  

 

(Wreck diving, Cozumel, Mexico, pictured.)