FUN DIVING
Roll back and enjoy the dive!
Fun Diving at Cozumel Dive School
Cozumel Dive School is primarily an educational facility, aiming to help divers perfect their skills (no matter the certification level). We take great pride and care to train new PADI divers with the highest level of attention and experience. However, we put our collective energy towards these efforts because we LOVE diving!
While we believe all diving should be fun, we use the term "fun diving" to describe our underwater adventures that do not have a teaching component. We are just blowing bubbles for fun. After all, the best way to gain experience is by swimming with the fishes!
Our staff at Cozumel Dive School would be happy to help with fun dive packages during your time on the island. Let's go have some fun!
Shore Dives
Cozumel is famous for its amazing reefs in the Cozumel Reefs National Park (Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Cozumel) but beautiful coral and fascinating marine creatures can be found just a few steps (and a few kicks) from the heart of the town. The below pictures are taken by us with an Olympus TG or Nikon COOLPIX, you can read about these cameras here Waterproof Camera.
TIKILA BEACH
Most of the time we use the facilities of Tikila Beach Bar or the adjacent Sunset Beach restaurant, located a short drive south of the town’s main plaza. Both places have showers, beverages & meals for purchase, lockers for rent, and a convenient entrance to the ocean. Usually, we dive in the morning (8 am meeting) or in the afternoon (1 pm), or both, all depending on the courses/fun dives bookings.
The coral is teeming with life: filefish, angelfish, jawfish, parrotfish, squirrelfish, barracudas, sea slugs, stingrays, and crustaceans, not to forget spotted eagle rays frequently making an appearance here in the winter season (December - April).
The reefs start already at 6 m/18 ft depth and continue until past a small ‘drop’ to a 10 m/33 ft. Due to the proximity of the coral, easy entrance, and predominantly slow currents, this dive site is great for first-time divers, as well as those looking to refresh their skills after a long hiatus from the water.
This dive site is also famous for its coral restoration project with platforms, monuments, and structures built in cooperation with Minecraft video game company to stimulate coral to grow, as well as for the underwater sculpture Zoe, monitored by an underwater camera.
For more experienced divers, there’s a proper wall around 15 minutes swim away from the shore, where depths reach 30 m/100 ft and more.
THE BLOCKS
Another dive site easily accessible from the shore is located 10-15 minutes walk north from the main square and is known as The Blocks. As the current in the north tends to be a bit stronger, we recommend it mostly to more experienced divers with strong swimming skills.
To enter the water, we use old Shaka bar beach and from there we dive or surface swim to the Blocks which is a group of huge concrete pillars, covered in coral and home for moray eels, lionfish, trumpet fish, drums, lobsters, and other fascinating species. Heading south-west from the Blocks, we reach the other dive site, two Sunken Boats. They are two small, old patrol boats, sunken on purpose to create a dive site. As they are far less popular than the well-known C-53 wreck, you can really feel like an explorer! The area is known for stronger currents and frequent sights of eagle rays in the winter season.
Boat Dives
All boat dives include gear rental, transportation from CDS Dive House to/from the marina, marine park passes, lunch/drinks during the surface interval on the boat, dive guide, two standard 12L/80cf air tanks.
Additional charges apply for: dive computer rental or dive lights ($10 USD/day), Nitrox blend or tank size upgrade to 15L/100cf) $5 USD/tank. Dive computer, dive lights, Nitrox and tank upgrades must be booked in advance.
Diving the reefs inside the Marine National Park, drifting with Cozumel currents among turtles, rays, and other sea creatures, mingling with fellow divers on the upper deck of the boat, and enjoying the best guacamole on the island prepped by our trusty Marinero on your surface interval. This is what our boat dives are about!
We rent spots on the boats owned by a local company: The Anita is a bigger boat with an upper deck and capacity of 18 divers. The Maria Louna can accommodate up to 12 divers and is smaller but much faster. We typically share the boat with other instructors/divemasters depending on the conditions, group size, and course needs.
As the currents in the Marine Park run predominantly north, we start with a dive site further down south (eg: Colombia, Palancar reef system, Dalila, Cedral) and we move north of the park (eg: Yucab, Tormentos, Chankanaab area) for the second dive.
Check out popular Cozumel dive sites here.
Night Dives
All boat dives include gear rental, transportation from CDS Dive House to/from the marina, marine park passes, lunch/drinks during the surface interval on the boat, dive guide, two standard 12L/80cf air tanks. Night dives require an underwater light/torch and the $10 USD rental fee is included in dive cost. Deduct this figure if you have your own torch.
Additional charges apply for: dive computer or dive lights rental ($10 USD/day), Nitrox blend or tank size upgrade to 15L/100cf) $5 USD/tank. Nitrox and tank upgrades must be booked in advance.