Diving in Mexico: what to check before diving the reefs of Cozumel

On October 7, 2019, CONANP, the Mexican agency for protected natural areas, closed the Palancar reef and the Colombia and El Cielo zones to visitors. Reason: a coral disease that was progressing faster than expected.

This date says a lot about Cozumel. The island remains a major drift diving destination, but its sites open and close depending on the condition of the reefs.

Our old page looked like a snorkeling excursion sheet, with hotel shuttle, prices, and reviews. We rewrote it for the diver who is really preparing a trip.

What level of diver is Cozumel suitable for?

Cozumel welcomes beginners as well as experienced divers. But almost everything is done as drift diving from a boat. The current carries the dive group along the reef, and the boat picks them up at the surface. For a novice, the decisive question remains the supervision and the choice of the site of the day, much more than the level certification.

Here is the grid we apply to each destination, filled in with what we could verify.

Criterion	What we know	What remains to be verified on site
Level	Sites accessible to supervised beginners, more challenging walls	The site chosen on the day and the planned depth
Current	Almost systematic drift diving	Strength of the day, impossible to decide from here
Season	Atlantic hurricane season from June 1 to November 30 (NOAA)	Weather reports for the week
Supervision	Operators subject to national park rules	Size of dive groups, presence of a guide, required surface marker buoy
Fallback plan	Sites closed by rotation since 2019	List of sites open on your dates

The current decides more than the photo. Clear water says nothing about the speed at which you will pass in front of the reef, nor about your ability to stay with your buddy. And drift diving changes the reflexes learned in a pool or shore diving. You do not return to the mooring. You do not fight the flow, you follow it, and the ascent often takes place in open water, far from any landmark.

If you have just completed an entry-level course, tell the center before booking and ask which sites they take beginners to, with what guide ratio, and what they do on days when the current strengthens to the point of making some drifts too fast for a mixed group.

What does the Cozumel Reef National Park protect?

The Cozumel Reef National Park was created by decree on July 19, 1996, and depends on CONANP. It covers 11,987 hectares of reefs southwest of the island, according to its Ramsar file. The site has been listed on the Ramsar Convention list since February 2, 2005, and a management program has regulated diving, fishing, and navigation since 1998.

The same file gives a figure that makes you think: more than 1,500 divers per day in the park. It also blames hotel discharges. Yet, the island still has loggerhead, hawksbill, and green turtles, lobsters, queen conchs, and an endemic toadfish, the splendid toadfish. Their presence does not guarantee any encounters. And this flow of divers largely explains why the park tightens its rules from one season to the next.

Each diver wears a daily wristband.

The center gives it to its clients each day, in exchange for an access fee paid to the park, according to the local site Cozumel 4 You (April 2024). We did not find an up-to-date amount on an official dated source, so we do not write it. Ask at the time of booking.

Several centers announce that gloves are forbidden in the park. We did not find the official text stating this, so we present it as a guideline to confirm with your center. The logic remains simple: without gloves, you touch the reef less, and touching nothing remains the best rule (we detail why in our article on why you should never touch marine life). Regarding sunscreen, choose a formula that spares the corals by using our guide to non-toxic sunscreens for corals.

What is a drift dive like at Palancar, Santa Rosa, or Colombia?

At Palancar, Santa Rosa, or Colombia, the boat drops off the dive group upstream of the reef, then follows it as the current carries it along the coral formations or the drop-off. The guide sets the depth, time, and ascent signal, then you finish with a safety stop in open water before the pilot comes to pick you up.

These three names appear in all the programs.

Palancar refers to a group of coral formations to the southwest, divided into several sites. Santa Rosa is known for its drop-off, which requires real mastery of depth. Colombia, further south, was partially closed in 2019. Depths and durations vary depending on the entry point and the strength of the current that day. Therefore, they are not provided here, and a guide who announces theirs during the briefing is exactly doing their job.

The tricky moment comes at the end. You ascend without a fixed reference, sometimes with other boats around, and the pilot must see you. A safety stop parachute inflates from the safety stop, and our article on the diving parachute and its safe use details the procedure. Practice before the trip, in calm water, and not on the first day of drift diving.

In short, ask at the briefing who carries the parachute, how the dive group stays together, and what happens if someone gets separated from the group on the surface.

Why have sites been closing since 2019?

A disease of hard corals, SCTLD, struck the entire Mexican Caribbean in less than a year. A study published in PeerJ in 2019 places it in Puerto Morelos in July 2018, then on the windward coast of Cozumel in November 2018, and on the leeward coast as early as December 2018. The closures serve to give the best reefs a rest.

The study’s figures are heavy. Before the epidemic, 99.5% of colonies of sensitive species monitored were healthy, whereas in 2018-2019 the disease prevalence reached 25.9%, and up to 71% in pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus. It is one of the most affected species. The authors describe a spread over about 400 kilometers of coast. This explains the October 2019 decision, which closed three reef complexes out of fourteen to let the best preserved recover.

The rotation continues.

In February and March 2026, the park closed Cedral Pared, Cedral, and Francesa for an “ecological rest,” according to the newspaper Por Esto (February 16, 2026). The park cited warming water, bleaching, sargassum, and constant passage of divers and boats. For your trip, this means that a site read in a guidebook may be closed on your date. Ask the center for the updated list and consider it your fallback plan.

When to go, and what to plan regarding safety and formalities?

The NOAA sets the Atlantic hurricane season from June 1 to November 30, with a statistical peak around September 10 and most activity between mid-August and mid-October. Cozumel can be dived year-round, but booking within this window means accepting canceled outings and allowing buffer days.

No water temperature or average visibility is given, due to lack of dated and sourced series. However, excellent visibility does not make drift diving easier. Regarding health, a hyperbaric chamber exists on the island: DAN presented in 2014 the Costamed hyperbaric center, opened in November 2013, with a ten-place multiplace chamber, and specified that it was not the only one in Cozumel. In 2021, a testimony published by DAN reported a decompression accident treated on-site after a cautious dive profile. Check before departure that your insurance covers recompression in Mexico. This article informs; it does not replace the advice of a competent diving medicine doctor.

There remains the Visitax.

This tax from the state of Quintana Roo targets foreign visitors. At the end of 2025, the Riviera Maya News website estimated it at 2.5 UMA per person, about 283 pesos in 2025 value. The amount is paid on the official state portal and changes yearly with the UMA, so check it before your flight. If you hesitate between Cozumel and another Caribbean island, compare with diving in Roatán, Bay Islands or with diving in the Cayman Islands, using the same framework. The concrete cost of a September departure amounts to two buffer days on site, to absorb a canceled dive without sacrificing the last dive before the flight. Would you book it that way?

FAQ

Can a beginner diver dive in Cozumel?

Yes, provided they are supervised and inform the center before booking. Almost all dives are drift dives, so ask which sites they reserve for beginners and how many guides are present. The final decision rests with the professional on site.

Are gloves prohibited in Cozumel?

Several centers announce this for the national park. We have not found the official text confirming it, so ask your center for the guideline. In any case, do not touch the reef.

Are Palancar and Colombia open?

They were partially closed starting October 7, 2019, due to the SCTLD coral disease. The park rotates closures, as with Cedral and Francesa in February and March 2026. Ask for the list of open sites on your date.

What is the best season to dive in Cozumel?

One can dive year-round, but the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 according to NOAA. Outside this window, the risk of canceled trips due to weather decreases. For temperature and visibility, rely on recent readings from the center.

Is there a hyperbaric chamber in Cozumel?

Yes, DAN presented in 2014 the multiplace chamber at Costamed, opened in November 2013, and noted that another one existed. Reconfirm before your departure and verify that your insurance covers recompression in Mexico.

Sources

• A rapid spread of the stony coral tissue loss disease outbreak in the Mexican Caribbean (PeerJ, 2019)
• Tropical Cyclone Climatology (NOAA National Hurricane Center, consulted in 2026)

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