Wait! There’s more than that famous underwater museum in Cancun? You’ll be surprised!
Healthy reefs, large schools of fish, a variety of marine life and wrecks waiting to be explored. Cancun remains easily accessible for travelers around the world, and tops the list of destinations with best air-connectivity for 2022 with a total of 56,951 flights and over 10 million seats, according to recent data shared by Sectur Mexico. Head over and dive right in!
10 Dive Sites in Cancun
The early bird catches the worm, the best visibility and the calmest waters, before the sea traffic stirs it all up. Join Pro Dive’s morning at the stunning protected reefs of Cancun that are a fantastic choice for all levels of divers. Watch out for dolphins on the journey out to the reef!
1. Punta Negra
20 m/ 65ft A rich reef in its variety of marine species, from angelfish to nurse sharks, barracudas, pompanos, turtles, eels, large crabs, lobsters, and rays. Watch this thy ecosystem as you drift by in the mild current. An average visibility of 25 m/ 82ft lets the vibrant colors of the reef really shine.
2. Grampin – 16 m/ 52 ft
A nice and easy dive with an average depth of 10 m/ ft, a kaleidoscope of colors, brain and staghorn coral, and sea fans. You can spot parrotfish, schools of snapper, porkfish, purple creole wrasse, fluttering butterfly fish and patterned honeycomb cowfish. A gentle current brings in nutrients attracting schools of fish, barracuda and trivially.
3. Tunnels
16 m/ 52 ft Interesting reef formations and swim thoughts make this a fun site to explore. A drift dive full of big barracudas, turtles and sharks. Big schools of fish and colorful coral.
4. San Miguel
15 m/ 49 ft San Miguel is the closest reef to the coast with an average depth of 15 m/ ft. It’s a beautiful barrier with a great chance to spot nurse sharks and sea turtles, huge schools of jack and plenty of other fish species.
5. Chuchos
16-22 m/ 52-72 ft A lesser known site with two large horseshoe-shaped reefs, which provide protection from the current, meaning an incredible amount of fish shelter. There are often nurse sharks and stingrays also relaxing on the sand out of the current. A truly amazing reef and away from the crowds.
6. Herradura
16 m/ 52 ft A perfect and easy drift dive along a beautiful, healthy reef with wonderful coral formations, angelfish, barracudas, nurse sharks, parrotfish, turtles and pretty much all of the different families of Caribbean fish.
7. Aristos
16 m/ 52 ft A stunning reef with a depth of 16m, full of marine life and fun swim-throughs. See turtles, stingrays, nurse sharks, eagle rays, barracuda, big schools of fish and still colorful coral formations.
8. Chitales
6 m/ 20 ft Besides excellent visibility and a great diversity of colorful fish in this shallow, easy-to-dive reef, you will usually spot green sea turtles feeding in the seagrass area located next to it. Chitales is a perfect dive site for beginners.
9. Cañonero C-55
25 m/ 82 ft C55 USS Ransom (AM-283) is an Admirable-class minesweeper built in San Francisco for the US Navy during World War II. She was launched in 1943. After working in places like Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the islands in the South Pacific, she was purchased by the Mexican Navy in 1962. Deliberately sunk the ship in the year 2000 to make her an artificial reef off the coast of Cancun. Since then she has been broken into four sections by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and became home to a great number of marine life. Schools of barracudas, groupers, snappers, eagle rays and green moray eels can be observed here; and from December through March, eagle rays migrate to the area and you can spot up to 100 playing in the current.
10. Cañonero C-58
26 m/ 85 ft Originally named the USS Harlequin (AM-365), this Admirable-class minesweeper was built for the US Navy during World War II as well, decommissioned in May 1946 and placed in reserve until she was sold to the Mexican Navy in 1962 who eventually converted her into an oceanographic research vessel and later sank her to create an artificial reef.
Lying in an area frequented by manta rays, barracuda, groupers and other impressive marine life, C-58 was split in two by hurricane Wilma in 2005, creating easy access for divers to see all of the ship’s rooms, and making this a captivating and exciting dive.
