Diving
Cancun
We only took one dive while in Cancun, Mexico, and that
was actually closer to Playa Del Carmen than Cancun, outside
XCaret
Ecoarchaeological Park, along the aptly named
Barracuda Reef.
This page will tell you a bit about what we saw on this
dive and how our trip went, along with some photos.
For more really cool dives in Mexico, check out our page
on Isla de Cozumel,
and our snorkeling
page for lots of cool photos! You can also see more
about our vacation in
Cancun and
Cozumel on this
site. Our main
scuba page focuses on diving in the
Pacific Northwest
and general information about scuba diving. You can
also check out our new
Cancún Message Board to find and share information about
Cancún all around the world.
Barracuda
Reef
(XCaret Caves) 1/4/2000 Bottom Time: 49:00
Depth: 50 ft.
On this day, we took a bus tour from Cancun to
XCaret
Ecoarchaeologica l
Park for the day. We were going to be swimming
with the dolphins and relaxing, perhaps doing a bit of snorkeling.
We had just finished diving 9 dives in four days in Cozumel,
and this week we planned on taking it easy. However,
once we got there, and found out that the on-site dive shop
offered dives, we couldn't resist. After our dolphin
encounter, we hurried over to the dive area to catch the
last boat of the day. The trip was just Sandra and
I, the divemaster, captain and one other fellow. The
west end of Barracuda Reef was only a couple of minutes
from the park, and before we knew it, we were in the water.
The trip was $ 35
for a one tank dive, and I was a bit cold during the dolphin
encounter, so I opted to get a shorty for $5 extra.
Sandra just wore her swimsuit. We were given Mares
equipment, in relatively good shape, but no dive computers,
just gauges this time. I was cool and forgot my open-water
certification card, so I had to do a checkout in the bay
before departure with the divemaster. No big deal,
except I didn't have enough weight, so he had to stick a
huge 4lb. weight in my BCD, which overweighted me for the
dive.
The water was warm, though cooler than in Cozumel, probably
75°F on the
 surface
and 70°F at 60 feet. We were quite warm and comfortable
during our dive (except for my weight). The visibility
was probably just over 100 feet (maybe 125), which was great,
but we had been spoiled by Cozumel's over 200 foot visibility,
so it didn't seem quite as great. The current was
very strong in this area, and was nearly impossible to swim
against. The surface was a little choppy, but not
too bad.
Barracuda Reef
 in
this area was a fairly shallow coral reef, with depths on
the bottom around 60 feet and the top about 40 feet.
Fish were plentiful, but mostly hanging out in caves to
hide from the current. Our divemaster carried a torch,
and we entered a couple of large overhangs with him.
First we saw a large spotted moray eel, totally exposed
on reef. The other guy we were diving with grabbed
the eel and played with it until the divemaster had to go
back and look for him. I don't think we're quite ready
to play with moray eels quite yet... In the next cave, we
saw a huge Caribbean lobster, about 5 feet long, and the
biggest green moray eel I have ever seen! It must
have been a full 12" across and at least 6 feet long (the
cave w as
dark and we couldn't see the end of him!). We saw
another green moray and a large crab in another cave, some
angelfish, parrotfish, grouper, grunts, butterfly fish and
filefish.
Overall, this dive was not comparable to the dives of Cozumel,
but still cool. The current was a bit too strong to
achieve full enjoyment from the dive, and the marine life
mostly opted for hideouts from it. Just seeing the
size of that one eel made the whole dive worth it, though.
Wow.
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For Information, Photos, and more links about diving in
Cozumel, check out:
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