Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park

Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park is a protected marine ecosystem of the western and southern coastline of Cozumel in eastern Mexico. The park was established to protect coral reefs close to the island. The reefs are a part of the world's second-longest reef system, called the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, that extends along the entire Mexican Caribbean and along much of the Central American coast. The Cozumel reefs offer countless underwater sights to delight snorkelers and scuba divers.

The park was established as part of the Mexico national parks system in July 1996.

The park is an undersea landscape of coral reefs. The coral are small animals that build a shell as other organisms add calcium carbonate as they cling to the coral, creating a hard rock-like formation that provides habitat for a large variety of fish and other marine life, including sponges, mollusks and algae. Coral grows in warm, clear, tropical waters.

The closest airport is Cozumel International Airport CZM ^IATA. It receives flights from most major Mexican cities and international flights from Houston (United Airlines) and Miami (American Airlines), among others.

To get to the reef, you will need to find a dive boat with a certified divemaster. There are dozens of dive shops in Cozumel and larger resorts will often schedule their own dive trips to various sites on the reef.

Dive boats can be hired in the town of San Miguel or at numerous resorts.

• Walls - these are basically drop-offs where you can be in shallow water conditions of 30 feet and then suddenly the bottom drops out and you can be looking at a 120 or 150 foot depth requiring more advanced skills. Walls along the Cozumel reef include: Barracuda Wall, Eagle Ray Wall, and Villa Blanca Wall (which is very close to the cruise ship piers in San Miguel). There are a lot of sponges here including barrel sponge and basket sponge.

• Caves - There are countless caves along the length of the reef. The most popular spot for cave diving is Palancar Cave, an area that has more caves than you can dive in an entire week. This is an intermediate to advanced level dive with depths up to 120 feet.

• Wreck of the C-53 - The C-53 was a minesweeper in the Mexican Navy. It was decommissioned in 2000 and deliberately sunk off the western shore of Cozumel to provide an interesting sites for scuba divers. The 184 foot long ship is under 50-70 feet of water and requires intermediate diving skills. Bring a lamp so you can go inside the vessel.

• Coral reefs - the coral reefs are home to an amazing diversity of sea life including tropical fish, turtles, sharks, moray eels, eagle rays and more.

• Scuba diving

There is no place in the park to eat, unless you packed a lunch and have it on your dive boat. As you dive, you may see many fish and shellfish that would be tasty dinner entrees.

No alcoholic beverages if you plan to dive.

The island of Cozumel has dozens of excellent hotels.

Use UV-blocking hats or shirts and look for safe sunblock products that do not damage sensitive marine environments. Reef-damaging sunblock products are banned under state laws and while dive boat operators will typically check your sunblocks to ensure they meet local standards, federal and state agents sometimes to spot checks and if you caught with illegal sunblocks you can be fined, even if you are at a beach resort or someplace well away from the water. Reef-safe products contain non-nano zinc oxide and non-nano titanium dioxide. Banned ingredients include: oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, homosalate, or parabens.

• Isla Mujeres - there are places you can snorkel with whale sharks
• Playa del Carmen - several nearby cenotes (sinkholes) offer cenote and underwater river dives for the clinically insane
• Xcalak- dive the Banco Chinchorro