When you are looking for the best dive locations in Mexico, you cannot find a better place on earth to explore the gorgeous underwater life than the paradise that is these coastal waters, lagoons, and rivers. For an advanced diver, this area is pure bliss. If you have never dived but will be traveling to Mexico, you can easily obtain training and certification at any of the three locations listed here. Of course this list is short compared to all the wonderful places to dive in Mexico, so we’d love to hear about your favorite dive locations in the comments!
Cozumel
Cozumel is home to the second largest barrier reef in the world, to an important Caribbean ecological sanctuary, and to over 40 different dive sites. Described as “Heaven on Earth,” divers and snorkelers rave about this underwater marine fantasy. It was made famous by Captain Jacques Cousteau, the self-taught French oceanographer and world-renowned researcher, who proclaimed Cozumel to be one of the world’s most spectacular diving areas.
Riviera Maya
The Riviera Maya boasts a wide array of dive sites that cater to beginners and experts alike, as well as a large community of dive professionals and operations. Dives range from 40 feet to well over 100 feet, with plenty of colorful fish and coral varieties to admire in ocean dives, and interesting rock and cave formations in the area’s plentiful cenotes. Diving in the Yucatan Peninsula cenotes in cool and crystal clear water is a unique experience you will find only in this region of Mexico. Visitors to the Riviera Maya can participate in seasonal shark dives, explore underwater caverns, and swim through an underwater sculpture museum all within an hour’s drive of one another.
Sea of Cortez
The Sea of Cortez was deemed by ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau to be the “aquarium of the world” because it is the one of the planet’s most biologically rich bodies of water and one of the most unique ocean environments in the world. Cousteau spearheaded research in the Sea of Cortez and developed the diving suit in the 1950s so that more people could discover marine life.
