Puerto Morelos is a town about 20km south of Cancun on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Located in between the tourist hubs of Cancún and Playa del Carmen, it is known for being somewhat off-the-beaten-path tourism-wise. Puerto Morelos is also known for its proximity to the best-protected section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. This reef system is the second largest in the world, and part of it is protected as part of the Puerto Morelos National Marine Park. This designation was made in 1998 to protect the section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef that is closest to land.

The section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef near Puerto Morelos is the closest to land compared to any of the other sections, which means that it is easily accessible from shore and by boat. Due to its status as a marine park, this part of the reef is teeming with life. There is plenty to see as a novice diver since a lot of the reef is shallow. Visibility is great as well, ranging from 20-40m year-round. 

Dive sites at other renowned scuba diving hubs such as Playa del Carmen, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, and Akumal are just a short boat or car ride away as well. 

With warm surface water temperatures ranging from 25-30ºC (78-82ºF), Puerto Morelos has great diving all year round. However, if encountering pelagic species is your main objective, the ideal time to plan your dive trip is December through April. This is when waters are relatively cooler, attracting exciting pelagic species such as sharks and whales. In particular, the area surrounding Playa del Carmen and Isla Mujeres are known for its bull shark sightings during this time of year. If cenote-diving is at the top of your list, then May-September is the time to visit. These summer months bring with them the best lighting and visibility, which create ideal conditions for photographing these magnificent caves!

Diving at Puerto Morelos can be geared towards beginners and advanced divers alike. The reef dives are definitely suitable for novice divers, while the deep, drift, wreck, and cave dives are geared towards more experienced divers. Another diving environment meant for more advanced divers is the cenotes or partially exposed underwater caves. Cenotes are known for their extremely good visibility and marvelous cave features.

Due to its marine park designation, the biodiversity of wildlife just offshore from Puerto Morelos is stunning. Countless species of tropical fish, barracuda, eels, stingrays, eagle rays, nurse sharks, crabs, lobsters, and Green and Loggerhead sea turtles are some of the marine fauna types that divers will come across. 

If you have time to travel a little farther, you might get lucky and see whale sharks at Isla Mujeres (June-September) or bull sharks at Playa del Carmen (November-March). 
 

Right offshore from the main town are the sites “Puentes” and “The Gardens”, which are reef sites that have a maximum depth of 20m. This section of reef has an interesting landscape, what with its natural bridges and tunnels that divers can swim through. 

For advanced divers hoping to dive deeper, there are two wreck dives in the Puerto Morelos area. The Juan Escutia is a minesweeper that was sunk intentionally in 2000 to create an artificial reef ecosystem. The maximum depth at this site is 33m, and strong currents are common. During winter, eagle rays can be seen flying around the wreck, and stingray, moray eel, and barracuda sightings are common as well. 

Another nearby wreck at a similar depth is the Mama Viña, which was an old shrimp boat intentionally sunk for scuba divers. It is located just offshore from Xcaret, which is another coastal resort town just 5km south of Playa del Carmen. This dive is normally treated as a drift-dive, so more experience is recommended. At the stern (back) of the wreck is where moray eels and lobsters like to hide, while schools of fish swim through the wreck and stingrays and eagle rays flap along the surrounding sandy bottom. 

“Cenote Dos Ojos” is the best-known cenote dive site in this region of Mexico. It is located about 90km south of Puerto Morelos and is definitely worth the trip if you like swimming among stalagmites and stalactites in crystal clear water!