Diving in Isla Mujeres

Divers report that most of the diving on Isla Mujeres goes to two neighbouring sites, MUSA and Manchones, both shallow and about ten minutes from the island by boat. MUSA is Jason deCaires Taylor's sculpture museum: over 500 life-size figures across the whole museum, commissioned by the national marine park and the Cancún Nautical Association and installed from 2009.1 The gallery on this side, Salón Manchones, stands at 8 m on sand; the second, Salón Nizuc, lies off Cancún at 4 m. The park's management programme describes the project as a way to draw visitors off the natural reefs onto artificial habitat.

Manchones is the natural reef beside it, two patches, Grande and Chico, averaging 10 m. Hurricane Wilma struck it in 2005 and the park still records it as heavily affected by storms; loose limestone slabs lift in a heavy swell, and coral cover on Manchones Grande was estimated at about 7% in 2011.2 Divers who know Cozumel describe the reefs here as beaten up, and the fair case for the island is easy, warm, shallow diving with a museum attached. Chitales, inside the bay at up to 10 m, has long been the reef chosen for teaching open-water dives, and the bay has green turtles working the seagrass between coral heads.

Beyond the bay the diving deepens. Bandera and the reefs grouped with it are sold as mild drifts at around 15 m, Pailas pairs with the Sleeping Shark cave and its swim-throughs at 18 to 20 m, and at the southern point a fast drift to about 13 m gathers turtles from May, into June or July by different operators' accounts. The two ex-navy gunboats, C-58 and C-55, lie in Cancún-side water and are run from both shores; the park records C-58 at 24 m when it was sunk, while operator pages give 26 m. Ultra Frizz, a 30 m wreck, is sold to Advanced divers and above. Eagle rays visit the wrecks between November and about March. Whale sharks gather offshore in summer on a snorkel-only boat trip.

The reefs sit inside Parque Nacional Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún y Punta Nizuc, decreed on 19 July 1996 and administered by CONANP.2 Diving is guided: the guide must be accredited, a group is capped at 6 divers per guide by day and 4 at night, and everyone keeps at least 2 m from coral. A diver on the natural reefs needs at least an entry-level certification, which opens the bay sites to anyone newly qualified. Night scuba is allowed only in the artificial-habitat zones and ends at 22:00.

At least one island operator includes the park fees in its dive prices, so ask what a quote covers. The outside sites and wrecks are about a half-hour run. Ferries from Cancún cross in 25 to 30 minutes. November to May is the usual recommendation; surf can cancel days, so leave slack in a short trip.