Manchones reef

Divers put the boat ride from the island at around 10 minutes. Several patches of coral stand on sand off its south-west, each less than 50 m from the next, and the massifs rise three to five metres, with star coral at the base, mustard coral on top and elkhorn and staghorn among them.1 The park treats the reef as two units, Manchones Grande and Manchones Chico, averaging 10 m, and describes them as heavily used for shallow recreational diving.1 Operators number the dive Manchones 1 and Manchones 2 instead, and run it for 40 to 45 minutes over very little current. The name comes from manchas, stains, which is how the patches read from the surface.

Fish are what the reef holds in quantity: grunts and blue chromis in the park's survey, queen angelfish, parrotfish and spotted trunkfish on the operators' lists, with turtles, nurse sharks, stingrays and eels also mentioned. The coral itself is thin. The park's 2011 survey put cover at 7.12% on Grande and 17.8% on Chico, with macroalgae taking most of the rest, and some divers call the reefs beaten up.1 Elkhorn is still abundant on Grande.

A MUSA gallery was installed very near the reef to draw visitors off the natural coral, and the artist puts Salón Manchones at eight metres.1 Operators tie two works to the Manchones 1 dive: Man on Fire, and the Dream Catcher, a man leaning on a bar in a Hemingway-like style.

The Cruz de la Bahía, which the park lists as the first artificial structure in its Isla Mujeres zone, stands at Manchones. It was placed in the 1990s, years before MUSA.1

Before the park was decreed in 1996, Atlantis Submarines placed reef structures south of Manchones, where its submarine made its tour.1

Oceanographer Ramón Bravo Prieto put the cross down with the Nautical Association of Isla Mujeres and Cancún, and the island still holds a procession over it each 17 August.2

Hurricane Isidore in 2002 damaged 438 m2 of Manchones Grande, and 250 coral colonies were restored. Hurricane Wilma in 2005 damaged 37% of the colonies there.1

Loose limestone slab lies around the reef, and any strong swell lifts it like projectiles into the coral.1 Keep your hover well above the rubble.

Man on Fire is drilled with 75 holes, each planted with fire coral, so keep your hands and fins clear of the figure.