Trip Description
Looking for an amazing and completely different underwater experience? Imagine diving through crystal clear freshwater caves, snorkeling with whale sharks and drifting past an explosion of color and marine life on the Caribbean’s most pristine reefs. Astounding adventures await you in Yucatan! The Mexican Caribbean coast is home to the world’s second largest reef and a unique network of underground rivers and submerged caves. On over 30 dives, explore some of the world’s most extraordinary underwater eco-systems. Above the waterline, climb ancient Mayan ruins, play on white sand beaches, kayak through vibrant jungles and enjoy an easygoing blend of Caribbean and Mexican cultures.
Extraordinary diving on the Great Mayan Reef
Cozumel is a name synonymous with diving, an island paradise separated from Mexico’s coast by a thin stretch of Caribbean blue water. The reef slowly descends to 40 feet and then disappears into an endless indigo abyss 3000 feet below. Prepare for some outrageous drift diving in warm, turquoise blue water. Float through a maze of brilliantly colored coral formations, past devil’s whips, elephant ear sponges and purple sea fans. Keep your eyes peeled for flaming toadfish and huge green morays. The Great Maya Reef is spectacular!
Swim with whale sharks
Travel to Isla Holbox, a rustic island off the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. Off the pristine shores lies an amazing treasure…whale sharks! Like clockwork every summer, the ocean’s largest residents (think school bus size) congregate here to feed. We head out on boats to find pods of dolphin and schools of manta rays lazily playing on the surface before hoping overboard to snorkel with the gentle giants. It’s an adrenaline pumping experience, and you remind yourself that they only feed on plankton. Back on land, we head into the jungle to explore magnificent Mayan ruins before our next adventure…
Xcalak is a tranquil and remote fishing village on the far south end of the Mexican Caribbean coast. Just offshore is the marine sanctuary of Banco Chinchorro, unexplored and home to the Caribbean’s healthiest coral. Plunge below to explore thriving walls, coral banks and finger reefs that are home to thousands of curious fish unaffected by human imprint. Spend surface intervals snorkeling on modern wrecks and counting cannons from 16th century Spanish galleons. Finally, spend time helping researchers monitor reef ecology by collecting valuable data about the healthy coral and rich species diversity that thrive here.
Discover the thrill of cenote diving
Our last and perhaps most astounding adventure awaits us in Tulum, nestled at the edge of the Riviera Maya and the beginning of Sian Ka’an, a World Heritage biosphere reserve. The area is famous for its cenotes, sacred crystalline freshwater pools and mysterious caves and passageways that interconnect, forming an enormous underground river system. With expert guides, we plunge below to explore the surreal beauty of ancient stalagmite and stalactite filled caverns. At Cenote Angelita sink past gnarled tree roots through a dreamy halocline where fresh and salt water mix and green smoke-like flares animate and curl like fog. Amazing! Then we head deeper into the jungle to kayak on ancient Mayan waterways past mysterious mangroves in search of crocodiles, peccaries, jaguars, turtles and hundreds of bird species. Yucatan is nothing short of extraordinary.
