Diving in Cozumel Mexico was at the top of my list. The Great Mayan Reef (Mesoamerican Barrier Reef) occupies its surrounding waters and is the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere. It’s the second largest barrier reef in the world! The visibility is so good, divers come from all over the world to experience its spectacular biodiversity.
I was beyond bummed when my underwater camera stopped working the morning of my dive. I was not able to capture my experience diving the most popular dive site of all—Santa Rosa Wall. This drift dive is known for its beautiful colors, swim throughs, visibility, and marine life from big to small.
The dive ended up being my best dive experience ever—and a lesson in experiencing the moment. With over 60 dives logged at this point, to say this was my best dive ever is saying something! I even saw a spotted eagle ray which was the cherry on top! I am grateful that I at least have some low-quality video from my dive buddy to give a hint at how spectacular it was!
Blue Angel Dive Resort
I went out to Santa Rosa Wall with Blue Angel Resort. They were super accommodating. They listened to my request to dive Santa Rosa Wall and paired me with other divers who were advanced enough to go with me.
My group was small and included divers who had experienced this site before. My dive buddy Matt and his partner were visiting from Texas and go to this resort all the time for the great diving.
By paying the equivalent of $100 USD in Mexican Pesos, I was able to dive 2 sites with all equipment included.
We headed for the wall first, then Paradise Reef where I saw pipefish, parrotfish, triggerfish, boxfish, trumpetfish, lobster, and crab—also a great dive. But let’s talk about Santa Rosa Wall!
Santa Rosa Wall
Santa Rosa Wall starts off at about 45 feet (15 meters). As a wall, it drops down way below recreational diving limits, but you can glide along and explore the ledge.
As a drift dive, most divers describe the experience as “flying” along the wall. I would say that’s totally accurate! It was lovely, as I could pretty much remain motionless, allowing the current to just take me along. I watched the reef go by below like a movie. A little kick here or shift there and I could maneuver around and through various swim throughs.
There was so much to see at this location. There were brightly colored sponges and huge “bommies” (as they called them on the Great Barrier in Australia) of densely packed reef in blues, purples, oranges, and greens. There were soft and hard corals all growing in broad and tall shapes with openings between them to swim around and in between. It was a fantastical landscape of epic visibility that was up to 100 feet or more. I was in absolute awe of the colors and how diverse and healthy this reef was.
There were so many different kinds of fish densely populating the reef. They were brilliant colors against the backdrop of rainbow colored reef. The colors all contrasted against a vibrant, white, sandy bottom.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get more spectacular, I looked to my left and down came from out of nowhere a huge female spotted eagle ray. You may recall that I missed the Manta rays that I was almost guaranteed to see in Bali? Well, this made up for it! This female cousin of the Manta had what seemed a 10 foot wingspan. I actually think she was even more beautiful than her solid-colored cousins because of the spots—they almost looked iridescent in the light. She came down to dig in the sand right in between us divers. Then, she shot back upwards and fluttered along next to us. We saw her again later flapping her pectoral fins like a bird in the distance.
Photo from Wikipedia
Spotted eagle rays are the only other species of ray that must remain in constant motion as they rely on the water passing through its gills for oxygen. They glide along and almost appear to be flying. This particular ray showed off for us with its sand-digging moment. Amazing!
The Video
My buddy Matt managed to capture a video of her as she flew passed him. His partner and I had seen her more closely before he saw her. He was testing out a new GoPro camera at the time, so the quality was not what he intended it to be. Alas, it’s the only video I have and video I am so grateful for because I would have none otherwise!
I put together some above water clips from my phone and his clips below the surface just to give even the vaguest idea of what my best dive ever was like! Watch below!
In Conclusion
I went into this dive figuring, “Oh fine. I supposed it’ll be nice to just enjoy this dive and not be so focused on my camera.” That was a really great benefit to not having my camera working for Santa Rosa Wall. I truly did embrace the moment and fully experience it.
Even still, I wish I had captured a full, high quality video of the Spotted Eagle Ray! It was my first ever non-shark, big-marine life moment. I suppose my memory of it will have to suffice!
Now I know that the second largest barrier reef in the world is just a 2-hour flight away from where I live in Florida. It’s literally right here, and epic dive experiences await. So I will definitely be back to Cozumel and to this area of Mexico for the diving. In fact, I just may be there right now as this blog posts. That’s right, this dive left such an impression that I’m back less than 4 months later!
Perhaps I will see more Spotted Eagle Rays! Either way, I’ll be sure to have a working camera this time. But I’ll also take some time to be fully present and not so focused on taking photographs for a dive!
