Scuba Dive Shop in Cozumel
Cozumel's Reef Is Closer Than You Think.
Tell us your dates, how many divers, and what you want to see. We will send you a full dive plan, usually the same day.
What a Real Scuba Dive Shop in Cozumel Looks Like?
Pelagic Ventures Scuba has operated out of Asipona Marina since 1994. Thirty years. Same reef, same standard, small groups only, personal service always, and every dive planned around the people on the boat that day. Our two boats, Mary Beth (max 8 divers) and Hatza Ha (max 6 divers), are purposefully sized. When Paulino or Fernando is underwater with six divers instead of twenty, he has time to find the Splendid Toadfish, wait while you frame the shot, and stay on the wall with the diver who wants just a few more minutes.
Our marina location sits inside the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Marine Park. Palancar Reef, Santa Rosa Wall, Columbia Reef, the ride out is 10 to 15 minutes. Other shops spend 30 to 40 minutes just getting to where we start. That extra time belongs underwater.
Dive Services at Our Cozumel Shop
Small groups. Expert crew. Inside the Marine Park.
Here is what that looks like for each type of diver who walks through our door.
Two-Tank Guided Reef Dives
Our flagship offering. Every morning we head into the Cozumel Marine Park for two guided reef dives. Sites are selected based on conditions, your certification level, and what you want to see, not a fixed tourist route. Water and snacks on board. Gear rinsed and stored after every dive. Open Water certification required.
Night Dives
Most divers finish a Cozumel trip saying the night dive was their favorite. The reef transforms completely after sunset, octopus hunting, lobster emerging, nurse sharks cruising the shallows, sleeping parrotfish glowing under your torch. It is a completely different ocean on the exact same reef you dived that morning.
Advanced Reef Dives like C-53 Wreck, Punta Sur, and Devil's Throat
The C-53 Felipe Xicotencatl minesweeper at 80 feet, penetrable, coral-covered, unlike any wreck in the Caribbean. Punta Sur’s cathedral. Devil’s Throat’s dramatic open-water wall past 100 feet. These are the dives people fly to Cozumel specifically for. We require one familiarization dive with us first, not to gatekeep, but because these sites deserve a diver who is ready for them.
PADI Scuba Instruction in Cozumel,Learn to Dive Where It Matters
Learning in a pool is one thing. Learning in Cozumel’s warm, clear water, 80+ feet of visibility, a living coral reef below you, a PADI-certified instructor who has dived this specific reef many years, is something else entirely. Every course we teach happens inside the Marine Park. Real conditions. Real reef. Real skill that sticks.
Discover Scuba Diving (DSD)
No certification required. Orientation followed by one or two guided reef dives. The most common first step into a lifetime of diving.
PADI Rescue Diver
Learn to recognize and manage dive emergencies. Includes Emergency First Response training. Most divers call it the course that changed how they think about diving.
PADI Advanced Open Water
Five Adventure Dives: Deep, Navigation, and three electives. Depth limit extends to 30m / 100ft.
PADI Open Water Diver
The world’s most recognized certification. Four open-water dives in the Marine Park. Certified to 18m / 60ft worldwide on completion.
Enriched Air Nitrox Diver
Extend your bottom time on every dive from day one. Can be completed alongside regular dive days here. One of the fastest specialties to earn.
Specialty Courses
Wreck Diver, Night Diver, Drift Diver, Deep Diver and more. Cozumel is the ideal classroom for all of them.
Nitrox / Enriched Air Diving
Pelagic Ventures offers Nitrox fills for certified Enriched Air divers. On Cozumel’s reef, where most sites sit between 40 and 80 feet, Nitrox gives you measurably more time on the reef on every single dive.
Why Nitrox Makes Sense in Cozumel
Cozumel’s best sites sit exactly at the depths where Nitrox extends your no-decompression limits most. Palancar Gardens, Columbia Shallows, Santa Rosa Wall, more bottom time, less nitrogen loading across a multi-day week. For anyone planning 3 to 5 consecutive dive days, it is not a luxury. It is just the smarter way to dive.
What You Need Before You Book
A current PADI Enriched Air Nitrox certification, or equivalent. Not yet certified? The Nitrox specialty can be done alongside your regular dive days here in Cozumel. Just let us know when you reach out so we can prepare fills or schedule the course alongside your dives.
Scuba Gear Rental in Cozumel
Checking a regulator and BCD adds checked-bag fees, airline anxiety, and 25 extra minutes at baggage claim to every dive trip. Our full rental inventory means you can fly to Cozumel with a carry-on and step onto the dock into gear that has already been sized, assembled, and checked for you.
What We Rent
- Regulators with octopus and gauges
- BCDs, sized to your frame
- Masks, multiple styles and fits
- Fins, open-heel with boots or full-foot
- Wetsuits, 3mm and 5mm, full or shortie
- Dive computers
- Dive lights for night dives
How It Works
Send your sizes when you enquire, height, weight, and shoe size. Gear is assembled and waiting at the dock before your first dive. After each day, the crew rinses everything and stores it for the next morning. Nothing to carry between dives, nothing to manage.
Pricing
Full package and individual item pricing available on request. We include rental costs in your overall dive quote so everything is clear before you confirm.
Pier Pickup Service in Cozumel
You are here to dive, not to figure out the bus or negotiate a taxi at 7 AM with dive bags. We offer hotel pickup for guests staying along Cozumel’s south hotel zone, bringing you straight to Asipona Marina in time for your dive briefing and returning you to your hotel after the dives.
How Hotel Pickup Works:
- Let us know where you are planning to stay
- Confirm your hotel name and we will let you know approximate pier pick-up time
- Pier pick-up is limited to hotels and resorts from Casa del Mar and to the south. These include Casa del Mar, El Cid, Grand Park Royal, Fiesta Americana/Explorean, El Presidente, Secrets, Dreams, Allegro, Occidental, and Iberostar. Some resorts charge a fee to use the pier, please inquire when you book.
- After the dives, we drop you off at the resort pier. If you are diving multiple days, you can leave your gear and we will rinse, store overnight, and set it up for you the next day.
Pickup availability depends on hotel location. Confirm with us when you enquire.
Cruise Ship Divers
Cozumel is one of the most visited cruise ports in the Caribbean, and the reef here is genuinely worth leaving the ship for. If your ship calls at the International Pier, Puerta Maya or Punta Langosta, a port day dive with Pelagic is completely doable. You just need to plan it before you board.
What Cruise Divers Need to Know:
How Far Is the Dive Shop from the Cruise Pier?
Asipona Marina is less than 2 miles from Cozumel’s main cruise piers, under 5 minutes by taxi from the International Pier and Puerta Maya, and 10 to 15 minutes from Punta Langosta. Taxis are available at all three piers.
Fitting Dives Around Your Ship's Schedule
Send us your ship’s arrival time and all-aboard time when you enquire. We build your dives around your exact window so you are back at the pier comfortably early. We do not rush dives to beat a clock, we plan so the clock is never a factor underwater.
Flying After Diving, Read This
On peak cruise days, multiple ships call Cozumel simultaneously. Small-boat operators fill first. Reach out to us the moment your itinerary is confirmed. We cannot hold spots for walk-ups on busy port days.
Port Day Slots Fill Weeks in Advance, Especially November Through April.
On peak cruise days, multiple ships call Cozumel simultaneously. Small-boat operators fill first. Reach out to us the moment your itinerary is confirmed. We cannot hold spots for walk-ups on busy port days.
The Reef Our Dive Shop Calls Home
Our marina at Carretera Costera Sur Km 6.5 is inside the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Marine Park, 10 to 15 minutes by boat from every major dive site on the southwest coast.
All levels:
Palancar Reef
Cozumel’s signature dive, coral towers, tunnels, swim-throughs, walls. Visibility routinely 80+ feet. Multiple distinct sites within Palancar.
Columbia Reef
Columbia Shallows is a macro photographer’s paradise. Columbia Deep offers dramatic wall diving and pelagic species visits.
Tormentos & Yucab
Shallower reef systems, ideal for new divers and photographers who want to slow down and look closely.
Open Water+:
Santa Rosa Wall
One of the Caribbean’s longest wall dives. Drift along a vertical face of hard coral, barrel sponges, and sea fans.
Palancar Horseshoe
A crescent canyon of towering coral heads. Often called the single most visually striking dive in all of Cozumel.
Advanced Level:
C-53 Felipe Angulo Wreck
184-foot minesweeper at 80 feet. Fully penetrable, heavily colonized. A genuine bucket-list wreck dive.
Punta Sur / Devil's Throat
Cathedral caverns, dramatic swim-throughs, wall diving past 100 feet. One familiarization dive with us is required, non-negotiable.
Safety, Compliance & Marinel Park Standards
Any experienced diver knows the questions to ask before they trust a dive shop with their safety. Here are ours answered plainly.
Emergency O2 on Board
YES, Oxygen first-aid kit on every departure. All divemasters trained in O2 administration.
VHF Marine Radio
YES, All boats carry marine radio for coast guard and vessel communication at all times.
Marine Park Rules Enforced
YES, No gloves, no sunscreen, no reef contact. Enforced on every dive for every guest.
PADI Certified Divemasters
YES, All divemasters and instructors hold PADI certification.
Emergency First Response (EFR)
YES, All instructors and divemaster have EFR certification.sters hold current EFR certification.
National Marine Park Permits
YES, Current operating permits for the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Marine Park. Marine Park fee (~$13 USD/diver/day) included in every package.
Boat Safety
Equipment
YES, Life jackets, first aid kits, emergency signaling on all departures. Both vessels were regularly serviced.
Group Size Limits
YES, 8 divers on Mary Beth, 6 on Hatza Ha.
Frequently Asked Questions
Real questions from divers who were exactly where you are now. If yours is not here, send it through, we will answer it personally.
Asipona Marina sits approximately 6.5 km south of Cozumel's main cruise piers along Carretera Costera Sur, about 10 to 15 minutes by taxi. Taxis are available at all piers. We strongly recommend booking your port day dive before you board your ship. Slots at small-boat shops fill weeks in advance during peak season (November through April).
The Arrecifes de Cozumel National Marine Park charges approximately $13 USD per diver per day. This fee is included in your dive package with us, nothing additional to pay on the water. It funds reef conservation, Marine Park ranger operations, and ongoing environmental monitoring.
Yes. Nitrox fills are available for certified Enriched Air divers. You need a current PADI Enriched Air Nitrox certification or equivalent. Not yet certified? The specialty can be completed alongside your regular dive days here in Cozumel. Let us know when you enquire.
Yes. We offer hotel pickup for guests in Cozumel's south hotel zone. Let us know your hotel name and we will confirm hotel pier pick-up.
Minimum Open Water Diver for standard two-tank reef dives. Advanced Open Water for specialty sites (C-53, Punta Sur, Devil's Throat), after one familiarization dive with us. No certification needed for Discover Scuba Diving. Not dived in 12+ months? We may suggest a refresher before open-water diving.
Mary Beth: maximum 8 divers. Hatza Ha: maximum 6 divers. These are firm limits, not guidelines that flex when demand gets high. We do not exceed them. Ever.
No. The Marine Park prohibits all sunscreens to protect the coral reef ecosystem. Plan for a wetsuit, rash guard, and a hat for time of the boat. We remind every guest of this at check-in.
79 to 85°F (26 to 29°C) year-round. A 3mm wetsuit is comfortable for most divers across all seasons. 5mm available for those who get cold easily. Both are rentable from our dive shop.
Yes. Our same boats and crew run deep-sea sport fishing trips on days when your divers are in the water. Mahi-mahi, wahoo, barracuda, Cozumel's Caribbean waters deliver. Mention your fishing group when you reach out so we can coordinate the day.
Asipona Marina (formerly Fonatur Marina), Carretera Costera Sur Km 6.5, Zona Hotelera Sur, Cozumel, Mexico 77600. Inside the Marine Park zone, 10 to 15 minutes by boat to all southwest reef dive sites.
Ready to Dive Cozumel? Here Is Your Next Step.
Thirty years on this reef. Two purposefully small boats. A crew that knows every crevice between Palancar and Punta Sur. Whatever stage you are at, we have a next step for you right here.