Columbia Deep
- Date of Dive: 11/9/2016
- Maximum Depth: 104 ft (31.7 m)
- Average Depth: 70 ft (21.3 m)
- Total Dive Time: 46 min
Hands down, one the best dives we have done in Cozumel, MEX!!! This site is not one I had heard mention previous to us getting on the boat on the morning of November 9th, but it is one we cannot wait to get back to and one we highly recommend.
This site is typically on a dive shop’s list of specialty sites due to the location being toward the most southern end of the island. We booked our diving to site and some others through Deep Blue. Deep Blue is a wonderful dive operation which have their main offices conveniently located in the middle town. They have several smaller boats and take out a maximum of 8 dives per boat. They have good pricing, all their information can be found on their website via the link above. We recommend them as an alternative dive operation to a resort’s in-house dive shop.
Columbia Deep is located on the south end of the island. The site is between the most southern area of Palancar and north of Punta Sur. The site is considered to be an intermediate to advanced level dive site due to the variability of the currents through the area. As the name implies, Columbia Deep is a deep site with maximum depths of 120 ft (36.5 m). The initial decent made me feel like I was headed to the bottom of the sea floor between the Cozumel Island and Playa de Carmen. Our group made our way to the bottom of massive coral structure full of swim through passages. Like with many aspects of diving, if you have good buoyancy control these swim throughs are a lot of fun and a great way to see some untouched areas of the reef. On the topside of the structures, there were hundreds of sponge formations and reefs full of various marine species.
Many of the species we encountered at this reef were similar to the others sites, but due to the greater depth everything seemed a little bigger. Invertebrates commonly seen here are: Smooth Floral Coral (E. fastiginia), Clubtip Finger Coral (P. porites), Staghorn coral (A. cervicornis), a variety of sea fans, Giant Barrel Sponges (X. muta), Purple Vase Sponges (C. plicifera), Strawberry Vase Sponges (C. plicifera), Yellow Tube Sponges (A. fistularis), Dark Volcano Sponges (P. zeai), Green Finger Sponges (I. birotulata), and Horned Feathered Worms (S. giganteus). Common vertebrates here are Spotted Drum Fish (E. punctatus), Balloonfish (D. holocanthus), Yellowtail blue damselfish (C. parasema), Four eyed butterflyfish (C. capistratus), Blue Striped Grunts (H. sciurus), Great Barracudas (S. barracuda), Trumpetfish (A. maculatus), Scrawled Filefish (A. scriptus), Queen Triggerfish (B. vertula), a variety of Parrot Fish, Black Triggerfish (M. niger), Green and Spotted Moray Eels (G. funbris and G. moringa), Spiny Lobsters (P. argus), and many other species.
Let us know if you have any follow up questions on this site or others. Thanks!!
<3 Meliae and B. Quad