Dive pictures from the Mayan Riviera

[Reef Pilot]

Just got back from there. Stayed at the Bahia Principe Tulum resort. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. Was expecting to find some nice snorkeling close by, but no joy with that. In fact, the reefs all around were basically a coral graveyard. You can see that there was once lots of SPS, but only saw a few softies and LPS. The SPS were mostly all dead. I suspect the resort and beach development is what killed them, with probably phosphates and chemicals leaching out into the ocean.

Plus you had to go out quite a ways, and the winds were up all the time, making the trek to the reefs and snorkeling in the waves downright dangerous at times. Good thing I had good flippers, and other than getting quite tired, I managed not to scrape myself on the reefs. A friend, who was with me had smaller flippers, and he had a really hard time. We only did it a couple times and gave up after that.

We also made a trip to Akumal, but it was no better there. Winds were high as well, and a guy on a kayak (assume a lifeguard) wouldn't let us go past the outer buoys. So we didn't see much there either. Lots of turtles though, and also saw a big ray.

I guess you need to go on a diving excursion to see the really good stuff there. We normally go to Hawaii (Maui) and I guess I got spoiled there with great snorkeling all over the place, including right beside our hotel.