Colombia Shallows

Colombia Shallows sits off the southwest coast of Cozumel, in the Yucatan Peninsula region of Quintana Roo, Mexico, as the shallower counterpart to the deeper Colombia Reef nearby. It is a coral reef site within Cozumel's protected marine park, drift dived along the island's south end where the current typically runs light and parallel to shore. The reef here is composed of coral heads, swim-throughs, and sand channels, with a maximum depth of around 11.2 metres, making it a beginner site well suited to a second dive on a two-tank trip. Visibility is generally great, and nurse sharks, sea turtles, and snapper are regularly seen along the reef, with divers also reporting angelfish and octopus tucked into the coral. The site is valued for these reef encounters and its coral formations rather than big pelagic action.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Sea turtleSea turtleConfirmed present · 3 independent sources
• Nurse SharkGinglymostoma cirratumConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
• Southern StingrayHypanus americanusReported here · unconfirmed
• Red Cushion Sea StarOreaster reticulatusReported here · unconfirmed
• French AngelfishPomacanthus paruReported here · unconfirmed
• Atlantic Sergeant MajorAbudefduf saxatilisReported here · unconfirmed
• Atlantic Blue TangAcanthurus coeruleusReported here · unconfirmed
• Bar JackCaranx ruberReported here · unconfirmed
• Giant AnemoneCondylactis giganteaReported here · unconfirmed
• Nurse sharkNurse sharkConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
• AngelfishAngelfishReported here · unconfirmed
• SnapperSnapperConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
• OctopusOctopusReported here · unconfirmed