Barracuda

Barracuda (also written "Barracudas" or "Barracuda Reef") is a coral reef dive site located south of Playa del Carmen, part of the extensive Mesoamerican Reef System that stretches nearly 1,000 km from Contoy Island in Mexico to Honduras and belongs to the larger Scorpion barrier reef. A second version of the site, known locally as Barracuda Reef, lies directly off the beach of the north end of Cozumel island, within easy swimming distance from shore.

The reef runs from a minimum depth of 6 m (20 ft) to a maximum of 14 m (50 ft), making it a shallow dive suited to beginners. With enough air and a favourable current, divers at the Playa del Carmen site can continue from Barracudas to the adjacent reef known as Sabalos. At the Cozumel location the bottom features smallish coral with noticeable new growth, including Elkhorn Coral that sustained damage during Hurricane Wilma—most crowns are broken but recovery is under way.

Marine life at the site includes schools of great barracuda numbering up to several dozen individuals, eels, boxfish, angelfish, trumpetfish, and lionfish. The northern breakwater area at Cozumel appears to serve as a spawning ground, which may explain the size and concentration of barracuda there; dense clouds of juvenile fish are also present. Small to medium fish are abundant throughout the reef.