
When visiting the Riviera Maya for diving, it’s usual to do a check-out dive at Playa del Carmen’s shallow reefs. Typically a shallow reef is chosen to acclimatize to the local conditions and get a first taste of the marine life around the area. A reef we often choose as such a check-out dive site is La Cueva del Pargo in Playa del Carmen. It translates to “the snappers’ cave”.
In this blog, we will share with you everything you need to know about the La Cueva del Pargo dive site in Playa del Carmen.
Diving in Playa del Carmen’s “La Cueva del Pargo” Reef
With a good amount of marine life, La Cueva del Pargo in Playa del Carmen is one of the most known reefs in the area. Many divers who completed their Open Water certification in Playa del Carmen have been to this reef. Offering the ideal depth for a training or check-out dive, this dive site comes with about the perfect conformation for any diver.
In its shallow areas, you can dive above countless corals and sponges, and look under rocks and crevices to find different species. Into the dive, the first part of this reef builds up more structure and gets to about 9 meters of depth. Upon reaching this depth, the dive guide leads the divers over a sandy area and to the second part of the reef, ranging from 9-13 meters depth approximately.
Quick Info
Location
La Cueva del Pargo Reef is only a short 5-minute boat ride from Coco Beach. A bit northward of the beach, it lies close to the shore.
Dive Time
As this is a fairly shallow reef, our dive time here is generally anywhere between 45-70 minutes. There is enough marine life to observe to fill an hour easily! Typically training dives here last up to 60 minutes, while certified divers with good air consumption can spend a long time looking for different species in both reef parts.
Dive Site Conformation
La Cueva del Pargo is known for its conformation, as a reef split in two parts. One part runs a bit shallower ranging from 6-9 meters approximately, while the second part lays parallelly a bit deeper from 9-13 meters depth. Sitting just a short ride from the shore, La Cueva del Pargo is easily reached and identifiable along a sandy part bordering the edge of the reef.
The second part of the reef has a lot more structure, emerging from the sand and covered in different corals. Often you’ll find sting rays, turtles, and squid in this area of the reef.
Requirements
To participate in a dive at La Cueva del Pargo you have different options. Either you are a certified diver already, or you enroll in your Open Water Course to complete a training dive at this dive site. Also, you can choose to do a Discover Scuba Diving program before enrolling in a certification course. The reef’s conformation allows for nearly any diver to visit.
What to Expect From A Dive at La Cueva del Pargo in Playa del Carmen
The variety of marine life and the easy profile of this dive site make it an interesting site for any diver. Starting to descend to a shallow depth of around 7-8 meters your guide will lead you to the reef. Generally throughout the dive we cross over the reef several times and back to the sandy area. La Cueva del Pargo offers a lot of different fish, overhangs, and structures to search for marine species.
Between the two reef parts, you can find a huge bronze statue in the form of a giant shell. A great scenery for pictures and a shelter for some morays and macro life connects the two areas of the reef.
Marine Life
Typically you’ll find different moray eels under the overhangs, maybe even a king crab or lobster! The impressive green moray eel is one of the biggest you can find here.
You may observe a sting ray searching for food near the reef border and further in the sand.
Also, you may come across a sea turtle either in the reef or the seagrass growing between both reef parts.
For macro-lovers, there are many different inhabitants to find in La Cueva del Pargo reef. You can find Christmas tree worms, flamingo tongue snails, arrow crabs, cleaner shrimps, anemones, and more here. You can find drum fish, sergeant majors, trumpet fish, porcupine fish, french grunts, parrot fish, squirrel fish, and the occasional barracuda to observe!
Flounders, trunkfish, and scorpionfish are interesting finds here and hard to spot! Also, beware of the invasive lionfish! They’re beautiful, but we don’t want to touch them!
Different angelfish call La Cueva del Pargo their home too. There are French angelfish, grey angelfish, and queen angelfish around. Because of its variety of marine life, this reef is often visited and photographers find lots of enjoyment in doing their thing.
Dive La Cueva del Pargo in Playa del Carmen with Blue Life Diving
When looking for a full-service scuba diving operator based in Playa del Carmen, look no further. We got you. Blue Life Diving offers daily ocean and Cenote dives. We visit Cozumel’s finest reefs, Playa del Carmen’s shallow and deep dive sites, wreck dives and different Cenotes on a regular schedule, guided by highly trained professionals.
Whether you’re only diving one day or planning several days, be sure you’re in the best hands.
You can choose between single-day tours or bespoke diving packages. We also rent equipment if you don’t bring your own. Our Playa del Carmen dives are either in the morning or afternoon schedule, always two tanks in two different reefs. In season you can combine the bull shark dive with one shallow reef to get the most out of your day! The second dive site is to be chosen on board. We’re happy to inquire about this dive to be at La Cueva del Pargo in Playa del Carmen.
Get in touch for any further and detailed information, or check out our online offers. We’re happy to teach you if you want to take your diving to the next level. Whether you want to advance in your recreational diving expertise or step into technical, side mount, or cave diving, our courses are designed to help you achieve your goal and make you the confident and skilled diver you always wanted to be.