Careful eyes will discover that the reef is punctuated with the minute and rare, from clown crabs to inch-long seahorses to spiny lobsters. Though Chinchorro's known as a wreck site, many of the wrecks lie on the windward side of the reef and are difficult to access for day dives. A few adorn the lee side, including the wreck of the Forty Cannons, a spectacular shallow site we dive regularly. The Wreck of the Forty Cannons Coastal Dive Sites There are also many excellent dive sites on the coastal reef along this stretch of southern Yucatan coast known as the Costa Maya. Spur and groove reefs drop from 30 to 130 feet, where a wall falls to 3000'.
Some areas have deep canyons and swimthroughs.
One wonderful day brought us a dozen mantas, and we see turtles frequently here. Occasionally we encounter manatees when we're on the boat. The atoll known as Banco Chinchorro is about 9 miles wide and nearly 30 miles long and encompasses about 300 square miles of coral. Cayo Norte - break the surface. Most of our dive sites are located along the western edge of the reef in a north-south line over about a 80 kilometer distance between the Wreck of the 40 Cannons near Cayo Norte and the cut to Cayo Centro.