Palancar Reef is a large

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

on the southwest side of the island of Cozumel and is part of the

Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park The Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park is off the coast of the island of Cozumel in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The Cozumel reef system is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second largest coral reef system in the world. Eve ...

. The site, popular with

scuba divers This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where t ...

, is divided into several sections based on depth and

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

formations. Dive depths range from , with coral swim-throughs in many places.

Sealife

Angelfish Angelfish may refer to: *Several groups of fish: **Freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the genus ''Pterophyllum'' **Marine angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae **Atlantic pomfret (''Brama brama''), sold by fishmongers as "angelfish" in Sou ...

Barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...

Crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

s *

Grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...

* Moray eels * Nurse sharks *

Ocean sunfish The ocean sunfish or common mola (''Mola mola'') is one of the largest bony fish in the world. It was misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which was actually a different species, ''Mola alexandrini''. Adults typically weigh between . The spe ...

Parrotfish Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a Family (biology), family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found ...

Sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

s * Spiny lobster *

Splendid toadfish The splendid toadfish (''Sanopus splendidus'') also called the coral toadfish and the Cozumel splendid toadfish is a species of toadfish once believed to be entirely endemic to the island of Cozumel but have been found on the reefs of Honduras al ...

* Yellowtail amberjack

Dive locations

* Palancar horseshoe * Palancar caves * Palancar gardens * Palancar shallows * Palancar deep

Conservation

On September 23, 2019, the Natural Protected Areas Commission (CONANP) announced that it is temporarily closing a section of the reef from Palancar Gardens all the way around the south tip of the island. The closure is planned to be in effect from October 7, 2019, to December 15, 2019, at which point they will re-evaluate the health of the reef.

References

Coral reefs Underwater diving sites in Cozumel Landforms of Quintana Roo Reefs of Mexico {{underwater-diving-stub

Sealife

Dive locations

Conservation

See also

References