Freediving Isla Cozumel, Chankanaab Adventure Park
Chankanaab Adventure Park by Andre Navarro
Gorgeous and fun Isla Cozumel ! Out of the all the areas to explore, Chankanaab Adventure Park is a must. About 15 minutes south of Centro, Chankanaab Adventure Park is a day use beach wonderland resembling a swank resort's beach side luxuries including a cenote. My favorite area to explore is in the ocean out front. You don't have to go far either. As soon as you get in the water, you're going to see a variety of corals, sponges, fish, caverns and even underwater statues.
Chankanaab Underwater Caverns by Andre Navarro
In this part 1 article, we're going to focus on the shore reefs and underwater caverns right in front of the location. You can either pay a reasonable day use fee to use the location's many amenities or enter from the south over the jagged shore reef. As you swim along the shore reef, the first thing you'll notice is the spread out variety of corals, sea whips, sea plumes and colorful sponges. And in these same areas, you'll see many colorful and diverse fish feeding or gliding by.
Sergeant Majorfish and Sea Plumes of Cozumel by Andre Navarro
One of my favorite fish to observe is the Smooth Trunkfish which resemble little space aliens. They have the cutest little grumpy face with puckered lips that only a mother could love. If they weren't in water, they look like they would fly away back to their mother ship. They have an odd triangular shape and many small fins in unusual places. As they swim along the reefs, I can't help but to follow them for as long as they let me. And they are pretty tolerant, not minding much at all unless I get too close by accident.
Smooth Trunkfish of Cozumel by Andre Navarro
The underwater caverns are on the southern end of the property. As you get closer to them, you'll feel the water begins to feel cooler along the surface. You'll also notice the water begins to get murky in an odd way also along the surface. And when the water feels extremely cold with thick patches of blurry looking water, almost like someone spilled a truck load of cooking oil, you have arrived at the caverns. The underwater caverns are where the fresh water from the cenote and forest run into the ocean. This cold fresh water can not mix immediately with the much warmer salty ocean water creating a blurry waxy looking area that is also cold. It tends to float towards the top, but in the area of the caverns, it's everywhere.
French Angelfish in Murky water by Andre Navarro
Right before entering the cavern area, there is a cool swim through that is shaped like a heart. Once you swim through the heart, you are in the cavern corner. As you make your way around this inner area, you'll see the opening into the huge caverns. The further you go along the caverns, it opens up along the side leading under the shore reef into the darkness. You can easily swim under the opening, going through some easy passages. But these caverns go deep into the darkness. There are a couple passages that I like to swim through that go into the darkness but you can see light at the other end. 
Heart Passage at Chankanaab Cozumel by Andre Navarro
Chankanaab Underwater Caverns of Cozumel by Andre Navarro
Once you reach the other end of the caverns, the underwater scenery turns back into shallow shore reef with clusters of corals, fans, sponges and lot's of fish. However the shore reef has many cool small opening and tunnels that only the fish can swim through. These areas are concentrated with fish. You'll find large gatherings of yellow French Grunts into the hundreds in this area. You'll also see many colorful Parrot Fish. The most common are the Yellow Tail. My favorite are the Spotlight Parrot Fish which come in two very different colors and patterns. The male has a bright yellow stomach with red checkered upper area. The female comes in bright aqua blue with highlights of darker blue and green. They're both extremely beautiful fish that look like beautiful works of art. They're usually wandering around nipping at things for the algae.
Male Stoplight Parrotfish of Cozumel by Andre Navarro
Female Stoplight Parrotfish of Cozumel by Andre Navarro
As much as I love viewing all the fish, I can't help but to admire the sea whips, plumes, fans and various corals that are all around. It's amazing that they are actually animals, not plants as they may appear. There are numerous Purple Sea Fans everywhere along with Sea Whips and Plumes that are usually purple and yellow. It's beautiful the way they all gently sway back and fourth in the current. There is a decent amount of Fire Blade Coral along the reefs but you'll also see Pillar Coral occasionally. And when you see all these animals together In a dense area, it will be filled with fish and crustaceans like a little city buzzing with life.
Sea Fans, Whips, Plumes and Corals of Cozumel by Andre Navarro
Pillar Coral at Chankanaab Cozumel by Andre Navarro
Chankanaab Adventure Park's shallow reefs and underwater caverns are a fantastic area to explore with little effort. It's a beautiful area above and below the surface with amazing ocean views. In a future part 2 of this article, we'll explore the deeper reefs filled with fish and the famous underwater statues. 
Underwater Statue of Chankanaab Cozumel by Andre Navarro
The accompanying Youtube videos are first hand footage captured by Andre Navarro while freediving Isla Cozumel, Mexico. The first "Amazing Cozumel" is the new series. "Diving Cozumel Mexico" series is from 2020 exploration with 11 locations. Subscribe and sign up to our Newsletter to not miss future adventures !Published by: Andre Navarro of Ocean Earth Green
I’m Andre Navarro, Southern California freediver and underwater videographer. I create ocean life adventure videos to connect viewers to our amazing underwater world to motivate stronger conservation and ocean life awareness. You can follow my ocean adventures here at OceanEarthGreen.com and view all my current and past videos at Youtube.com/OceanEarthGreen.
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