Freediving Isla Mujeres, Hermosa Caleta
Hermosa Caleta of Isla Mujeres, Mexico by Andre Navarro
The amazingly gorgeous Isla Mujeres of the Mexican Caribbean ! I fell in love with this enchanting island approximately 5 years ago on my first visit. I was especially intrigued with it’s underwater environments and diverse marine life. And it doesn’t hurt that almost every view on the island looks like paradise, especially on the north side of the island at the famous Playa Norte and Hermosa Caleta. So after 5 years of planning and anticipation, I finally returned with a full agenda of ocean life exploring and underwater videography goals.
I planned to focus on two areas of the island, Mia Reef which is on furthest north side of the island and Isla Tiburon which is on the west side of the island. Mia Reef is the location of the Mia Reef Resort which was built on the reef and requires crossing a short bridge to get to. Hermosa Caleta is a shallow inlet of ocean water between Mia Reef and Playa Norte. Hermosa Caleta and Playa Norte are popular with beach goers for their shallow warm turquoise blue to emerald green water. Surprisingly though, this area is not known for it’s coral reefs or abundant ocean life.
North Side of Isla Mujeres, Mexico by Andre Navarro
Upon my first visit to Isla Mujerers, like most people, I took a snorkeling boat tour which lasted several hours as they drove us all over the island to several reef locations. However, the largest reef of the island, the Mia Reef was not on the agenda. And the second largest reef, Isla Tiburon on the open ocean side was only visited for a few mintues. From the areas I did experience on the boat tour, it was clear this island has many awesome reefs abundant with diverse corals and thriving ocean life. This is all the motivation I need to begin my own in depth exploring of the areas that were ignored or too hard to access or too dangerous for the normal tours.
Hermosa Caleta has several points of interest with hundreds of fish, diverse corals, abundant sea stars, beautiful shallow reefs and even unknown underwater caverns with swim throughs. This description of Hermosa Caleta, even to those who have been there, is usually shocking. I often get comments to my footage of these areas as “fake” and “I was just there and didn’t see that.” I also get constantly told that Isla Mujeres’ reefs are dead and all the fish are gone. I capture all my footage first hand so If I have video and photos of it, I have current proof it exists. Getting constant backlash to capturing awesome videos has turned into an twisted version of my best compliments, in goofy way.
Hermosa Caleta of Isla Mujeres, Mexico by Andre Navarro
I began my exploration of Hermosa Caleta at the east end where the ocean waves enter over a rocky shallow reef. This shallow reef is only a few inches to a few feet deep, limiting most people’s access as it’s not easy to navigate in. This area has a wide variety of fish including Parrots Fish, Barracudas, Snappers, Grunts, Chubs, Damsels and many others that take refuge behind the bigger rocks from the incoming waves and current. There are also hundreds of Sardines that share this shallow reef.
From here, I made my way to the Mia Reef Bridge where there are usually hundreds of fish relaxing in the shade in the morning. On my short swim through the very shallow water to the bridge, I came across a cool and confusing looking Flame Box Crab. At first it looked like a baseball rolling around on the sand, until I saw it had legs and was walking sideways. This crab had a confusing looking shell and claws and was not scared to walk along side of me as I was capturing video of it.
Diverse Caribbean Fish of Hermosa Caleta by Andre Navarro
Flame Box Crab of Isla Mujeres, Mexico by Andre Navarro
When I got to the Mia Reef Bridge, which is the only access to the resort, I was astonished on how many fish were under it ! And they were one of my favorite fish to swim with, Bermuda Chubs. These large light blue silver fish are usually not afraid of people and quite often will come up close if they think there is a snack involved. This day, under the bridge looked like a Bermuda Chub traffic jam with hundreds of fish slowly swimming back and forth under the length. At the end of the bridge attached to the Mia Reef Resort, there were swarms of Sgt. Majorfish with their cute yellow and black stripes. These fish are also very friendly and don’t mind being close to people. At the other end of the bridge connecting the main island, there were hundreds of juvenile French Grunts and a variety of Snappers. It’s an amazing feeling to swim among so many fish in nature as they accepted my presence and we shared the shade.
Bermuda Chubs under the Mia Reef Bridge by Andre Navarro
After hanging out under the Mia Bridge with all the Bermuda Chubs, it was time to move on to the west end of Hermosa Caleta where the shallow reefs begin with Corals, Sea Stars, Caverns and lot’s of marine life. This also involved a short swim through very shallow sections of water, some only a few inches deep at low tide. These shallow areas are where most of the people from the resort and nearby beaches hangout. It’s also the reason why most people don’t see much ocean life other than a few fish swimming by. On the way to the Hermosa Caleta’s west shallow reefs, the underwater environment slowly changes from sand, to sea grass and then to a huge variety of life. I’m not sure why this area is not explored more by locals. It’s easy access and shallow and the experience reward is huge.
Hermosa Caleta Shallow Reefs by Andre Navarro
My favorite are the Underwater Caverns with swim throughs in the shallow reefs. Often people don’t believe these even exist here as they are little known of. The underwater caverns are hard to see from the surface and appear as dark shadows at the bottom of the reefs. This is the hint to dive down and get a closer look. Once you’re almost in it, do these underwater caverns reveal themselves. They look so beautiful and mysterious from within. Usually there are several opening where the sunlight shines in from above. And there are always lots and lots of fish. I love to hold my breathe and dive down into the caverns and just sit there with the fish swimming around me. it’s a surreal experience and heart touching connection with nature. I also love swimming in and out of what ever openings I fit through.
Underwater Cavern of Isla Mujeres by Andre Navarro
Underwater Cavern of Isla Mujeres by Andre Navarro
Amongst the many other marine life attraction is this area are the abundant and diversely colored and patterned Caribbean Cushion Sea Stars. Ranging from red, orange, yellow, green and different combinations of these colors and patterns. I also enjoy all the different Sea Whips and Plumes which resemble land plants with branches but are actually animals. There are also many Fire Corals in this area among other hard corals which are also animals. There are many empty and taken large concha shells around. Some have huge Caribbean Hermit Crabs living in them. At first pass, they get scared and hide. But if you float calmly, they come back out and wander around in their huge cool shell.
Caribbean Cushion Sea Stars of Isla Mujeres by Andre Navarro
FIre Corals of Isla Mujeres by Andre Navarro
Caribbean Hermit Crab of Isla Mujerers by Andre Navarro
After spending days exploring and capturing the beautiful and diverse marine life of Hermosa Caleta on video, it was time to move on to the next location. Every location I explore, I always discover something new. I always view the world in a different way that I would have never done before. Especially the underwater world. it's so amazing and unique, like being on another planet below the surface. It changes the way I think and the way I see myself in life. I'm thankful for the opportunity to do these explorations and connect with all the different ocean life.
The accompanying Youtube videos are first hand footage captured by Andre Navarro while freedive exploring Hermosa Caleta of Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The first video is "Isla Mujeres Diving Adventures ! Exploring Hermosa Caleta" and the second video is Part 2. 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.