Level: Free shore access This spot have a free shore access: you can go snorkeling there freely and without having to book a tour or pay an entrance fee.
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Last updated on June 22, 2024
Puerto Morelos, a charming Mexican fishing town, offers a stark contrast to its neighbor, Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Its coral reef, listed as a Marine Park and stretching for miles along the coast, is probably the most beautiful and best preserved in the Mayan Riviera. On the reef and seagrass, you will see rays, turtles, barracudas, lobsters, and dozens of colorful reef fish.
Puerto Morelos is at the heart of Riviera Maya, halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen (35 minutes by car). After leaving Federal Route 307, drive the 1.5 remaining miles to reach the town and park near the beach.
Many collective taxis (known here as “vans” or “collectivos“), constantly traveling along the Federal Route 307, stop at Puerto Morelos. Regular buses also serve the town.
There are two options to snorkel at this location:
If you want to snorkel the nearshore areas (snorkeling area 1 on the map above), enter the water from the public beach. The recommended snorkel entry is in front of Beach Club Ojo de Agua.
If you take part in a barrier reef tour (snorkeling area 2 on the map above), you will enter the water from your boat. It is not allowed to swim from the beach to the barrier reef.
Puerto Morelos features two main snorkeling areas:
In this area, the gently sloping seabed is covered with sand, seagrass, and small corals (↕6-12 feet/2-4 meters).
The seagrass beds are the best place to spot green sea turtles (they are much rarer here than in Akumal Bay) and several species of rays, including Southern stingrays, Yellow stingrays, and Spotted eagle rays.
In some places, you will find rocky areas covered with sponges, sea fans, and small corals, attracting interesting marine life like reef fish, shrimp and sea anemones.
On the barrier reef, the sea bed is covered with coral. Some areas feature hundreds of purple sea fans swaying in the current. On the sea fans, look for Flamingo tongue snails, the small colorful gastropods feeding on their polyps.
The Elkhorn coral, one of the most important reef-building coral in the Caribbean, is one of the highlight of the barrier reef. Some of them almost touch the surface of the water.
The barrier reef hosts a fantastic diversity of fish including hundreds of Sergeant major, shoals of French grunt, as well as several species of Butterflyfish and Parrotfish.
As you make your way along the coral beds, you are also likely to spot an Ocean triggerfish or an impressive Great barracuda, also common in the seagrass nearshore.
In the northern part of the location, a small underwater cenote (difficult to find, ask locals on the beach) can also be snorkeled.
There is a wide choice of supermarkets, snack bars, and restaurants in Puerto Morelos, both near the beach and in the village. A wide range of accommodation is also available in the area, especially on the seafront.
These spots are accessible to anyone with basic snorkeling skills, and feeling comfortable in the water and with his snorkeling gear. You will enter the water from the shore (beach, pontoon, ladder, rocks) or from a boat. The water height in the sea entrance area is reasonable, but you will not necessarily be within your depth. Moderate currents can occur in the area, even when the sea conditions are good. The distance to swim to reach the most interesting snorkeling areas of the spot does not exceed 200 meters. This level only apply when the spot experiences optimal sea and/or weather conditions. It is not applicable if the sea and/or weather conditions deteriorate, in particular in the presence of rough sea, rain, strong wind, unusual current, large tides, waves and/or swell. You can find more details about the definition of our snorkeling levels on our snorkeling safety page.
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Snorkeling spots are part of a wild environment and their aspect can be significantly altered by weather, seasons, sea conditions, human impact and climate events (storms, hurricanes, seawater-warming episodes…). The consequences can be an alteration of the seabed (coral bleaching, coral destruction, and invasive seagrass), a poor underwater visibility, or a decrease of the sea life present in the area. Snorkeling Report makes every effort to ensure that all the information displayed on this website is accurate and up-to-date, but no guarantee is given that the underwater visibility and seabed aspect will be exactly as described on this page the day you will snorkel the spot. If you recently snorkeled this area and noticed some changes compared to the information contained on this page, please contact us.
The data contained in this website is for general information purposes only, and is not legal advice. It is intended to provide snorkelers with the information that will enable them to engage in safe and enjoyable snorkeling, and it is not meant as a substitute for swim level, physical condition, experience, or local knowledge. Remember that all marine activities, including snorkeling, are potentially dangerous, and that you enter the water at your own risk. You must take an individual weather, sea conditions and hazards assessment before entering the water. If snorkeling conditions are degraded, postpone your snorkeling or select an alternate site. Know and obey local laws and regulations, including regulated areas, protected species, wildlife interaction and dive flag laws.
