Cozumel is one of the top scuba diving and snorkeling destinations in the world, and with good reason. In an effort to protect this significant world treasure, the Cozumel Reefs National Marine Park (or more correctly, Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Cozumel) was formed by Presidential Decree in July of 1996. It covers most of the southern portion of the island's coast and reefs, or about 85% of the diving sites.

Coral is fragile, and humankind has already done quite a bit of damage to the world's oceans. A major part of scuba diving is respect for the environment, so many scuba divers are very cognizant of the possible damage they might cause. A piece of gear that drags across a reef or a misplaced fin kick can cause a lot of damage to a coral reef, perhaps even killing it. Even with the care a good scuba diver usually takes when diving, extra care is taken in Cozumel.

As we prepared for our dive, part of the pre-dive briefing covered the extra caution we should show the reefs in the National Marine Park. Our dive operator, Dive Paradise, made it very clear that we were not to take diving gloves or a dive knife (sometimes referred to as a dive tool) with us on our dives. This would help remind us that grabbing onto the coral could kill it. And with bare hands, that would probably hurt us, too, so that serves as a constant reminder! And without a dive tool, a diver would be less likely to try and pry some interesting souvenir off the reef.

Cozumel has avoided many of these depredations. There is plenty of big marine life, as well as corals and the smaller creatures. And since the dive operators take this matter seriously, you can count on an enjoyable series of dives around the island. During our trip in February, 2009, we made 23 dives, and there wasn't a single one where there wasn't something to see. A lot of the credit for that goes to National Marine Park.

All of this is just good common sense, but it does pay to get yourself into the correct mindset even before you leave on your trip. If we want to continue to have pristine places to dive, we need to protect them. And while the Mexican people obviously profit from this natural resource of theirs, much of the protections in place are for the benefit of the dive community. Too many good dive sites have been ruined by overuse, overfishing and just plain neglect. That doesn't even take into account negligent divers or good old-fashioned thoughtlessness. Being prepared to do our part can go a long way toward maintaining, or even improving, this dive site - not just for us, but for future divers to come.

So before your trip to Cozumel, brush up on your scuba diving skills. Buoyancy control is always important, but with the drift-style of diving in Cozumel it is essential. Generally, the current will lift you up and over any coral heads, but good buoyancy control will help ensure that you aren't being run into anything that you might damage. Also, make sure your gear is adequate, and that nothing is dangling or dragging. Another thing to think about, and not quite so obvious, is biodegradable sun block and the like. Don't plan on leaving anything in the water that might cause any damage.

Cozumel is accessible, beautiful and relatively inexpensive. Let's do all we can to make sure that it remains one of the world's top dive spots - now, and for a long time to come.