Anegada de Adentro is the closest of the Veracruz dive zones, about 25 minutes out from the city waterfront, and it is worked as a set of named sites rather than one fixed profile. Soft sand slopes and sandy bottoms run between coral that builds low walls, depths across the zone go from 5 to 40 metres, and a warship sunk as an artificial reef lies at 28 metres in the same water.
Where it is and how deep
19.2268° N, 96.0556° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The boat picks a site by the conditions of the day. La Blanquilla, El Caomex, La Cadena, Ancla del Morgan, Punta Sureste, La Virgen, Catedrales, El Jardin de Isla Verde and La Lagrima are all worked from the same 25-minute run, and depths across them go from 5 metres to 40. The ground is soft sand slopes and sandy bottoms threaded with coral, and where the coral stacks up it makes walls rather than drop-offs, none of them pronounced.
The shallow soft-coral gardens are the reason to bring a camera and the reason to have your buoyancy sorted before you get in: the operator describes them as exceptional and very shallow, and working them without disturbing anything takes real control. Hard and soft corals of many species grow here in quantity, and Caribbean and Gulf fish, turtles, lobsters, octopus and sponges live among them.
The wreck is a separate dive. She lies at 28 metres, deep enough that local operators class her as advanced only, and she carries abundant life. Dorado Buceo names her the Vicente Rivapalacio C50, donated by the Secretaria de Marina; the published account of the Admirable-class minesweeper USS Jubilant, later ARM General Miguel Negrete (C50), has her scuttled as an artificial reef off Anegada Reef and Isla Verde in August 2001 in 28 metres of water. Either way it is one planned pass along the hull with an eye on the no-stop clock.
The wreck
- Vessel
- USS Jubilant / ARM General Miguel Negrete (C50)
- Type
- Admirable-class minesweeper
- Length
- 56.24 m (185 ft)
- Built
- 1943
- Sunk
- 2001
- Cause
- Scuttled deliberately to create an artificial reef
- Lies
- At 28 m off Anegada Reef and Isla Verde
USS Jubilant (AM-255) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during the Second World War and launched on 20 February 1943 at the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. In October 1962 she was sold to the Mexican Navy, becoming ARM DM-01 and later ARM General Miguel Negrete (C50). Stricken in 2000, she was scuttled off Veracruz in August 2001 in 28 metres of water to work as an artificial reef. Local operators list the 28-metre wreck here as the Vicente Rivapalacio C50, donated by the Secretaria de Marina.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Reef fish swarms
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Veracruz Reef System: May–Aug is calmest and clearest; the nortes that blow from October to March regularly shut the port to small boats.
Know before you go
- The wreck bottoms out at 28 m, where no-stop time runs out fast, so agree maximum depth and turn pressure on the boat rather than on the hull.
- The zone lies off a working port with constant vessel movement, so stay with the line or the reef and send up a surface marker buoy before ascending.
- The shallow soft-coral gardens are inside a national marine park and damage easily; the operator asks for excellent buoyancy and no contact.
Dive videos
Buceo en Veracruz Puerto- Anegada de Adentro 19/04/14 · Moises Zavaleta on YouTube
Buceo Catedrales en la anegada de adentro Veracruz · Alex Reyes Buceo on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the wreck at Anegada de Adentro?+
It lies at 28 metres, past what an Open Water certification covers, and local operators run it for advanced divers only. The reef dives in the same zone are shallower, starting around 5 metres and reaching 40 at the deep end of the zone.
How far is Anegada de Adentro from Veracruz?+
About 25 minutes by boat from the city waterfront, the shortest run of the local dive zones. Operators in Veracruz and Boca del Rio supply equipment and guide the reefs, all of which sit inside the Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano National Marine Park.
Sources
- Sitios de Buceo en Veracruz — Dorado Buceo Veracruz
- USS Jubilant — Wikipedia
- Arrecife Anegada de Adentro (OpenStreetMap) — OpenStreetMap
- Parque marino nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano — Wikipedia (Spanish)
Photo credits
- Aerial view of a small reef island with a lighthouse surrounded by shallow turquoise water off Veracruz by Pigman, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Veracruz Reef System
Wreck
A 56 m Navy minesweeper sunk upright off Isla Verde
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Reef
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Puerto Vallarta & Banderas Bay · Mexico
A garden eel colony dense enough to look like grass
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