Puerto Morelos is a town and seaport in Quintana Roo located in the northeast of the state, about 36 km south of the resort city of Cancún, and about 30 km north of the city of Playa Del Carmen.

Puerto Morelos is divided by a thruway and a mangrove swamp into three segments. The segment west of the parkway is known as «Colonia Joaquin Zetina Gazca». The east area of the expressway is classified «Colonia Pescadores». The area on the coast east of the mangrove swamp is «Puerto» or «Antiguo” (Antique) Puerto Morelos». This unique waterfront angling town is currently a calm, blended use neighborhood of private homes, lodgings, townhouses, cafés, and vacationer shops.

One hundred meters seaward lies the Puerto Morelos segment of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, assigned as a National Marine Park in 1998 because of nearby environmental activists.

This reef system, likewise famously known as the Great Mayan Reef or Great Maya Reef, is a marine region that extends more than 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) from Isla Contoy at the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula down to Belize, Guatemala and the Bay Islands of Honduras. The reef system includes different protected areas and parks including the Puerto Morelos Coral Reef National Park, Belize Barrier Reef, Coral Reefs in Cozumel National Park, Hol Chan Marine Reserve (Belize), Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve, and the Cayos Cochinos Marine Park.

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-largest coral reef on the planet, runs equal the Yucatan Peninsula. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the main reef that is bigger. In Puerto Morelos, the reef is nearer to the shore than in different regions of the Riviera Maya. In 1998, this segment of the reef turned into an protected territory.

Snorkeling tours and scuba diving trips are accessible from a few jump shops in the little, ocean side town of Puerto Morelos. It is illicit to swim out to the reef from the shore. To secure the reef, all swimmers and jumpers must go out to the reef with licensed guides.

The reef system is home to over 65 types of stony coral, 350 types of mollusk and more than  500 types of fish. There are various species that live in or around the reef system that are imperiled or under some level of protection, including the following: sea turtles (green sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, leatherback turtle, and the hawksbill turtle), the queen conch, the West Indian manatee, the mind blowing toadfish, the American crocodile, the Morelet’s Crocodile, the Nassau grouper, elkhorn coral, and dark coral.

SNORKELING, DIVING AND FISHING

Appreciate Scuba Diving at the lovely reefs and caves in the zone. Go out swimming, take a vessel with a guide who will provide you  with all the required hardware including a life vest. Dive Shops are accessible straightforwardly in Puerto Morelos or appreciate as much as six hours of angling, full gear, proficient guide and group, snare and refreshments. marlin, sailfish, mahi, wahoo, barracuda, grouper, snapper, snook, pampano, license and that’s just the beginning.You may not be permitted having contact with the coral and must take extraordinary care not to harm it as it is just 6 feet underneath the surface. Great  care is  taken to shield it from being harmed. There is an government watch committed to secure this zone.