Welcome to the Home of XTC Dive Center

Welcome to the Xcalak to Chinchorro Dive Center (XTC)! We are located in the small fishing village of Xcalak (pop 400). It is the southernmost town on the Mexican Caribbean coast, on the border with Belize and within the Xcalak Reef National Marine Park.

Xcalak is on the tip of a peninsula that borders the Caribbean sea to the east and Chetumal Bay to the west, which are part of a unique, extremely connected and bio-diverse eco-system made up of coral reefs (15miles of protected reef), mangroves, rivers, lagoons and bays that make for a nature lover’s paradise.

Xcalak is at the center of the Great Maya Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world. Scuba Diving around Xcalak offers incredible diversity. There are deep walls, shallow walls, unique geographical formations, vast canyons between spur and groove reef systems, swim throughs, caverns, and an exotic array of Caribbean marine reef creatures.

Xcalak is most definitely the quintessential fishing village, unspoiled by development and certainly remote in the best sense of the word. You will find your cell phone doesn`t work here, internet access is limited, and most lodging options are small beach inns that run on renewable energy. This allows our guests to enjoy a truly memorable experience in a very special place. All of us who work here at XTC were drawn here by Xcalak´s peacefulness and paradise-on-earth feel and work very hard to protect it and preserve its unique eco-system. You will find that spirit in everything we do; from our facilities, we are 100% self contained, to our trips and instructional philosophy.

For us, sustainability is not an aspect of what we do but a way of life that is shared by the locals. More than a decade ago, they requested the federal government declare Xcalak a National Park to protect it from the development happening not far north of here, where there now is a cruise ship pier. This means that Xcalak is one of the few Marine Reserves that were protected well before there was any development. 

As a PADI 5 Star Instructor Developement Dive Resort, XTC’s full service dive center offers PADI diving instruction—everything from Bubblemakers to Staff Instructor; sidemount instruction, PADI Tec Rec training through Trimix and all levels in between.

We also offer bird watching trips, trolling, bone fishing and snorkeling tours in Xcalak.

Additionally, we have access to the Chinchorro Bank Biosphere Reserve, the largest and oldest reef on the northern hemisphere. This highly protected Marine Sanctuary is a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage Site Designation not only because of its amazing reef ecosystem but also its rich shipwreck history.

We are fortunate enough to work with local fishermen who have lived and fished in these waters for generations and are now captains. Ocean lore is everywhere here as this is one of the few places on the Mexican Caribbean coast with a very rich history.

XTC Dive Center also have a co-operative association with Global Vision International (GVI).  Many of our trainee's have just come from assisting with coral reef, fish and turtle nesting surveys.  They have a strong knowledge of the ocean's flora and fauna.  We will be starting various ecological presentations in near future.