Puerto Rico Dive Sites

Guánica & La Parguera · Guánica

Cayo Coral

Also known as: Cayo Coral Reef

Depth
23–26 ft (7–8 m)
Access
Access not established
Type
Reef
Confidence
Moderate confidence

Overview

Cayo Coral is an emergent reef about 2 km long near the mouth of Guánica Bay, at the northern edge of a submarine canyon, with patch reefs to the north and east. Gorgonians are abundant and boulder star coral is the dominant stony coral; monitoring stations sit at roughly 16 to 26 feet near the base of the fore reef. DRNA mooring buoys here are designated for diving. It lies within the Guánica State Forest marine extension; check current DRNA rules.[1][2][3][4][5]

Site characteristics

Habitat & marine life

  • gorgonians abundant; boulder star coral dominant stony coral[2]
  • Aggregate reef (Middle-Shelf) at station 'Cayo Coral'[3]

Marine life is what sources report having seen or commonly seeing — not a guarantee.

Safety considerations

No site-specific hazards are recorded in our sources. That does not mean there are none.

Ocean conditions change daily. Dive within your training, plan with current local information and consider a local professional guide. Full safety note.

Protected area

  • Bosque Estatal de Guánica Natural Reserve (Reserva Natural Bosque Estatal de Guánica)

    Natural Reserve · Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources · Site position falls inside the official boundary[5]

    NOAA's MPA Inventory classifies this area's protection level as "Uniform Multiple Use"; fishing: commercial fishing restricted. Anchoring: restricted.[5]

Regulations change. Check with DRNA (Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales) before diving.

Depth reports by source

ReportedSourceStatus
23–26 ft (7–8 m)García-Sais JR et al. (Reef Surveys) for DRNA/NOAA[1]Current source

Sources & verification

Last researched: 2026-10-04 · Last independently verified: not yet field-verified · Confidence: Moderate confidence

  1. 1.Monitoring of Coral Reef Communities at Isla Desecheo, Rincón, Mayagüez Bay, Guánica, Ponce and Isla Caja de Muertos, Puerto Rico, 2005 (Final Report) — García-Sais JR et al. (Reef Surveys) for DRNA/NOAA (2005-12) · Government dataset · Tier 1: Primary / authoritative · accessed 2026-09-25
  2. 2.Monitoring of Coral Reef Communities from Natural Reserves in Puerto Rico: 2012-13 (Final Report, NOAA grant NA07NOS4260055) — García-Sais JR et al. for DRNA/NOAA (2014-06) · Government dataset · Tier 1: Primary / authoritative · accessed 2026-09-25
  3. 3.Puerto Rico Long-Term Coral Reef Monitoring Program Database Compilation (DwC-A v1.9, GBIF dataset b3b7d5c4-f73a-475b-a203-c6a1ddd040cd, DOI 10.15468/heuugg) — DRNA Puerto Rico / NOAA CRCP (published via OBIS-USA IPT) (2022-02-13) · Government dataset · Tier 1: Primary / authoritative · accessed 2026-09-25
  4. 4.Estudio de boyas de amarre localizadas en las Reservas Naturales de Guanica, Parguera y Caja de Muertos - Inventario, evaluacion ambiental y recomendaciones (main report, file E1) — Vicente & Associates, Inc. for DRNA (Coral Reef Initiative NA06NOS4190108, task CRI-13) (2008-05-07) · Government · Tier 1: Primary / authoritative · accessed 2026-09-25
  5. 5.NOAA Marine Protected Areas Inventory 2024 (feature service NOAA_MPA_Inventory_2023), State = PR — NOAA NOS Office of National Marine Sanctuaries - MPA Center (2024) · Government dataset · Tier 1: Primary / authoritative · accessed 2026-09-25

Facts are summarised in our own words from the sources above; we do not reproduce operators’ or publishers’ descriptions. How confidence is assigned.