If you are in Mexico City and would like to scuba dive and explore the Gulf of Mexico's coast, a great place to start is the city of Veracruz. From Mexico City the drive to Veracruz takes about 3 hours, but a hop flight from Mexico City will get you there very quickly. Fly out of Mexico City's Internacional Benito Juarez Airport (MEX) or take a flight from most of Mexico's other major cities. Arrive in Veracruz's Las Bajadas Airport (VER) and rent a car, from there explore either north or south. Veracruz is a great central location to explore along Mexico's Gulf coast.
Consider driving to Veracruz if you are in the United States. From the very southern town of Brownsville, Texas the drive to Veracruz takes about 12 hours. Once you get south of the city of Tuxpan, Mexico the drive is very scenic and passes by many beautiful beaches.
In Veracruz you will have the pick of the crop as far as dive shops, and will get amazing attention from the friendly, skilled instructors in the area. Veracruz, as a scuba diving destination, is still in its infancy compared to the Caribbean Yucatan area. Check out the scuba diving shop known as Scubaver. They offer dive trips out to the reef in the marine park not far from the city of Veracruz. They make regular trips to the south to Anton Lizardo and the many dive sites along the surrounding reefs. In Veracruz, there are also the dive shops Dorado Buceo and Mundo Submarino. Both are worth checking out and arranging a day boat trip with to bring you out to the reef platforms around Veracruz.
In Veracruz, there is also the professional and commercial dive shop Technosub Marine Services. This is not a tourist's dive shop. They do offer professional level and commercial level scuba training and have amazing knowledge and access to high tech scuba equipment.
South of the port of Veracruz in the small coastal fishing town of Anton Lizardo you will find Sobuca Dive Shop, which is a great scuba diving resource in this small community. Anton Lizardo has extensive fine, dark, hard-packed sandy beaches convenient for small boats to depart from, making Anton Lizardo a popular place to embark on scuba diving day trips. There are also small boats for hire along Anton Lizardo's beaches that can arrange private scuba diving trips for the experienced scuba divers who know how to use their own equipment.
Read "Part 1: Overview of Scuba Diving in Gulf of Mexico, (Mexico)
Read "Part 2: Dive Sites, Marine Life & Environment in Gulf of Mexico, (Mexico)