more visible and to encourage their appreciation and understanding for recreation and conservation purposes. TCC is a specific type of environmental carrying capacity and refers to the biophysical and social capacity of the environment with respect to touristic activity and its development (Wolters 1991; Cifuentes and others 1992; Acevedo-Ejzman 1997); the TCC represents the maximum level of visitor use that an area can maintain, that is, the limit of human activity: if this level is exceeded, the resource will deteriorate (Ceballos-Lascura ´in 1996). Although the first proposals addressing the use of TCC emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, the initial interest in the concept as a tool or an element of a conservation strategy disappeared; however, in recent years, the study of TCC has garnered renewed attention, as new evidence and arguments indicate that the TCC concept could be part of a very effective strategy to address not only environmental questions but also economic and social issues (Davis and Tisdell 1995; Coccossis and Mexa 2004). From this perspective, TCC serves not only as a scientific measure but also as a management tool. In Latin America, a methodology for calculating TCC proposed by Cifuentes and others (1990) has been applied in various terrestrial protected natural areas (Rodrı ´guez 1992; Acevedo-Ejzman 1997), including island systems, such as the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador (Cayot and others 1996) and Fernando de Noronha National Park in Brazil (Mitraud 1998). Recently, Gallo and others (2003) modified this methodology to estimate the TCC in underwater trails of the Caribbean island of San Andres. Marine protected areas (MPAs) have a substantial appeal to tourists; in recent years, diving has been the activity undergoing the greatest development at MPAs around the world,growingata20 %annualrateandgeneratingmillions of dollars for the tourism industry (Cesar and others 2003; Hawkins and others 2005). Many studies have evaluated the consequences of this increase in the influx of visitors to MPAs; in many cases, these studies have demonstrated a significant deterioration in the structure of natural resident communities (e.g., Kriwoken 1996; Buckley 1999). In addition, different studies that have estimated carrying capacity suggest reducing the number of divers allowed on divingsites tominimizeharmfulimpactsoncoralreefs(e.g., Davis and Tisdell 1995; Hawkins and Roberts 1997; Schleyer and Tomalin 2000; Rouphael and Inglis 2001; Gallo and others 2003), thereby promoting the conservation of these environments. Simultaneously, the success of trail managementincontainingtheeffectsofterrestrialrecreation has prompted calls for greater use of underwater trails in managing the effects of visitors to marine parks (Hawkins and Roberts 1993; Plathong and others 2000). The popularity of ecotourism in the natural areas of Mexico has increased over the last 10 years; in particular