Diving in Chile
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Will be interested in the responses to this as well since I'd like to dive the Chilean kelp forests to compare them with ours here in SoCal.
I'm assuming you means stuff you could do in a day trip driving out of Santiago.
Los Molles is about 2.5 hours drive north of Santiago and is beautiful. I haven't dove there yet, but I know Molles well since I used to go there for work about once a month. There's a LDS in Santiago and one of the guys that run it owns a small op on the beach there with gear and a compressor. I've seen some of his pics and I can't wait to get in there.
I've also heard quite a bit about another place a bit south of there called Papudo (still probably about 2 hours from Santiago) and know a couple of ops that work out of there. I don't know if they have compressors there or just bring tanks from Santiago, but wither way, it's on my list of places to give a try.
Other than that, small ops are few and far between. If you rent gear in Santiago, you could go to Punta de Tralca, it's only an hour and a half from Santiago straight out to the coast, and is one of my favorite spots. The north side of the point is very protected from pretty much all swells, except the rare ones that come out of the north, in which case you just dive the south side of the point.
Don't forget that the central coast of Chile is very comparable to the central-northern coast of California. If you're bringing gear, make sure to pack a cold water suit.
When are you coming? I live about 15 minutes from Punta de Tralca. If you give me some notice I may be able to meet up with you.
Los Molles is about 2.5 hours drive north of Santiago and is beautiful. I haven't dove there yet, but I know Molles well since I used to go there for work about once a month. There's a LDS in Santiago and one of the guys that run it owns a small op on the beach there with gear and a compressor. I've seen some of his pics and I can't wait to get in there.
I've also heard quite a bit about another place a bit south of there called Papudo (still probably about 2 hours from Santiago) and know a couple of ops that work out of there. I don't know if they have compressors there or just bring tanks from Santiago, but wither way, it's on my list of places to give a try.
Other than that, small ops are few and far between. If you rent gear in Santiago, you could go to Punta de Tralca, it's only an hour and a half from Santiago straight out to the coast, and is one of my favorite spots. The north side of the point is very protected from pretty much all swells, except the rare ones that come out of the north, in which case you just dive the south side of the point.
Don't forget that the central coast of Chile is very comparable to the central-northern coast of California. If you're bringing gear, make sure to pack a cold water suit.
When are you coming? I live about 15 minutes from Punta de Tralca. If you give me some notice I may be able to meet up with you.
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very neat diving to be done off Las Tacas close to La Herrarura-Coquimbo. the rock formations are spectacular and lots of life on and around them. sea lions are often curious and swing by to say hello. scubaboard is not allowing me to post the url but the dive center that operates in that area is aquatour. google it and it should be the first result. highly recomend the dive center and the very beutiful diving to be done there
Not to hijack RingStn's thread, but are there good kelp forests in the area of these dive sites?
Short answer is not really. There are forests similar to the ones in CA, but they are way further south.
Down here in central Chile many of the dive sites do have kelp beds, mostly Macrocystis integrifolia and Lessonia treabeculata. I say beds rather than forests because the macrocystis forests I know of are all in about 10ft depth (yes feet not meters) and I do know of some Lessonia forests in about 45ft (I've attached a pic of it), but it only comes about 6ft off the bottom. I haven't dove much north or south of here yet, but my understanding is that in the north it's pretty similar to what I describe (although some of the species associated with the kelps change). To the south, about near Concepción, I understand that M. pyrifera appears and further south it forms forests not too unlike the ones we're used to in CA. But I've never really seen them and the places where they are abundant are like diving in PNW to Alaska (cold!) and access will be difficult (but not impossible).
Below is a (carppy) picture I took some time ago in the Lessonia bed I mentioned, just to give you an idea. For scale, individual plants are about 2m tall.
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Sorry, I dont' mean to hijack this thread either, but I'm looking for some info...
I'm looking at the possibility of organising a research and photography expedition to dive the Chilean Fjords for 3-4 weeks some time in 2011/2. I realise this is fairly uncharted territory with regards to diving, but wondered if anyone here had any experience of the region?
I'm aware there are some charters that frequent the fjords, although these are few and far between - does anyone have any recommendations/experience in this regard?
This is just at the planning stage so any info anyone has would be much appreciated.
Many thanks.
I'm looking at the possibility of organising a research and photography expedition to dive the Chilean Fjords for 3-4 weeks some time in 2011/2. I realise this is fairly uncharted territory with regards to diving, but wondered if anyone here had any experience of the region?
I'm aware there are some charters that frequent the fjords, although these are few and far between - does anyone have any recommendations/experience in this regard?
This is just at the planning stage so any info anyone has would be much appreciated.
Many thanks.
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