Diving in Puerto Rico

[Alex_Garland]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and relatively new to SCUBA. I got my PADI open water certification with Native Sons in Roatan back in '08. For a variety of reasons, I hadn't been diving again until this past week when I took a five-day trip to Puerto Rico. One of my goals for the trip was to re-initiate myself with diving. I did get a refresher lesson with a master diver from Scuba Dogs in Escambron Marine Park in San Juan, which was OK. I didn't make it out too far from shore, and only went about 8 feet deep. But as my instructor said beforehand, "it's like riding a bike," and it all came back pretty quickly. This was supposed to be a tune-up for an open water dive in Fajardo. But when I called the dive centers (Casa del Mar and Sea Ventures) the next day, I was told they weren't taking boats out because the island had been getting strong winds and the surf was too choppy. (Otherwise the weather was beautiful, mostly sunny the whole time I was there.) The next day the ocean was much calmer. I tried the centers one more time, and was told they were going to wait one more day because right then the sediment hadn't settled and visibility was bad. I was crushed, because the day they told me they'd be taking people out again (Wednesday this week) was the day I had to return home. (I had called some of the centers on the opposite side of the island as well; the one dive center in Ponce told me the surf was just as bad there and they weren't taking people out, and the centers in Guanica never called back.)

For those who have dove there before, do you think Puerto Rico sucks in general for diving? How often do these kinds of windy conditions happen, and is it a seasonal thing? After my only semi-successful re-initiation, I'm hungry to get back in the water again, and would like it to be in the Caribbean. Can you recommend any spots that are far less vulnerable to cold fronts and windy conditions?

Thanks in advance for your time and suggestions.

 

[ginovega]

I just returned from PR on March 25 and I was able to dive in Guanica and Mayaguez. I am sorry you had bad luck but during these time of the year the cold fronts that hit the USA come down to the Island and bring bad sea conditions. Last year I could not dive in Aguadilla due bad weather but I went to Ponce and the weather was awesome....

 

[drrich2]

Way back in '06 on a honeymoon trip fresh out of OW I did a 2-tank boat trip out of Fajardo and it was decent diving; had a good time.

But nothing that would make me preferentially return there, vs. the rest of the Caribbean. 2 Tanks is anecdotal, not a good sample size to judge a location, but if you spend enough time on this forum, while there are people who enjoy diving Puerto Rico, notice the threads were people traveling to the Caribbean or fairly new to diving ask about places to go. Bonaire, Cozumel, Roatan, the Florida Keys (especially Key Largo), these are the places that seem to hold the most 'mind-share.' And people endorse some others; Belize, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas (ideally by live-aboard), Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and so on.

Seems to me hardly anybody ever chimes in with 'Hey! You want Puerto Rico!' for a primary dive destination vacation.

And you live in Washington, D.C. Not like it's your neighborhood.

So I'm not knocking Puerto Rico; it's a pretty island, big enough to have things to do, and riding around it seeing everything in Spanish (I only understand English and some of the animal noises our pets make) gives me a small insight into what it'd be like to be illiterate.

But is there some reason you're focusing on going there? Because for scuba diving, I think you can do better...

(Ducking and running before the P.R. fans show up!)

Richard.

 

[Tracy]

If you search for seaventures on this forum, you will find you are not alone in their shady operations.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[Alex_Garland]

Hey man, thanks for the reply. No, I wouldn't say I'm all that focused on PR. I'm sure the diving is a heck of a lot better in most of the places you mentioned. For this trip I went with a group of friends and we all decided on PR together. For me it was a chance to kill two birds with one stone-- check out a place with a Latin American vibe I'd never seen before (having served as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador, I'm big on LA/C culture) and take up SCUBA again. Having been badly disappointed in the latter, I don't imagine I'll be using up any more of my scarce $$$ and even scarcer time in PR when there are so many other cool places to visit and go underwater.

Way back in '06 on a honeymoon trip fresh out of OW I did a 2-tank boat trip out of Fajardo and it was decent diving; had a good time.

But nothing that would make me preferentially return there, vs. the rest of the Caribbean. 2 Tanks is anecdotal, not a good sample size to judge a location, but if you spend enough time on this forum, while there are people who enjoy diving Puerto Rico, notice the threads were people traveling to the Caribbean or fairly new to diving ask about places to go. Bonaire, Cozumel, Roatan, the Florida Keys (especially Key Largo), these are the places that seem to hold the most 'mind-share.' And people endorse some others; Belize, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas (ideally by live-aboard), Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and so on.

Seems to me hardly anybody ever chimes in with 'Hey! You want Puerto Rico!' for a primary dive destination vacation.

And you live in Washington, D.C. Not like it's your neighborhood.

So I'm not knocking Puerto Rico; it's a pretty island, big enough to have things to do, and riding around it seeing everything in Spanish (I only understand English and some of the animal noises our pets make) gives me a small insight into what it'd be like to be illiterate.

But is there some reason you're focusing on going there? Because for scuba diving, I think you can do better...

(Ducking and running before the P.R. fans show up!)

Richard.

 

[drrich2]

Earlier today a fellow in Portugal asked about the 'best diving in the Caribbean.' I haven't been to that many places; I tried to roll a little personal experience with what I've learned from others on the forum into my answer, which I'll post here in case it's of use to you.

Depends on what you want. I'll mention a few places without going into a great depth as yet.

1.) Bonaire - the west coast has coral reef very close to shore, and you can drive a truck up & down the coast, walking in here & there and diving. Great viz., minimal current, warm, good weather most all year, typical dive package includes unlimited nitrox at some places. Buddy Dive Resort is what I'd call the mainstream standard, and a good one to measure others against. Airfare to Bonaire is often expensive, but resorts & dive packages with truck rental rather cheap, and you can get in 20 something dives for a week, so overall, a decent value trip option.

2.) Cozumel - mainly boat dives (unless you stay at Scuba Club Cozumel, for example), mostly drift diving, great viz., some big animals, a range of reef topography, warm weather and great viz. If you want an op. to research, Aldora Divers would be a good one and they have a housing option (Aldora villas). There are a range of places to stay and eat. For scuba trips, Cozumel offers good budget diving.

3.) Bahamas - water gets cold in winter. It's my understanding the best diving is via Live-aboard here, and the AquaCat is a much-loved one (there are others) to look into. Shark diving is a draw to this area. For land-based trips, Stuart's Cove is the one often discussed.

4.) If you want land-based in Grand Cayman, look at Sunset House and Cobalt Coast for package deals. I got 2 dives in G.C. - great viz., warm, quite nice. G.C. has a rep. for being expensive.

5.) If you want 'the best of the Caribbean,' a place people sometimes try to honor with that designation is Little Cayman - check out Little Cayman Beach Resort, and the famous Bloody Bay Wall dive site. Cayman Brac is also popular. A trip to LCBR can be expensive.

6.) If you come at the right time of year when temp.s and sea conditions are right, there's a lot to be said for diving the Florida Keys out of Key Largo (lots of shallow reef diving, and some deep wreck action). If you like bigger stuff, West Palm Beach and Jupiter offer drift diving and more big stuff. A Key Largo trip with boats going out twice per day can let you do 4 dives per day, and overall be a good value budget trip.

7.) Saba is reputedly very lush, rustic, beautiful, and offers all boat diving, with underwater pinnacles a draw. If I recall what I've been told correctly, diving can be fairly deep, and with some current at times.

8.) People speak well of a couple of live-aboards hitting Turks & Caicos. It's said T&C is expensive. I don't know about the live-aboards.

9.) Belize I am told is best dove by live-aboard, but the mainland has non-diving attractions, like rain forest hiking and Mayan ruins.

10.) Roatan - offers varied diving at different sites, and you don't sample all of it in a week. CocoView offers shore diving and seems to be the highly lauded 'dive yourself silly' resort of choice on Roatan, but often booked up heavily, and nearby Reef House Resort is also liked and tends to be a bit cheaper. Sand fleas can be an issue in Roatan, so bug repellent is important. Seasonal weather can be an issue here, so check out when the rainy season is.

So, are you after boat or shore diving, an all diving trip or a variety trip with some diving, and how important is keeping costs down to you? What time of year do you plan to come?

Richard.

P.S. There are other places with good diving. I tried to lay out what I consider 'A-list' destinations for people mainly interested in diving. But if you really want to say you did the best, I suspect LCBR may be it based on others' reports. I have not been there, though.

Others may debate my summary, but I think searching through other threads on the forum will back it up pretty well.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

From what I have read and heard on this forum, the best diving in Puerto Rico is either La Parguera or Mona Island. Since these are the places not easy to get to, PR is then judged by other dive spots that are not up there with the rest of the Caribbean. I hope those who have direct and first hand experience can possibly chime in on this with greater details. Id be interested to know more.

 

[Alex_Garland]

Thanks, that's really helpful. And you're definitely spot on about the sand fleas in Roatan; I got chewed up pretty good, LOL

Earlier today a fellow in Portugal asked about the 'best diving in the Caribbean.' I haven't been to that many places; I tried to roll a little personal experience with what I've learned from others on the forum into my answer, which I'll post here in case it's of use to you.



Others may debate my summary, but I think searching through other threads on the forum will back it up pretty well.

 

[ginovega]

Drrich2 is correct a two tank dive will not give u enough exposure to a site.
1. The factor most forget or are unaware is that PR is big island when you compare it with the other islands in the Eastern Caribbean. Puerto Rico is roughly the size of Connecticut but bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
2. The second factor is that the island has so many landmarks and land activities that the Government focus on promoting those instead of scuba diving. Landmarks like El Yunque, the only tropical Forrest in US National Park System, El Morro, the Largest Radio Telescope in World (Arecibo), the Flamenco Beach (Culebra) third World best beach according to Trip Advisor. Because of that USA Today 10Best Caribbean Islands survey selected PR Numerou1.
3. Most dive operators are taylor to the local diver. Very few make their businesses with tourist traffic. I know many specially in Southwestern.
4. The best diving in PR is in the Southwest part of the Island. LA Parguera, Guanica, Ponce, Desecheo, Rincon, Aguadilla, Maysguez, Isabella. However is about two hours drive from SSN Juan, so many don't want to do the trip.
5. There are two additional international airports in the Southwestern but few people know this. One in Aguadilla (Spirit, JetBlue and United ) and Ponce (JetBlue) .
6. Before you go you need to speak w some one that knows the area( like me) and with a few pointers you can dive at the right places w the right people.
7. I have helped several, even assisted a Dive Club from Jacksonville Florida, with plenty of experience diving the Caribbean and they were amazed of what they saw. They has been back twice after that initial trip. During my recent trip to PR I went to LA Parguera and one of my friend five ops had a group from MD that dove w them for a week.
8. If you are looking for resort type diving you won't find that in PR. The diving business there is barely un touched.
9. Because PR is a US Territory the US Fish and Wildlife had a presence there and all US federal laws to save and protect fish life and reefs apply to the island.
I will soon provide a trip report of my last trip to PR...

 

[drrich2]

Thanks for this -

If you are looking for resort type diving you won't find that in PR. The diving business there is barely un touched.

When traveling to a foreign country, particularly for the somewhat less adventurous soul, it's often very helpful to have a near 'one stop turn key operation' where you show up at the airport, they come get you, handle at least the basics, and get you back to the airport. You book your flight with the airline and your diving/resort/maybe-even-vehicle-rental-if-lucky-&-needed with them, and you're good to go.

I think of Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire, but this type of setup is available to a lesser extent elsewhere. I booked a 10 2-tank trip (20 dives) with Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo, and they handled my hotel arrangement, with their dive shop at the end of the parking lot, and we rented an SUV at the airport when booking our plane ticket. Pretty simple.

It seems to me a dive operator could pull in some business by catering to dive tourists with a turn key style setup.

My 2 dives were with Sea Ventures way back in April '06. After a 1 week cruise we spent three days at the Hyatt Dorado to the north, and our guide came & picked us up and drove us and from Fajardo. It was a long drive, but a nice, scenic way to see the island while chatting about scuba & what-not with our dive guide. All in all, not a bad day!

Richard.