K_girl
Contributor
Went to Puerto Vallarta for some diving in August. There aren't any dedicated dive resorts that I've found, so you are going to probably pay taxi fare to get to the diving. I stayed at Costa Sur resort and paid about 70 pesos to get to downtown. Water temp at this time of year: 85 degrees. Viz this time of year, 35-45 feet. The two main operators are Chico's Dive Shop and Puerta Adventures.
Chico's Dive Shop: On the malecon, downtown. They only go to Los Arcos, but it is a beautiful site. It is about a 40-minute ride on their party-style boat. They have a toilet. You leave about 10:00 am in the morning and get back about 3:30 pm. You will get the maximum dive time and personal attention with this crew. All my dives were at least one hour, with one dive up to one hour and 12 minutes. I saw 3400 pounds in one of my tanks. The ride was quiet and amazingly calm and flat. From the reports, I did not expect to see much, but their dive master, Fausto is a master at finding critters and seeing things. Numerous octopus (during the day!). On one single dive I saw a turtle, a manta ray and an eagle ray (I am not kidding). If you book a trip with your snorkeling-only friends, they can snuba for the price of snorkeling (very kewl). They lauch a small skiff from the beach, across from the dive shop to transport you to their boat. You will pay $63 for two tanks for this dive if you book on-line using PayPal. No exchange fees. You can also book Vallarta Adventure trips through them and if you book it on-line via Paypal, you will get the best rate. They don't tell you that the other dive sites are operated by Vallarta Adventures, but they are.
Vallarta Adventures: Did one dive with this operation. You leave from the marina (further out from downtown). You leave at 9:00 am and return at about 4:30 pm. You are on a big, two-decker boat with numerous snorklers, probably at least 25 or more. They have a nice snack bar, lunch and restroom. You will be bombarded with loud disco music all the way there and back which is about a 50 minute ride each way. Before they reach the snorkle site, they drop the divers in the water. You are told the dive will be 40 minutes (and they stick to that time for both dives). You exit the water on a zodiac and are transported back to the "mother ship." The viz was about the same, but dive master didn't point out much of anything.
Because of the closer proximity to my hotel, the longer dive times and the skills of dive master, Fausto, I decided to do most of my diving with Chico's. It's a personal choice. This was not strictly a dive trip, there are many other fun things to do in Puerto Vallarta. I would say, maybe three to four dive days on a trip. Have fun!
Chico's Dive Shop: On the malecon, downtown. They only go to Los Arcos, but it is a beautiful site. It is about a 40-minute ride on their party-style boat. They have a toilet. You leave about 10:00 am in the morning and get back about 3:30 pm. You will get the maximum dive time and personal attention with this crew. All my dives were at least one hour, with one dive up to one hour and 12 minutes. I saw 3400 pounds in one of my tanks. The ride was quiet and amazingly calm and flat. From the reports, I did not expect to see much, but their dive master, Fausto is a master at finding critters and seeing things. Numerous octopus (during the day!). On one single dive I saw a turtle, a manta ray and an eagle ray (I am not kidding). If you book a trip with your snorkeling-only friends, they can snuba for the price of snorkeling (very kewl). They lauch a small skiff from the beach, across from the dive shop to transport you to their boat. You will pay $63 for two tanks for this dive if you book on-line using PayPal. No exchange fees. You can also book Vallarta Adventure trips through them and if you book it on-line via Paypal, you will get the best rate. They don't tell you that the other dive sites are operated by Vallarta Adventures, but they are.
Vallarta Adventures: Did one dive with this operation. You leave from the marina (further out from downtown). You leave at 9:00 am and return at about 4:30 pm. You are on a big, two-decker boat with numerous snorklers, probably at least 25 or more. They have a nice snack bar, lunch and restroom. You will be bombarded with loud disco music all the way there and back which is about a 50 minute ride each way. Before they reach the snorkle site, they drop the divers in the water. You are told the dive will be 40 minutes (and they stick to that time for both dives). You exit the water on a zodiac and are transported back to the "mother ship." The viz was about the same, but dive master didn't point out much of anything.
Because of the closer proximity to my hotel, the longer dive times and the skills of dive master, Fausto, I decided to do most of my diving with Chico's. It's a personal choice. This was not strictly a dive trip, there are many other fun things to do in Puerto Vallarta. I would say, maybe three to four dive days on a trip. Have fun!
