Going to Brazil/Chile/Argentina

[whodunit68]

hi everyone,
Thanks for reading this. I'm about to do my PADI advanced open water (tomorrow) certification and am taking a short business trip to these 3 countries. I'm guessing Brazil will provide the best diving. I'd love to do a dive or 3...in Argentina & Chile, I'll be in the big cities (Santiago and Buenos Aires) and in Brazil I'll be in Rio & Sao Paulo. Any suggestions on a local guide (especially near Rio) would be *greatly* appreciated!!
Steve

 

[StormFish]

When in Rio, my suggestion is to dive in the Cagarras islands ( about 1 hour navigation ) - you can see the island from the Ipanema beach ... try Diver's Quest or "Mar do Rio" Padi operators ( I am not allowed to post the urls - if you want it, I can send in a private message )

 

[whodunit68]

thanks for this. if anyone is near this or Angra dos Reis (where I will also go), I welcome you to join.

 

[pgcosta]

Hi!!

There´s a diving school in Rio that promotes operations on weekends in Cabo Frio, Arraial do Cabo and Angra dos Reis, all near Rio de Janeiro city. It´s name is XDIVERS and you´ll find their site easily with any search engine. The site is written in portuguese, but if you e-mail them in english they will answer OK! Ask about private diving tours on week days (I know there are operations in Arraial do Cabo every day, if conditions are good). While visiting the site, you may want to check the photo galleries they have for the places listed above!


Have a good time diving in Brazil!!!

PGCosta
Rio de Janeiro

 

[randini]

About an hour and a half from Santiago there's a small town called Quintay that has some nice diving, but it's cold compared to Brazil & Argy. There's an operator in Santiago that makes regular runs out there every weekend and has a boat (there are very few charters you can do here). You can find their contact details on their website: :::Austral Divers:::

I've never dealt with them so I can't comment on them if you're looking for a recomendation. I have to work out of Quintay once in a while and I've seen them and their facilities down on the beach and everything seems OK.

 

[whodunit68]

hey all - this is great information thank you so much. It turns out that my trip to Santiago is only one day (since I was told it is very cold) so I will be in Rio for about 5 days and want to do some diving there. This is great thanks!

 

[pgcosta]

Hi again!

I learned from a friend at XDIVERS that they received your e-mail! I hope they have answered according to your expectations. If you need more info, I'll be really glad to help in any way I can. I use to go diving around here almost every weekend, so maybe I can even manage to join you! In any case, please make contact.

PGCosta
Rio de Janeiro

 

[whodunit68]

hi PGCosta!! Thanks a lot for the follow-up. I did hear from them but after 4 times trying to email. I emailed back and again no word ... I'm leaving in the morning for Argentina where I will stay 2 days then 1 day in Chile with lots of appointments with clients. So I have very little time left to make arrangements. I hope to hear from them. thanks a lot!!
Steve

 

[pgcosta]

Hi, Steve.

I'm sorry to know that they're beeing so slow to contact you. Will you happen to be in Rio Nov 1 and 2? We have a weekend diving tour scheduled to Cabo Frio and I wil probably participate. I could try to make the necessary arrengements for you to come along, including the reservation of any equipment you might want to rent (the operator in Cabo Frio rents everything, from fins and masks to wetsuits, regs and BCs). Please, get in touch - you can even send me a PM about this, ok? We don't like to let fellow divers without help, over here!!!!

PGCosta
Rio de Janeiro

 

[whodunit68]

hi PGCosta,
I am going to be in Sao Paulo weekend of 1 and 2 NOV unfortunately and I don't have a car or I might drive. It is nice of you to offer.