Puerto Rico in November - West side of island

[rydog]

Hello all, we have just booked a trip to Puerto Rico for the first week in November. My wife and I are both rescue certified and looking forward to some good diving. I do have a few questions that I have been looking for here in the forums but it seems like most of the information is old and from what I can tell, the dive ops have changed since most of the posts were written. Can you lend a hand?

As I said we are fairly seasoned divers with over 100 dives each. We will be traveling with my sister and the family however. In that group there is a new OW certified father and 10year old. I know we cannot take them on some of the dives we would like to do but from anyone's past experience what sites would you suggest? Desecheo, Crash beach, La Parguera wall?

I would like to do some shore diving so we can get everyone comfortable with the fundamentals of diving and to see where we can take them. I really don't want to put them in "over their head" so to speak. We are also trying to be budget friendly.

We are looking to stay on the west side of the island somewhere in the Rincon / La Parguera / Guanica / Aguadilla area but have not booked a place to stay yet. Preferably with a pool and kitchen and within walking distance to the beach.

Suggestions needed on places to stay and dive sites would be appreciated. Also, can someone give me a little insight to the weather conditions typically found the early part of Nov? Thanks in advance!

 

[jlevine]

I'm glad you're going to Puerto Rico. It's a beautiful island. I've gone there for each of the past seven years and love it. Having said that, I only feel I can speak to some of your questions.

First, in terms of getting everyone familiar with diving. I assume there are some non-divers in your group. You might want to consider something like the PADI Discover Scuba Diving course. It's a very short course meant to get people acquainted with the gear but does not give a certification. Many dive shops have places close to the shore where they do this.

In La Parguera, I have dove with Paradise Scuba & Snorkeling (http://http://www.paradisescubasnorkelingpr.com/) and West Divers (Scuba Diving in La Parguera, Puerto Rico). Both of them are pretty good with e-mail but give them a day or two or call them.

You can also check out the Dive West Puerto Rico web site (Dive West Puerto Rico). He posts some dive shop reviews. I met the author of the site a few years ago. Cool guy!

I can't really help you with lodging that offers kitchens. I can tell you that La Parguera has lots of good places that are not overly expensive. It depends on what you like. If you don't need a kitchen, I suggest Villa Parguera (http://www.villaparguera.net/).

There are several PR folks on Scubaboard who live on the island that can give you first hand info. I'm just a tourist!

Good luck on your trip and please post a trip report!

 

[Juan Alberto Soto]

Go to Mona and Desecheo


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[rydog]

Thanks for the replies. I do plan on going out to Desecheo but it looks like Mona might be too far for us.

It looks like we are going to be staying in Rincon but haven't booked the place yet.

As far as the discover diving for our non-divers, they are not interested in that, i've already tried. They are interested in snorkeling though so at least they won't be just watching us. We'll be getting 2 cars for our group so we can do different things as well.

I really am wondering what the shore diving conditions might be like next month and would really appreciate some help from the locals on that. Any thoughts, tips or suggestions appreciated!