Since I was on the Corbeteña trip, I thought I'd post my report on the dive. It's a little more descriptive than Alex's...:14:
It had been one year and six weeks exactly since my last trip to Corbeteña. I know because it was on June 1, 2007, Navy Day in Mexico. Corbeteña is one of the few open ocean dive location in Puerto Vallarta and because its distance and unpredictable currents, trips arent that common, so when the opportunity comes up to go, you take it.
Thirty-six miles out from shore, the trip takes anywhere from an hour and a half to what seems like eternity if the sea is rough; although the average is more like two hours. It doesnt look like much from the surface, just some rocks jutting out of the water, but underwater is a whole other story.
When the five of us (plus crew) arrived at Corbeteña, it seemed like the current wasnt going to let us descend using the line. We would have to start descending immediately once we hit the water. Fortunately, this ended up not being the case and we descended close to the line. The water was crystal clear with fantastic visibility, so there wasnt much danger of us getting separated (yet). As I descended near the line, the very first thing I saw was the serene face of a sea turtle as she glided past us.
Sea turtles are common in the Bay of Banderas and this area, but in my 62 dives in this area, I can count the number of times Ive seen sea turtles while diving on one hand. Out in Corbeteña, apparently you cant swing a dead cat without hitting a sea turtle. I saw many turtles during my two dives on Sunday.
With the warm, clear water and the sun shining brightly the colors underwater were alive. The pinks, oranges and yellows of the coral, and the brightly colored fish simply shone. The water temp was 84 degrees even at depth, which on the first dive was down to 90 feet. The rock formations under water are amazing at Corbeteña; shallow caves and pass-throughs, towers and coves. In one nook on my second dive, I found a rather large, tasty-looking lobster peering out at me.
The second dive was more challenging as the currents had picked up some. We had an enjoyable ride on the current, which is as close as many of us will get to flying. Unfortunately, a current carried off one of our dive team, so one of the instructors had to retrieve him from the surface. It is not a dive for beginners. The currents can be very strong and you can tire quickly struggling against them or be swept away to God knows where if you dont escape it fast. Still, the fish are absolutely huge out at Corbeteña and last summer there were white-tip sharks in the area. If you get the opportunity, Corbeteña shouldnt be missed. And of course, you should always dive with
PV Scuba!
