Zihuatanejo updates

[Desertlifter]

So I'm headed to Guerrero and more specifically Zihuatanejo this coming weekend. I will dive about anywhere and be happy but I was curious about sites or operators. Saw the thread back in January but not much else. I will be diving with my niece, who has a bunch of quarry dives in Texas but that's it. Curious about operators if anyone has a preference. English is convenient, but not necessary.

 

[Mamiya-Sekor]

Ill be in ZIH for final week of January 2023 and hoping to get a couple dives in, preferably somewhere interesting with big pelagics, like maybe Morros de Potosí
Was in ZIH 4 yrs ago in November and the ocean surf was rough (due to previous storm) so not much fun.
Thierry at Carlos Scuba ( https://www.carloscuba.com/rates/ ) was excellent and we will go with him again.
Appreciate any advice you may have based on your trip.
Cheers

 

[Desertlifter]

Ill be in ZIH for final week of January 2023 and hoping to get a couple dives in, preferably somewhere interesting with big pelagics, like maybe Morros de Potosí
Was in ZIH 4 yrs ago in November and the ocean surf was rough (due to previous storm) so not much fun.
Thierry at Carlos Scuba ( https://www.carloscuba.com/rates/ ) was excellent and we will go with him again.
Appreciate any advice you may have based on your trip.
Cheers

I've been super off-line of late, not necessarily a bad thing. How was your trip? I ended out not getting a dive in when I was there. Forgot the minor detail that it was Independence Day in Mexico, so just about everyone was partying or recovering. FIFA started that week as well. Everything was either closed or booked up.

I did learn that one of the high schools in Zihua has a SCUBA class and club. I met the teacher during the parade. The parade is almost entirely the different high schools showing off either programs or the usual patriotic stuff. His students walked the entire parade route wearing BCs with tanks. It was in the 90s so props to them.

 

[Mamiya-Sekor]

We went with Carloscuba on nearby Gato beach.
US$90 for two dives and all equipment rentals.
Thierry is a really good guy with our interests paramount, and we trust him.
He picked us up and dropped us off on La Ropa beach
No other divers on the boat, so a private dive
Only did two dives: Sacramento and Caleta
Because wife only has OW certification, dives were shallow and we used nitrox to minimize surface interval time.
Sacramento is a rock outcropping in the ocean about 15 minute boat ride towards Ixtapa. On the way out, we saw whales breaching, and a turtle.
First dive was basically a swim through and around the outcrop.
Average depth about 50 feet. Nothing remarkable.
Some surge but not too bad.
Lots of plankton, so visibility not so great for first 30 feet.
Water temperature 82 at surface, 77 below. 3 ml wetsuits.
Lots of starfish nd a few tropical fish, but not a lot of other sea creatures.
We heard the whales
Second dive was a 70-iminute shallow cove with a coral reef and lots of smashed coral form the hurricane they had a few months back. Average depth was 20-25 feet. Visibility ok. It was basically a nursery.
Saw seahorses (pregnant!), octopuses, zebra snakes, flocks of stingrays buried in the sand (cooler temperature) which were shooed away, and tiny baby crab.
Overall, a decent experience but nothing to write home about.
We considered doing two more dives later in the week but decided against.
Would have preferred to go out further, see the big pelagics
The Pacific side doesn't really compare to the Caribbean side.
Basically, we were just maintaining our diving technique and certification
(Whenever we travel we try to get a couple dives in if possible)
Our last 22 dives were in Cozumel (Jan 2020 and Jan 2022)
We plan to go to Phuket next year at this time.
Wife MUST get her AOW so we can do a liveabord, and go deeper.

 

[ValkyrieDesigns]

Thanks for this! I am traveling there at the end of the month and was wondering how many dive vs fishing days I wanted to work into the trip.

 

[ValkyrieDesigns]

We went with Carloscuba on nearby Gato beach.
US$90 for two dives and all equipment rentals.
Thierry is a really good guy with our interests paramount, and we trust him.
He picked us up and dropped us off on La Ropa beach
No other divers on the boat, so a private dive
Only did two dives: Sacramento and Caleta
Because wife only has OW certification, dives were shallow and we used nitrox to minimize surface interval time.
Sacramento is a rock outcropping in the ocean about 15 minute boat ride towards Ixtapa. On the way out, we saw whales breaching, and a turtle.
First dive was basically a swim through and around the outcrop.
Average depth about 50 feet. Nothing remarkable.
Some surge but not too bad.
Lots of plankton, so visibility not so great for first 30 feet.
Water temperature 82 at surface, 77 below. 3 ml wetsuits.
Lots of starfish nd a few tropical fish, but not a lot of other sea creatures.
We heard the whales
Second dive was a 70-iminute shallow cove with a coral reef and lots of smashed coral form the hurricane they had a few months back. Average depth was 20-25 feet. Visibility ok. It was basically a nursery.
Saw seahorses (pregnant!), octopuses, zebra snakes, flocks of stingrays buried in the sand (cooler temperature) which were shooed away, and tiny baby crab.
Overall, a decent experience but nothing to write home about.
We considered doing two more dives later in the week but decided against.
Would have preferred to go out further, see the big pelagics
The Pacific side doesn't really compare to the Caribbean side.
Basically, we were just maintaining our diving technique and certification
(Whenever we travel we try to get a couple dives in if possible)
Our last 22 dives were in Cozumel (Jan 2020 and Jan 2022)
We plan to go to Phuket next year at this time.
Wife MUST get her AOW so we can do a liveabord, and go deeper.

One more question for you. Would you say the 3ml was really needed? I'll be honest if the bottom temp is over 70 I usually just in a swimsuit or a shorty. They're saying the bottom temp is around 72 right now and that 5ml 3 piece is a must. That seems a little excessive to me. I don't want to freeze, but half my family is Mexican and lives in Texas and they think 80 degree weather is freezing so I'm like do I really need that or are they like my family haha.