simonk999
Contributor
Just got back from 5 days (15-20). As previous trip report indicated, water is cool. Upper 70s. I was ok in a close-fitting 3mm full, but chilly by 2nd dive. Viz was not great (not bad, still 100') but with a lot of fine particulate matter in the water. Temps in lower 80s with pretty low humidity, relatively speaking.
Stayed at the Hotel Flamingo. A nice small hotel a couple of blocks north of the plaza. Very friendly. Beds are due for changing though, and water pressure is low, but nice other amenities with roof deck, hammocks, pool table, good bar. Avoid street facing rooms for more quiet.
Dived with Aquatic Sports and for the 3 days there had only two divers, the DM and the boat driver. Their boat is very slow. Passed by everyone, including a flying pelican, but if you don't have a hot date in town to get back to, it's not a problem, and makes for a leisurely day. The boat is a midsize, with a giant stride off the back. DMs are attentive, though Sergio Sr is sometimes preoccupied with taking pictures, and a slight incident was
handled well with better attention during following dives.
Some observations about the diving: we were taken through a bunch of
swimthroughs. Nice, but I wonder about the damage caused by all those divers going through. I have decent buoyancy and body positioning control, but hit things anyway. Palancar Gardens was full of algae, which didn't seem good, but overall, size of corals and fish seemed to indicate reasonable health, though overall, fish life quantity wasn't high.
-Simon
Stayed at the Hotel Flamingo. A nice small hotel a couple of blocks north of the plaza. Very friendly. Beds are due for changing though, and water pressure is low, but nice other amenities with roof deck, hammocks, pool table, good bar. Avoid street facing rooms for more quiet.
Dived with Aquatic Sports and for the 3 days there had only two divers, the DM and the boat driver. Their boat is very slow. Passed by everyone, including a flying pelican, but if you don't have a hot date in town to get back to, it's not a problem, and makes for a leisurely day. The boat is a midsize, with a giant stride off the back. DMs are attentive, though Sergio Sr is sometimes preoccupied with taking pictures, and a slight incident was
handled well with better attention during following dives.
Some observations about the diving: we were taken through a bunch of
swimthroughs. Nice, but I wonder about the damage caused by all those divers going through. I have decent buoyancy and body positioning control, but hit things anyway. Palancar Gardens was full of algae, which didn't seem good, but overall, size of corals and fish seemed to indicate reasonable health, though overall, fish life quantity wasn't high.
-Simon
