scubabes
Guest
We returned from a great trip to Puerto Vallarta late Sunday night, so I thought I'd write up my first dive report and share some of our experiences. We flew into PV airport on Wednesday afternoon, and my first tip for newbies to PV is to move past the people trying to sell you things in the airport. Don't get trapped when they say "oh yes, right over here we have a shuttle to the Marriott, just go talk to that guy at that desk," where you'll then stand for 20 minutes with no mention of a shuttle to the Marriott but many attempts to sell you excursions and other things you don't want. Just go right outside and get a cab. You'll be diving sooner that way 
.
We stayed at the Marriott CasaManga. Nice hotel, good prices (booked through Travelocity and paid $700 per person for 4 nights and airfare from Baltimore), updated rooms, very nice pool with a convenient pool bar. For the most part, the hotel was empty. September isn't high season in PV (it's the rainy, ridiculously hot season), so the crowds were practically nonexistant. Can't complain about that. The hotel was within walking distance of the Marina which meant we could sleep in a bit longer in the morning instead of getting a cab (most of which are NOT air-conditioned which made all cab rides miserable) and driving to the Marina.
We dove with Nacho of puertovallartadivers.com (husband of Leslie who lurks on these boards often). Because of the low season, Leslie was back in the states with family so my boyfriend and I dove with Nacho and his brother, Moses. I can't say enough good things about them. I pre-arranged the dives with Leslie ahead of time via email, and then Nacho came to our hotel when we arrived on Wednesday to meet with us personally and discuss our dive plans. We dove four dives on Friday and two dives on Saturday, and we had our own private DM since we were the only ones diving.
They had a nice, fast boat which got us to Chimo on Friday morning in about an hour. Chimo was my favorite diving in PV, even though you have to travel a little longer to get there. We saw tropical fish, colorful coral, eels, a pregnant male seahorse, sea snakes, and a manta. Visibility in Chimo was the best of the trip, at probably 70-100'. The water was so warm we dove without wetsuits (which in my opinion makes diving that much more enjoyable and comfortable, especially when it's 100 degrees outside). We dove in Los Arcos the second half of the day, which was also very nice. Lots of things to see, some very cool navigation at depth (cool rocks and pass throughs), and Nacho taught us how to pet a sea snake. The visibility wasn't as great here (closer to the shore and the fresh water rivers) but the actual rock formations were cool and there was plenty to see. Overall, a great day of diving. Nacho maximized our bottom time even though we were doing four dives and was a very safe DM. And Moses was a great captain.
One of my favorite parts of diving with Nacho was how he used our dive knife to peel off fresh scallops while we were diving and spear fished so that we could make the freshest ceviche I've ever had during our surface interval. It was amazing, and a very cool cultural experience. He had other snacks (fruit, sandwiches, water) but the ceviche was by far the best. He treated us like we were family.
Saturday we hired Nacho and Moses to take us diving in Majahuitas, but this time we were bringing four friends with us to snorkel. The visibility in Majahuitas was poor, the water was murky and our friends didn't enjoy the snorkeling much because of that. For the two of us, once we got past about 20', the visibility improved a little, but there wasn't much to see. I wouldn't recommend Majahuitas, but instead try Marietas. I will say this ... at our request, Nacho and Moses made ceviche for us again on Saturday, and it was just as awesome as Friday. They couldn't have been more accommodating.
I can't comment on gear rentals because we had our own, but I will say that we we have absolutely no complaints about Nacho. He was organized, prepared, and more than accommodating for what we wanted to do. If you want personal attention and a unique diving experience, I'd go with Nacho every time I go to PV.
Our next trip is to Cozumel in January. We can't wait!!!
.We stayed at the Marriott CasaManga. Nice hotel, good prices (booked through Travelocity and paid $700 per person for 4 nights and airfare from Baltimore), updated rooms, very nice pool with a convenient pool bar. For the most part, the hotel was empty. September isn't high season in PV (it's the rainy, ridiculously hot season), so the crowds were practically nonexistant. Can't complain about that. The hotel was within walking distance of the Marina which meant we could sleep in a bit longer in the morning instead of getting a cab (most of which are NOT air-conditioned which made all cab rides miserable) and driving to the Marina.
We dove with Nacho of puertovallartadivers.com (husband of Leslie who lurks on these boards often). Because of the low season, Leslie was back in the states with family so my boyfriend and I dove with Nacho and his brother, Moses. I can't say enough good things about them. I pre-arranged the dives with Leslie ahead of time via email, and then Nacho came to our hotel when we arrived on Wednesday to meet with us personally and discuss our dive plans. We dove four dives on Friday and two dives on Saturday, and we had our own private DM since we were the only ones diving.
They had a nice, fast boat which got us to Chimo on Friday morning in about an hour. Chimo was my favorite diving in PV, even though you have to travel a little longer to get there. We saw tropical fish, colorful coral, eels, a pregnant male seahorse, sea snakes, and a manta. Visibility in Chimo was the best of the trip, at probably 70-100'. The water was so warm we dove without wetsuits (which in my opinion makes diving that much more enjoyable and comfortable, especially when it's 100 degrees outside). We dove in Los Arcos the second half of the day, which was also very nice. Lots of things to see, some very cool navigation at depth (cool rocks and pass throughs), and Nacho taught us how to pet a sea snake. The visibility wasn't as great here (closer to the shore and the fresh water rivers) but the actual rock formations were cool and there was plenty to see. Overall, a great day of diving. Nacho maximized our bottom time even though we were doing four dives and was a very safe DM. And Moses was a great captain.
One of my favorite parts of diving with Nacho was how he used our dive knife to peel off fresh scallops while we were diving and spear fished so that we could make the freshest ceviche I've ever had during our surface interval. It was amazing, and a very cool cultural experience. He had other snacks (fruit, sandwiches, water) but the ceviche was by far the best. He treated us like we were family.
Saturday we hired Nacho and Moses to take us diving in Majahuitas, but this time we were bringing four friends with us to snorkel. The visibility in Majahuitas was poor, the water was murky and our friends didn't enjoy the snorkeling much because of that. For the two of us, once we got past about 20', the visibility improved a little, but there wasn't much to see. I wouldn't recommend Majahuitas, but instead try Marietas. I will say this ... at our request, Nacho and Moses made ceviche for us again on Saturday, and it was just as awesome as Friday. They couldn't have been more accommodating.
I can't comment on gear rentals because we had our own, but I will say that we we have absolutely no complaints about Nacho. He was organized, prepared, and more than accommodating for what we wanted to do. If you want personal attention and a unique diving experience, I'd go with Nacho every time I go to PV.
Our next trip is to Cozumel in January. We can't wait!!!
