Divinng in Lima Peru

[jfbellemare]

helloim in Lima right now and i need info about diving here. if any body got any please share

thanks

JF

 

[DocVikingo]

Last time I dived there is was very, very poor. Low vis, high bacterial counts, heavily fished & not especially safety conscious dive ops.

If you have a different experience, please do report on it.

Best of luck.

DocVikingo

 

[Guillermo]

Well, since I am was bor in Lima, I take offense on the comment. Well, not really

The thruth is, Lima is a huge city of 9 million inhabitants and is one the very few capitals of a country in the world that is in front of the open sea.

Surpringly so, Lima is a beach town - but between January and March when summer hits. And despite the surfers and such in the Bay of Lima and the fact the whole city goes to the beach those weekends. The reality is that if you want to dive in Lima you should go a little south and not dive in the bay.

Peru has thousands of kilometers of pristine beaches. And my recommendation will be to dive in Pucusana, that is is a fhserman's town about 45 minutes from Lima (well, every year seems closer since the city keeps growing) where the water is calm.

I will recount my experiences diving in Lima in a later thread. But if you need to contact a Padi center, contact Av. Huaylas 205 Chorrillos, Lima, Lima, Perú L09 - Tel: (511) 251-6231 / Cel: (511) 720-5500 / Fax: (511) 251-6231
info@perudivers.com

 

[gerryw]

¡Oye, Guillermo!

As is happens, I am moving to Lima tomorrow to start a new job on June 2. I live in the north of Chile right now and have been diving quite a bit the last couple of years.

As I said on another thread, I won't be able to dive as much in Lima because I will be working at high altitude, plus I will have less time than now due to the distance to work.

But I am hoping to dive at least at a reduced rate.

I have been to Lima, but have not had time to look for dive shops yet. After seeing the beach area in front of Lima I concluded that I am not interested in diving there at all! Ever! There should be some good areas outside the city as you say.

I have looked on the internet for dive shops in Lima and area and there are some listed. I will go see the one you mentioned. Are there others you recommend? In truth, I will probably go see all of them in the near future, but maybe there are some to avoid.

Any info you have would be great.

jfbellemare:
I missed your post the first time and just noticed this thread now with Guillermo's post. Are you still in Lima? I would interested in knowing what you have found out re diving. Also, it would be nice if you could post an intro in the Introductions and Greets section.

Gerry

 

[Guillermo]

¡¡Hola Gerry!!

Well, glad that you are moving to Lima. Currently I do not live in Lima but a buddy of mine, Luisefe does.

I have surfed and dived in the beaches of the bay Lima, but that was quite a while ago - when I was a kid. And even were able to find flounders near the Regatas Club.

There is a strong community of spearfishermen in Lima and a Federación Naútica.

There are beach towns starting at the edge of the city and going basically continously south all the way to 200 km (125 mi) . So you can hang in there in the summer months.

Among some close places around Lima where people scuba or spearfish are Isla San Lorenzo, Pucusana, Ancon (north of Lima).

About 3 hours from Lima you have Paracas, a national reserve park with its own bay and with sea lions, the guano islands, a posh hotel (Paracas hotel), small rays everywhere and incredible fauna and flora. And also you get to see the preincan cultures of Paracas and Nazca (the one of the lines and draaings you can only see from a plane in the middle of the desert). I have scuba in paracas but that is a place that I would love to go.

And in the northern part of the country you have Punta Sal where you can even go for big game fish. Warmer waters since the Humboldt current leaves the coast and it is an incredible and amazing place to be.

Regards,

Guillermo.

PS: El Pisco es Peruano. jajajaja , no me pude resistir.

 

[gerryw]

Guillermo

¡Sí! Yo sé que el pisco es mejor en el Perú. Ya lo probé. ¡Aun la mayoría de los chilenos dicen lo mismo!

Y además, mis "amigos" en chile me dijeron que la mejor manera de hacer nuevos amigos en Perú es de insistir muy fuertemente que el pisco de Chile es mucho mejor.

Gerry

 

[Guillermo]

Así es, sin lugar a dudas el Pisco es Peruano...
y definitivamente la mejor manera de ganarse enemigos es decir que es chileno, si no, pregúntenle a Maná...


Well, for the non-spanish speaking folks;



we are just having fun with the most pressing issues between Peru and Chile: the origins, rights and quality of Pisco - the national cocktail drink (yes, Peruvians actually do have a national cocktail drink). Obviously, the competition is not even fair, since its origins and quality are from Peru.

If you want to check more about the issue just go:

http://www.piscopuro.com/i_index.html


OK, so back to scuba....

some links for Peruvian Scuba photos....


http://www.perudivers.com/photo_galery/3082/index.htm


http://www.enjoyperu.com/multimediagallery/buceo/index.html



Chau,

Guillermo.

 

[drbill]

of Pisco Capel. Yes I know it is from Chile and therefore probably not of the highest quality (tease). I just can't remember how it tasted when it was full!!!

Dr. Bill

 

[Luisefe]

The closest place to have a good dive in Lima is the San Lorenzo Island which is an 18 min ride on a zodiac from the coast. And the best place in the Isla San Lorenzo is Cabezo Norte (North Head). The biggest concern is that you have to get a permit beforehand because is a naval base and you may not want to be confused as a tresspaser. There are several people that dive over there often.

In Cabezo Norte you can find, due to the currents, good visibility and you can find at 20 meters (65 ft.)big game fish such as "ojo de uva" (Hemilutjanus macrophthalmos) also known in other spanish speaking countries as "róbalo ñato", "apañado", "panyagua" or in english I think it is called "rape-eye sea bass" which are quite a view almost as big a 7 Kg. (15.4 lbs); "mero de Lima" also known as "chino", known in English as small groupers which can reach 10 Kg (22 lbs). The floor is usually composed by stone slabs which usually house quite a lot of crustaceans a also quite a variety of small fish, specially the "pintadillas" (Cheilodactylus variegatus) known in english as the Peruvian morwong.

You can start your dive 200 meters (1/8 of a mile) from the coast of the island and at 20 meters deep (65 ft) and start going towards the coast. In this journey you can find sea lions, dolphins, and once you get to the sand floor you can find flounders, and "conchas de abanico" (Argopecten purpuratus) known in english as "Peruvian Scallops" and crabs.

This dive site is very rich in flora and fauna, as most of the peruvian coastline since it is part of the Humbold current (cold waters) and the fact that this island wand their surrounding islands create a junction of several currents which make particularly rich.

This is one of the many great places to dive in Lima, this is probably the closest beside diving in the coast in front of the city.

:shark:

I hope this information was helpful to anyone stopping by in Lima,

Luisefe

 

[gerryw]

Thanks for the post. As it happens I am officially moving to Lima next week. I have been in Peru a month and a half, but unfortunately spent most of the time on top of a mountain. There is no lack of those around here.

If you PM me your phone number I would like to talk to you. I am in serious need of buddies and information.

Gerry