Going to Brazil/Chile/Argentina

[acqua_girl]

I guess you're already back home. But if you ever come to Sao Paulo again, I highly recomend you visit the state marine park of Laje de Santos. It's just about 40 minutes from Sao Paulo and
1h30 off the coast.
If you're lucky enough, you get to see manta rays during winter - but plenty of fish all year long.

 

[pgcosta]

Hi, acqua girl! (And hi again, Steve....!!!)

The OP, Steve, has been diving in Cabo Frio, Arraial do Cabo and Angra dos Reis, last november. He made contact with me in advance (as you can figure from the above posts) and I tried booking Laje de Santos but the backlog was too big, because operations had been cancelled consecutively for 3 or 4 weekends due to bad weather and the preference was for divers already booked (some had even paid in advance), so we didn't have a chance.

But I gave him some support in Rio, the best I could anyway, and in the end we got really lucky, as the water in Cabo Frio and in Arraial do Cabo was calm and blue, not as cold as usual and the visibility was almost caribbean, from 20 to 25 meters for 2 weekends in a row, so we did not "one or 3 dives", but 10 wonderful dives there!!!

I, myself, think Laje is indeed one of Brazil's best spots and certainly the first in my "diving-close-to-home wish list" !! I'm quite sure Steve will still be able to dive there too, because I have the impression that he liked his stay and that he will come back for another caipirinha (won't you Steve ?), if he kindly forgets how badly we treated him here...

Maybe we can arrange for all of us to go diving Laje de Santos together, why not ??

Meanwhile, dive safely, have fun, and happy holidays!!!!

 

[acqua_girl]

hi PGCosta,
I am going to be in Sao Paulo weekend of 1 and 2 NOV unfortunately and I don't have a car or I might drive. It is nice of you to offer.

It's a shame you couldn't make it to laje de santos...:depressed:

I was there on nov. 2nd and we had a great dive - lots of fish, good weather, not so crowded...

 

[acqua_girl]

But I gave him some support in Rio, the best I could anyway, and in the end we got really lucky, as the water in Cabo Frio and in Arraial do Cabo was calm and blue, not as cold as usual and the visibility was almost caribbean, from 20 to 25 meters for 2 weekends in a row, so we did not "one or 3 dives", but 10 wonderful dives there!!!

Maybe we can arrange for all of us to go diving Laje de Santos together, why not ??

I really want to go to Cabo Frio and Arraial sometime - can you believe I've never been to those places as a divers? Yeah, shame on me...
I may try going during a long weekend next year - then I'll contact you for some diving tips and, of course, diving.

As for Laje, count me in! As usual, one of my favorite spots, inspite of the awfully cold water.

 

[pgcosta]

I really want to go to Cabo Frio and Arraial sometime - can you believe I've never been to those places as a divers? Yeah, shame on me...
I may try going during a long weekend next year - then I'll contact you for some diving tips and, of course, diving.

As for Laje, count me in! As usual, one of my favorite spots, inspite of the awfully cold water.

Please, do contact me, whenever you have time to come. As we go really frequently we have good conditions for accomodations in the nearby Pousadas, both in Cabo Frio and Arraial and we have (of course) made friends with some of the best dive shops, so we can arrange for some very interesting and thrilling dives, like the wrecks at "mar de fora" in Arraial and the more distant islands off Cabo Frio.

So, if I can be of service it will be a pleasure!!

And also, as soon as I can take a long weekend off, I'll contact you, then maybe we can arrange for Laje. I have at least 4 other divers who go out with me often that are crazy about diving there too, so we can make it a group tour!!! By the way, cold water is not a problem... 5 + 5 mares evolution wetsuit takes care of that very effectively!

Nice (and interesting) to meet a diver from SåÐ Paulo in an international forum, maybe we'd never get to know each other if it weren't for this site, ain't it ?

Safe diving and happy holidays!!!

 

[Crawl79]

hey guys, need a few names for operators for laje de santos... will try to plan a trip there in the next few months. i mostly dive in the state of rio but ready to check out some new areas to dive in Brasil.

 

[acqua_girl]

Ohhh, it's so nice you've decided to visit Laje!!!

You can try booking your dives with Cláudio, from Orion Diver (:: Orion Diver ::) or Luizao, from ATM Diver (:: A T M D I V E R :: Operadora de Mergulho). Those guys are great!

Or.... if you want to book your dives from Sao Paulo, I can recommend Koka Sub (Kokasub, Dive Center PADI 5 Star), which is also great.

Or... - yeah, lots of options! - we can arrange for all of us to go diving Laje de Santos (pgcosta will be welcome, of course!).

Please, feel free to contact me if you nedd anything.

Best regards!

 

[pgcosta]

If it's after carnaval, I think you can count me in!!! Until then, I'll be in a job assignment in Maceió - nice beaches, some good diving spots reported, but it's difficult to find a dive operator there, heard about one at Praia do Francês, so I'll check it out and maybe start a thread about it in this forum... if it's worth it, anyway...

Keep in touch!!

 

[pgcosta]

i mostly dive in the state of rio...

Hey, Crawl!!!

Where do you go diving in Rio? Arraial? Cabo Frio? Buzios? Angra? Did you see the conditions in Arraial last (13/14 dec) weekend? Unbelievable! Almost like Noronha! Even better than when the OP (where is he, BTW ???) came to Brazil!!!

Let's dive some day!!!

 

[Crawl79]

Thanks acqua girl.. will look up those operators not sure when I will go but will surely be after Carnival, I will most probably be in Angra for Carnival...

Pgcosta, I dive Arraial, Angra, Ilha Grande and sometimes in Rio with Mar do Rio... I did hear the conditions were great in Arraial and I have been receiving emails about good diving in Rio for the last few weeks. The bad part is I am currently offshore working on a survey vessel in the Santos Basin... good news is I will be desembarcado 28 Dec. probably will be in Iguaba for Ano Novo but may make a day trip to Arraial after to make a dive or two. We should try and plan a dive trip next year, maybe we could get some others interested from the site. I live in Niteroi so I guess we are visinho's, rsrs.

Oh, I was in Porto da Galinhas earlier this year and made a day trip to Maceio, was very beautiful especially the tidal reefs, but way to touristy for me, mostly catered to the first time snorkelers, even so I did get some pretty good pics in the shallow clear water.