Half-day dive in near San Juan PR

[hobs]

Hey, we just got our PADI certifications over the summer, and spent a couple weeks doing boat dives in Hawaii. Haven't had a chance to since then (hard to get time off from work) but we will be in San Juan PR for a long weekend in January, and wanted to fit in a half day dive. Any advice for operators and sites?

Quick beach dive in San Juan? half-day out of Fajardo? Wall at Guanica (we don't have much experience at lower depths so probably not).

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mk706]

back in nov i spent a week in san juan. i had the same constraints of a hotel in san juan and great diving hours away. i ended up diving two days, one in farjardo and the other in san juan.

the drive from old town to farjardo (did it three times) took anywhere from 70-180 minutes depending on time of day. i ended up diving with sea ventures. the dive masters were great and very professional. however, the diving was very lack luster. it had rained the previous night and vis was not great (30-50 feet obscured with particulate). there just wasn't much to see or do. we caught a glimpse of a ray and a turtle, but not much else. the coral wasn't very abundant or colorful.

the second day i went with caribe aquatic adventures on a shore dive behind the normande hotel. this worked well as we stayed next door at the hilton. it worked out to a private dive, just me and the owner tony vega. this was great shallow water dive. we stayed within 100m of the shore, and never got deeper than 30'. as a result, we got ~60 minutes of dive (i'm still working on air discipline). i was amazed at all the sea life. it helped that tony knew exactly where to find it. if you're interested in getting up close to all kinds of small creatures on a personal dive this is a great way to spend a morning. perhaps the best part was that from leaving the hotel room to return the trip was around 2 hours. by comparison, driving to farjardo, diving, lunch, and return worked out to an eight hour day for less than impressive diving.

if you're willing to drive to fajardo, you have to kayak the bio bay. that's got to be one of the coolest things i've ever done.

 

[Garrobo]

I guess his 'shift' key doesn't work.

 

[mk706]

I guess his 'shift' key doesn't work.

fftopic:my 'Shift' key is my own business. if your intent is to bring proper punctuation to the internet you've got your work cut out for yourself. :focus:

Garrobo: what can you tell us about your last trip to san juan? or have you nothing relevant?
:grouphug:

 

[hobs]

I'm cool with no caps. It's like an e.e. cummings thing.

Sounds like Fajardo may not be worth the drive. Though we thought we could combine it with a trip to El Yunque in the afternoon.

Thanks. that helps a lot.

 

[mk706]

El Yunque is worth the trip. you probably need to dedicate at least 2 hours on the ground to it. also, it's about 30 minutes from EY to the dive shops in fajardo.

you may want to look into diving out of humacao. we didn't make it there due to the fact that sea ventures had removed their boat temporarily, but the diving is supposedly pretty good.

also, i omitted pricing:
$120+ tax for the fajardo dive that included two tanks and weights. the two dives worked out to a total of ~70 minutes.
$60+ tax for the san juan dive for one tank and weights.
i brought my own kit, but both operations offered rental gear.