alexmartinezphoto
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any one dive there? any information u wanna give me?
ixtapa
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DiveSlaveDave
Guest
Alex,
There are a couple of dive centers in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. My wife and I dove with two of them on several ocasions during trips in 2001 and 2002. Our favorite operator was Ixtapa Divers. They were located in the Ixtapa hotel zone, in a strip mall across from the Barcelo. The DM/Guide was Roel and he was very adept at finding the little critters. Most of the time we dove with no more than 4 people and we were able to do some nice casual dives that ranged from 30 to 50 minutes (most sites we went to were less than 60 ft; Great for beginners). Although the shop was in Ixtapa, we would pick up the boat from the commercial pier in Zihuatanejo. Ocassionally we would actually meet the dive boat at the Marina in Ixtapa.
The other shop we dove with was the Zihuatanejo Scuba Center. I believe they were at a small hotel on Playa Las Gatas. They were referred to us by the dive shop we dove with several times in Acapulco. They seemed intent to get us in and out of the water in 30 minutes or less so we did not return to them. (Of course they might have changed that practice.)
One thing to keep in mind with Mexican Pacific Coast diving: If you want to see mounds of colorful coral, you won't find it here (applies not only to Ixtapa, but Pto Vallarta, Acapulco, Pto, Escondido & Huatulco all of which we've dove). What you will find is either rocky bottoms or underwater ridges smaller but similar to the ridges of the Mountains to the east. The fish school around the big outcroppings and hang out in between the big ridges (some of the ridges reminded me of big ships laying on their sides). In Ixt/Zihua there are plenty of bays and coves to explore were you can find seahorses, sea stars, octopus and many little fish hiding in the rocks as well as big schools of fish in the open. Dive site names that I can recall are Piedra Solitaria, El Chato, Zacatoso, Caleta de Chon & El Sacremento. (I could dig out my log books to see what others we dove if you'd like the info.)
The PADI Travel network has a few shops on their web site:
Zihuatanejo Dive Center: zihuatanejodivecenter dot com
Carlo Scuba: carloscuba dot com
Ixtapa Aqua Paradise: ixtapaaquaparadise dot com
Not sure about any of these folks but it should give you some starting places! Let me know if you need other info. You can find me here on occasion or the 4th Tuesday of every month at the Tritons Dive Club meetings.
Safe diving - Dave
There are a couple of dive centers in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. My wife and I dove with two of them on several ocasions during trips in 2001 and 2002. Our favorite operator was Ixtapa Divers. They were located in the Ixtapa hotel zone, in a strip mall across from the Barcelo. The DM/Guide was Roel and he was very adept at finding the little critters. Most of the time we dove with no more than 4 people and we were able to do some nice casual dives that ranged from 30 to 50 minutes (most sites we went to were less than 60 ft; Great for beginners). Although the shop was in Ixtapa, we would pick up the boat from the commercial pier in Zihuatanejo. Ocassionally we would actually meet the dive boat at the Marina in Ixtapa.
The other shop we dove with was the Zihuatanejo Scuba Center. I believe they were at a small hotel on Playa Las Gatas. They were referred to us by the dive shop we dove with several times in Acapulco. They seemed intent to get us in and out of the water in 30 minutes or less so we did not return to them. (Of course they might have changed that practice.)
One thing to keep in mind with Mexican Pacific Coast diving: If you want to see mounds of colorful coral, you won't find it here (applies not only to Ixtapa, but Pto Vallarta, Acapulco, Pto, Escondido & Huatulco all of which we've dove). What you will find is either rocky bottoms or underwater ridges smaller but similar to the ridges of the Mountains to the east. The fish school around the big outcroppings and hang out in between the big ridges (some of the ridges reminded me of big ships laying on their sides). In Ixt/Zihua there are plenty of bays and coves to explore were you can find seahorses, sea stars, octopus and many little fish hiding in the rocks as well as big schools of fish in the open. Dive site names that I can recall are Piedra Solitaria, El Chato, Zacatoso, Caleta de Chon & El Sacremento. (I could dig out my log books to see what others we dove if you'd like the info.)
The PADI Travel network has a few shops on their web site:
Zihuatanejo Dive Center: zihuatanejodivecenter dot com
Carlo Scuba: carloscuba dot com
Ixtapa Aqua Paradise: ixtapaaquaparadise dot com
Not sure about any of these folks but it should give you some starting places! Let me know if you need other info. You can find me here on occasion or the 4th Tuesday of every month at the Tritons Dive Club meetings.
Safe diving - Dave
OP
alexmartinezphoto
Registered
wow. great info. Thanks!!! ive checked out carlo scuba. they seem pretty reasonable. Ill have to check thier dive times and depth. i will also look into ixtapa divers. Thanks so much!!!
DiveSlaveDave
Guest
My pleasure. We've been diving Mexico for over 10 years and are always happy to let folks learn from our experiences. You'll have many opportunities to dive in some nice shallow areas with little worry of damaging corals & Zihuatanejo is a great place to relax and eat during your surface intervals.
cdoc
Registered
I have dived with Thierry at Carlo Scuba in Zihua.
The operation is really cool, but compared to many the diving is somewhat primitive.
The local boat of choice is the panga, as opposed to a more modern, larger boat.
Thierry and Chilolo are outstanding hosts and Matt is another dive master who is there part of the year.
I have done all the locales listed above in good and poor viz. on 2 separate trips. May was poor viz, Jan was very good.
The difference is the currents and water temps, blue vs green water.
The nutrient rich green water causes algae and plankton blooms and red tide happens some years, usually around May.
Water temps are not real warm considering how far south you are, but that is current dependant too.
Lots of small rays, various reef fish are common. Sea horses are not uncommon and Spotted Eagle Rays were our companions are few times.
There is nothing better than sitting outside Thierry's place after a two dive trip looking out over Las Gatas con una cervesa fria.
Now I wanna go back!!
The operation is really cool, but compared to many the diving is somewhat primitive.
The local boat of choice is the panga, as opposed to a more modern, larger boat.
Thierry and Chilolo are outstanding hosts and Matt is another dive master who is there part of the year.
I have done all the locales listed above in good and poor viz. on 2 separate trips. May was poor viz, Jan was very good.
The difference is the currents and water temps, blue vs green water.
The nutrient rich green water causes algae and plankton blooms and red tide happens some years, usually around May.
Water temps are not real warm considering how far south you are, but that is current dependant too.
Lots of small rays, various reef fish are common. Sea horses are not uncommon and Spotted Eagle Rays were our companions are few times.
There is nothing better than sitting outside Thierry's place after a two dive trip looking out over Las Gatas con una cervesa fria.
Now I wanna go back!!
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