La Parguera Dive Sites

[ikran]

We are planning a trip to Puerto Rico after the New Year. I have a family home in La Parguara and have been there over four dozen times. We do the usual recreational water sports, yet have never dived. My goal on this trip will be to partake in scuba diving. I have free dived in most of the typical areas around Caracoles and Enrique; I would like to see some more pristine sites around the La Parguara area (if possible).

Hopefully, we could find a dive master to give us a local orientation on a boat dive. Then venture with our family’s boat for a couple more dives throughout our trip. Our trip will be chill and short with many family obligations; yet we hope to get a couple dives done. My understanding is that the dive charter scenario is experiencing a transition in La Parguara.

Blue Water Parguera, West Divers, and Paradise Scuba seem like viable options. We will need to leave from La Parguara on the dive boat day and rent scuba equipment on the other days. We are literally 300 yards from the town; so driving to Guanica, Rincon, or Aquadilla for boat departures is not ideal.

Attached is a list of the most popular dive sites in La Parguera. I am hoping for any additional insights and personal experiences about dive sites in this area. We are looking for dives under 60 feet (due to my buddy’s recent OW certification). I also wonder if any maps exist with the dive sites in this area (coordinates).

 

[jlevine]

La Parguera is a beautiful area. I have been there between Christmas and New Years for each of the past five years. The challenge is that shops and staff members change from time to time. I really enjoyed Parguera Divers (but they are no longer in business). I have dove with Victor and Roxanna who are now with Blue Water. I did one dive with West Divers and am currently planning to dive with Paradise Scuba this year if all goes well.

One thing to keep in mind is that the boats only go out if they have four people. Even if you make reservations, the boat may not go out if you and your friend are the only folks diving. One thing you might consider is posting when you are going down and see if others might be able to join you.

 

[ikran]

Jlevine,

I may ask my uncle to inquire with the dive operations in La Parguera. My concern is that they may not have enough divers when we are available to go diving. We are primarily interested in a local dive orientation. My trip will be between Jan 3rd and 9th. Yet we could always just rent the scuba gear and navigate on our boat to the dive sites. It depends on the weather and mooring sites for our boat (anchors may suffice; I just prefer not damaging any reef life). A map with the dive sites would help us plan our entry and exit points.

I am really interested in reading about your trip report.

 

[jlevine]

Hello, I posted reports of my previous trips to La Parguera on Scubaboard. It sounds like you are familiar with the area, so you may know some of what I am about to say. The local wall/reef for the area is approximately 25 minutes away from the shore (two miles or so). It's important that your boat be seaworthy for that area. The seas have never been really rough, but they can get choppy. I am not aware of a map per se but I know most of the dive shops have GPS coordinates. Perhaps they will provide them to you. In terms of the shops not having enough divers, yes, that's definitely a risk. During the past five years I have dove between Christmas and New Years without a problem. I don't know about other weeks.

La Parguera is fairly remote. Most of the visitors I see in the area are Puerto Ricans coming down for a short vacation over the weekends so during the week it can be slower. Keep an eye out for other divers. It may be that if one shop doesn't have enough to go out, you may be able to join another shop. In some countries, the shops cooperate on slow days and "pool" their divers onto one boat. I don't know about La Pargeura.