Mainland - Turtles and Tarpon dive from BA/Coz

[Offroad]

The wife and I will be back at Blue Angel in June. I've heard they sometimes go across to the mainland for a dive where many Turtles and Tarpon can be spotted. What area/site is used, and is this done in the Summer months like June?

 

[underachiever]

We did it a few years back with BA. Pretty sure it is called Tortugas. The dive was great. Saw 25 or so turtles and schools of tarpon at the end of the dive. Very fast drift. Not sure exactly of the time of year.

A lot of it depends on the weather / seas if they will take you. If they still do it. The day we went the ride over was OK but the ride back was rough. As in your butt was sore the next day.

One of BA boat captians told me to look at the mainland when I get up in the mornings. On the days that you can see more of the mainland the seas are calmer. I could notice a difference in some days. And on the day we went I could see as much of the mainland as I ever had.

 

[fishballer]

yeah, tortugas, if i remember correctly.

tons of turtles munching at the bottom. i tried to swim against the current to observe, but the currents were too strong. the turtles just looked at me like i was nuts, but kept on eating.

ride back is harsh. forget the towel or sweater. put your mask on for the ride.

 

[DandyDon]

We did it a few years back with BA. Pretty sure it is called Tortugas. The dive was great. Saw 25 or so turtles and schools of tarpon at the end of the dive. Very fast drift. Not sure exactly of the time of year.

A lot of it depends on the weather / seas if they will take you. If they still do it. The day we went the ride over was OK but the ride back was rough. As in your butt was sore the next day.

One of BA boat captians told me to look at the mainland when I get up in the mornings. On the days that you can see more of the mainland the seas are calmer. I could notice a difference in some days. And on the day we went I could see as much of the mainland as I ever had.

That's been my experience, did it once, so danged cool, never could get them to go again - so I tried booking with a PDC operator that many like here on SB, spending some nights in PDC to include Cenotes another day. We ended up paying extra for a private boat after some confusion, did 3 dives - but not a single turtle.

So are they always there, or just in season? My failure was in August; [-]don't remember when my BA crossing to dive with them was?[/-] Found the pics; it was April 2006. I still wonder if the operator just let me down.

 

[newgentry]

My daughter and I did that dive summer before last, either late June, early July. I can't really remember the name either, but we actually went twice in one week in a fast boat with Dive Paradise. They charged us an extra $5 I think per diver because of the extra gas to get over there, but it is a good dive if you can make it work. I would echo the comments above, especially regarding the current. I do remember that it, at least then, was not part of the park zone, so you could wear gloves. You'll need them with the current if you can find something on the bottom to hang onto if necessary.

 

[Offroad]

So are they always there, or just in season?

I'm wondering as well what our chances are in June.

My daughter and I did that dive summer before last, either late June, early July. I can't really remember the name either, but we actually went twice in one week in a fast boat with Dive Paradise.

How many turtles and tarpon were there? I'll ask BA about it while we are there but will also contact Dive Paradise.

 

[robint]

We did it with Papahogs several years ago on their big boat. Ride was smooth because it was the big boat, however, they needed a certain number of divers to do it (I think the minimum was 8 or 10). We did 2 dives over there, one at "green wall" and one at "tortugas" and fished in between. We caught a large tuna and some other fish, don't remember what, and then the boat radioed back to Papahogs to get kitchen ready.... they cooked up our fish for us for dinner when we arrived back and we gave the leftovers to the crew to take home to their families. It was an awesome day of diving and great dinner to top it off!



robin

 

[newgentry]

How many turtles and tarpon were there? I'll ask BA about it while we are there but will also contact Dive Paradise.

A bunch. Can't remember an exact count obviously but it seemed like we were running into one about every 25 yards or so. The tarpon were the neatest, though, we actually saw schools of them as opposed to individual fish. When you get 10-15 tarpon together it looks like a big silver cloud from a distance - very, very cool.

 

[Offroad]

Dive Paradise says they no longer offer that dive, I'll be checking with Papa Hogs as well. Will also be checking with BA when we get there.