Parador Posada Porlamar, in La Parguera ????

[El Tiburon]

Thinking of doing dive trip to Puerto Rico during second week of August with my non-diver wife. Travel agent suggested the Parador Posada Porlamar in La Parguera for 7 Nights, $712 diver and $364 non-diver. Package includes: accommodations, daily 2-tank boat diving, American Breakfast daily, $25.00 dinner voucher with 3 night stay or more, and all hotel taxes and service charges.
Prices are per person/double occupancy and are the land portions only.

Does anyone know of this parador and can offer any comments good or bad? Where is there better diving, east coast of PR or West Coast. I was also looking at the Fajardo Inn, in Fajardo. Any suggestions about diving in Puerto Rico would be greatly appreciated. Dive Safely, Mundo.

 

[Wally1716]

Does anyone know of this parador and can offer any comments good or bad?
Where is there better diving, east coast of PR or West Coast.
Mundo.

...
Por la Mar is not a 5 star hotel, but it is a top one in Parguera,
which is a rustic fishing village. I just returned from our three day
stay there and diving with Angel from Parguera Divers. The diving
is tops, nobody is better than Angel in town (OK, it IS a small town).
Diving is much better in the west coast than the east. The wall
is incredible and run for miles without end.
...
There is a link in our web site (address below) with references to
the diving we did there. Just click on "Diving in Parguera, PR".
.

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

Echo everything Wally said. I regret that I didn't peek inside of the parador while I was there since it is just across the street from the dive shop. So, I cannot personally comment on what it was like inside. However, it is quite basic, and I have seen posts mentioning that it could be somewhat questionable for people used to staying in nicer resorts.

If you are looking to stay at a nice hotel, and don't mind a 20 minute drive to get to the shop, I would instead recommend the Copamarina Resort: http://www.copamarina.com/. They do have a dive operation directly on site, however, I would go with Parguera Divers and make the drive to get there. It's worth it.

You won't regret going diving in this area of Puerto Rico. It is some of the best I have seen. The walls are pretty incredible.

 

[Wally1716]

http://www.copamarina.com/[/url].
<<< They do have a dive operation directly on site.>>>

You won't regret going diving in this area of Puerto Rico.
It is some of the best I have seen. The walls are pretty incredible.

..
That's a good point Scubadad just mentioned...Copamarina IS a top
notch hotel with a beach (Por la Mar has NO beach) AND HAS a dive
operations (Sea Ventures) in site that caters to hotel guests...they even go
out with ONE guest if so desired. The wall off the hotel is the very
same wall as Parguera has since it is only a dozen miles upcurrent from
Parguera. Their boat is superb (Newton 42'). Copa is by far a better
lodging facility, but I didn't check prices'just the diving center.
...
For prices, I'd go to a private parador next door to Copa. It is a private
house which rents its comfy full apartments at a much lower cost. It is
half a block from Copa, on the water edge, owner has a 19' boat to run
around the bay and the wall and, most importantly, the atmosphere is
very easy-going...I have their phone somewhere in my trip folder, if you need it.
...

 

[tvictory]

Posada Porlamar in La Parguera is acceptable, although certainly not luxurious. It's a pretty quiet place, except on weekends when people come to party. Get a room on the second floor, away from the staircase. The on-site restaurant is independent and is very good and quite expensive. The daily breakfast there is OK but usually late. Diving with Angel is great but they only do one 2-tank trip per day, in the morning. It's a pretty good run ou to the wall and the water can be choppy.

You might be able to do better on the package by booking it through Parguera Divers (Roberta, Angel's wife, can help you). I've been there twice and it seems like we got more than one dinner in the weekly package.

 

[scubawife]

We bought a package last August staying at Copamarina and diving with Sea Ventures Dive Copamarina. The hotel, staff and food was great. The dive operator I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy. I would stay at the resort and get the AI package - food and service were very good and the extra for AI more then paid for itself. I would, however, go with Parguera Divers.

On weekends and holidays Copamarina does get crowded with people from San Juan taking a short getaway. But, even with lots of kids and at capacity it is laid out in a way that we never felt crowded, and you can easily stay away from the kids.

I wrote a report and also have commmented about Sea Ventures Dive Copamarina in other PR diving threads, so I won't go into the details here.

 

[rickyscuba]

I'm dive the wall of La Parguera more than 100 times. One of the better site is The Roman Colliseum. It's a very extreme dive because best part of the dive its 160ft. So, I sugest go with a Deco plan. Other incredible site its Steps at the Wall (from 65ft to 3,000 ft)

 

[ciret]

The Copamarina is a much nicer resort/hotel tha anything in Parguera. Excellent staff and accommodations, the food is a little pricey. The dive operation, Seaventures Dive Copamarina is outstanding. They have been extremely accomodating in helping me get dives in, even on occassions when I was the only diver. I've also used Paguera Divers, another top notch operation. But getting up, grabbing a bite and heading to the dock is just too sweet.