Puerto Vallarta dive report

[Scuba Diver Mexico]

Hello to all !


Here is the newest Branch of the Week (BOW) published by Mike Miller from San Diego, CA.

Opisthobranch of the Week is Polycera kaiserae


Proudly it is from one of the local animals in the Bay (one of the most photogenic for sure) and also at one of the best known beaches and dive sites too !!

Make sure you have your macro camera when you are diving in Puerto Vallarta.


I hope you enjoy it !!

 

[jawfish]

Love scuba diving in Mexico!! Especially Cozumel. I will nee dto look into Puerta Vallarta!

 

[Scuba Diver Mexico]

Love scuba diving in Mexico!! Especially Cozumel. I will need to look into Puerta Vallarta!

If you like UW photo, give Alicia a call.

The Pacific is totally different to Cozumel

 

[prime]

I was in Mexico (Riviera Nayarit, near PV) April 6th to the 13th. Before leaving, I'd researched (mainly from this site) some of the dive shops (/resort) in the area. I was looking for a well established place where the problems, if any, would be minimal, and I could just enjoy diving.

From what I'd read here, I decided to go with Alex @ PVScuba. He seemed very knowledgeable, and everyone seemed satisfied after diving with him.

After an initial contact via emails (answers came in very quickly), I showed up at his shop with very high expectations. Well, he exceeded them all. He runs his business very attentively, and gives personal attentions to the divers going with him, as I've experienced first hand, and saw from the attitude and satisfaction of the others diving with us. Alex also knew the various dive sites very well, as did his team.

The equipment provided was in very good shape, often almost new. It was apparent he took good care of it.

I'd have no problems at all recommending him to anyone looking for a great diving experience in the PV area. I'll definitely go back with him next time I'm in the area.

I ended up completing a few specializations while I was down there, and Alex also turned out to be a great instructor.

Thanks for the great dives, Alex!

Marc P.

 

[ekoast]

Marc took the words out of my mouth. As a matter of fact, I was on the same dive day with Mark and a couple other folks. Alex runs a great operation. I also did my homework before choosing a dive company for my trip to Nuevo Vallarta. Alex and his crew did not dissapoint.

Fast communication and information prior to booking the dive with PV Scuba was excellent. That's a pretty good tip off that a company strives for your business. The dives at Los Arcos were phenomenal. I never dove over a drop off that steep and the underwater terrain was incredible.

I am also posting a link to pictures taken before and during the dive. Thank you to Alex and Hector for a great trip that I will remember for years to come. I highly recommend your company to anyone that will be diving in the area.

Mexico Dive Pics pictures by ekoastn - Photobucket

Muchos Gracias!!

-Eric

 

[bheide]

I would have to agree with you 100%. Next time I go back to PV I will be diving with Alex @ PV scuba.I dove with them in early March and Hector was my divemaster and he took great care of me(being a new diver) and I was paired up with an experienced dive buddy.

Hector took us on a dive that matched our skill level. Many people seem to question the vis but on our day, once we got down to depth(30'and below) the vis open up(50'+) and it was awesome. We dove Los Arcos and Mismaloya and there was sand bottoms to rock wall formations, stingrays,eels and puffers.

I agree the equipment was like new or new. The only dive gear I would bring is my prescription goggles, Alex has everything else. You won't be dissapointed.

 

[pvscuba]

Thank you very much Marc, Eric, and Brad for your nice comments. It´s great to recieve such wonderful feedback to know that we´re doing a good job. I guarantee that we´ll keep it up and improve in any way we can.

Diving conditions at Marietas for yesterday were the following:

Visibility: Down to about 15 ft depth, the water was a brownish "soup" where we could hardly see anything. Past this layer, viz opened up to 40-50 ft.

Temperature: At the surface 71F / 22C . Past the thermocline 62F / 17C

In general fish activity was low where the viz was good. We´re guessing that many of the fish we usually see were in the warmer layer of water nearer the surface where viz was quite low. We did see a couple of large Groupers (not a usual thing), several large Argus morays, and a few beautiful Popeye Catalufas.

until next time.... happy diving and best wishes from Alex at PVScuba

 

[Dok2009]

I will be visting PV starting May 31st through the 7th. I am a fairly new diver and I just enjoy seeing fish, and staying relatively shallow. I wanted to know of some good places to dive to get some good pics, and relatively short time to get to and from dive sites. My friend does not dive but she would be interested in snorkeling, so I do not want to be gone all day.
Thanks for any help

 

[Scuba Diver Mexico]

I will be visting PV starting May 31st through the 7th. I am a fairly new diver and I just enjoy seeing fish, and staying relatively shallow. I wanted to know of some good places to dive to get some good pics, and relatively short time to get to and from dive sites. My friend does not dive but she would be interested in snorkeling, so I do not want to be gone all day.
Thanks for any help

Check out the newest images from the last several days of diving including last night.

Vallarta mayo 2009 - a set on Flickr

Under 40/50 ft it is still 7 mm neoprene or dry suit temps .

Vallarta is kind of empty these days for reasons we all know, so the most popular dive sites are at its best !


Full report coming ASAP

 

[Scuba Diver Mexico]

Last weekend we worked on the survey and mapping project at the wall in Los Arcos.

We did a total of around 300 minutes bottom time in 2 days, in water no deeper than 75 feet. The goal in the end is to have an approximate and somewhat decent survey and underwater map of the area with basic bathymetric lines and the main features of the topography including some of the biological stuff too. It is a similar project to what our friends from the BAUE club have managed to do in Point Lobos, California through the years . Point Lobos State Reserve - Scuba . The first section will be the closest to the moorings, beginning where the sand slope ends and the wall begins going from northeast to southwest for a few hundred feet. This is the area where the three tank memorial lies on the plateau at around 53 feet.


Conditions were good to be able to get some work done. We had zero current on Saturday and a mild current on Sunday, almost no swell and the temps went from 75 F at the surface down to 40 ft and 63 F from 40 ft to 75 ft (7 mm neoprene with hood the first day and I got cold so I switched to my trilam drysuit with 150 g. undergarments the second day). The visibility under the thermocline was around 40-50 ft. Nudibranchs were all over (about 34 different species) as this is a very good time of the year for them.

YouTube - Arcos, Puerto Vallarta

Vallarta mayo 2009 - a set on Flickr


If while diving the area in the coming months anybody sees some knotted lines laid along the wall or small rocks wrapped with temporary fluorescent line please dont remove them. These manmade materials will only be there temporarily to help us do the work (some times just overnight) . We are also using lift bags and vertical lines to mark special features and taking GPS readings of them during project dive days.




Happy diving !