Puerto Vallarta dive report

[pvscuba]

Back reporting at the forum after a few days away...

diving at Majahuitas today. saw dozens of huge Morays. They were just all over the place today. Jeremy, one of our guests today, took pictures with a really cool SLR camera, and I've asked him to post some, so check back soon.

Today viz was 20-30 ft. Surface temperature 75F with a minimum of 66F

see you when you come to PV

Alex from PVScuba

 

[pvscuba]

Back at Los Arcos today.

First dive at "Devil's Canyon". Second dive at "Shallows of Christ" (both at Los Arcos national underwater park). Viz below the thermocline: 40-50 ft. Water temp 79F at the surface, 68F below thermocline.

The way things are going, within a few days I'll be storing away my nice Pinnacle Polar wetsuit that I bought for this cold water season.

greetings from Alex at PVScuba

 

[pvscuba]

Visited Marietas Islands today.

First dive at the wall on the "round" island. Second dive at the "long" island. Viz was kinda low even at 70 ft depth - didn't find the thermocline- so we focused on observing the micro life: nudibranches, corals, and zillions of critters. Also so octopi, several morays - green, jewel, zebra-and the usual dozens of tropical fish. Min temp 71F.

Since Marietas is also a bird sanctuary, we observed our 'famous' blue-footed booby, frigate birds, gulls, and the works. Had fun feeding the gulls out of our hands.

until next time...

Alex from PVScuba

 

[55diver]

Just got done with three days of diving with Leslie of Local Divers. If you have a 7mm, bring it! The temps below the thermocline are from 64 to 68 deg right now, and even with the full 1mm and 6 mm short, it was COLD after less than 30 minutes and our air was disappearing about 30% faster than the week before when we were in Hawaii. (At the very least, bring hood and gloves.) However, it's kinda cool to be diving when you have a mix of cold and warm water critters running around in the same area. We saw both warm and cold water eels at the same dive site (Marietas), as well as a lone frogfish at Bajo de Cristo in Los Arcos. Nudibranchs were everywhere (Morro, Chimo, Marietas, Los Arcos), as were different types of angels, hawkfish, butterflies, and eels. We even got a glimpse of a manta at El Morro, despite the poor vis. Speaking of vis, with the currents changing, vis was less than a foot for the first 25-30 ft, and then opening up to between 20 and 50 ft at about 60-80 ft. We literally were losing sight of each other during the safety stops if we drifted more than a foot apart. Yeah, we felt kinda sorry for the snorkelers who were literally looking down into pea soup at Los Arcos.... Still, it was a memorable three days, and Leslie was the best dive guide ever! Randy & Walan

 

[pvscuba]

After a couple of very slow weeks we're back to the normal swing of things...Yesterday we dove at Los Arcos and today at Marietas Islands.

Conditions keep improving, as we had a viz of 40-50 ft and low temperature of 77F, so it's time to store my 7/5mm Pinnacle Polar wet suit and time to bring out the 3mm. Pretty soon we won't even need the 3mms so I'll get to break in my dive skin that I bought at DEMA last year (finally!)

Within the next few days we have dives scheduled to Majahuitas, Colomitos, Chimo, and El Morro, so I'll be reporting on the conditions there.

happy diving

Alex from PVScuba

 

[pvscuba]

Today at Los Arcos: Surface temp 82F/28C. Temp @ 90ft: 75F/24C Viz was 50+ ft.

Among the many tropical fishes that we saw today, we saw a really nice sea horse. One of our guests took some really pictures and he promised to send them when he gets back home, so we'll be posting them in a few days.

 

[pvscuba]

Whew! Very busy diving every day this week. We've gone to Marietas, El Morro, Majahuitas, Colomitos, Los Arcos...

Yesterday first dive at Colomitos and second at Los Arcos. Surface temp was 87F / 30C and minimum temp at 60ft was 82F / 28.

Viz 35-40ft at Colomitos and 40-45 ft at Los Arcos.

We're still expecting viz to improve some more, so come dive at Puerto Vallarta with us...

See you here!

Alex from PVScuba

 

[jduncan]

Lisa and I will be in Sayulita November 3-10 for a wedding. We are looking to dive a couple days with you during the week. What can you tell us about conditions this time of year? What's the best way to get to you?

Jeff

 

[pvscuba]

Hi Jeff,
Conditions have been great the past weeks. Water temp has been in the mid to high 80s and viz in the 40ft range. We expect the nice conditions to remain with us for the rest of the summer and most of the fall. We'll monitor the conditions and keep you posted to what's happening in november when you come. Please contact us at info@pvscuba.com

Alex from PVScuba

 

[pvscuba]

This week we went nudibranch "hunting" with Dr. Alicia Hermosillo, nudibranch specialists and author of books on the subject. We visited Marieta Islands, Los Arcos, and Majahuitas and found 100s of the beautiful little critters. Here are some pictures taken by Dr. Alicia.

Enjoy...