Puerto Vallarta Recomendations

[Ron Brandt]

Need Advice please. I am currently traing a student for Scuba Diver/OWD for referral. The student and his wife are going to Puerto Vallarta for vacation and do the check out dives.

Does anybody have any recomendations on what operators to use. PADI only please.

BTW : I have suggested not to go there but the use of the condo is free !

Thanks
Ron

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Ron,

Here's my last trip report:

"PV charming & romantic with lots of good places to eat & drink - not a dedicated diving destination. I trust you appreciate how different Pacific coast diving is than Caribbean diving. Little coral, no sponge or vegetation, cool water, rocky/volcanic/sand bottom & good marine life, e.g., varieties of butterfly fish & surgeon fish far exceed that off eastern Yucatan. There is a possibility to see a
manta, though unlikely.

If you want to dive & are inexperienced to modestly experienced: Twin Dolphins, Chico's or Vallarta Adventures. The latter usually does not respond to outside inquiries. Just visit the shop when you get there. Runs fun party boat to Marietas Islands. Continental b'fast, open bar from around 11:00AM on, & snorkeling or 2 tank dive upon arrival. Boat holds upwards of 80 people. Diving on this trip can be unsafe. If you want to dive with them, do it from one of their smaller boats.

You want to dive Chimo, El Morro & El Morrito, where mantas are a possibility.

If you are an experienced diver desiring a small group of like individuals who doesn't mind ~30 mile trip into the ocean, go to PV's best dive site, La Corbatenia, with Mario Zornoza, "Vallarta Divers," Marina Del Rey #17, Marina Vallarta, email: vtadiver@tag.acnet.net.

Do be sure & inquire where any shops' marina (there a couple) is relative to your hotel. This can be some distance & the dive shops usually do not include this transfer. Also, bring adequate thermal protection."

I belive that Twin Dolphins, Chico's & Vallarta Adventures all are PADI.

Hope you enjoy yourself.

DocVikingo

 

[striking viking]

I can personally recommend Chico's. I E-mailed them a day before I left for my cruise to put me on a dive boat. They made sure that I was put on a dive boat for the day that I asked even with the short notice. The crew was very hospitable and made my dive trip a memorable one. I was going to have to dive with the OW class because I didn't bring a dive buddy, but one of the dive masters heard of my problem and said that he would be my dive buddy. They provided bottled water and sandwiches, too. Legit place; they took care of me better than some LDS.

 

[stevsgarage]

You didn't mention when your student was planning to be in PV but I just booked a stay there from March 16th to the 21st if he happens to be ther at the same time maybe we can get together, if not to dive at least to compare tall tails.:idea:

 

[La Maurita]

My husband and I went to PV last summer and dove with
Chico's Dive shop.
The employee's were nice enough but entirely too busy with
too many people! They take all the Cruise Ship business and
are overrun by snorkelers, etc...
We rented equipment, wetsuit shorties were completely
full of holes and torn seams. I asked for a new one and
got another one with maybe one less hole!
The regulator I was given had the mouth piece completely
chewed off, since they loaded the regulators and equipment on the boat before we left, we did not know this until we were
preparing to dive....as they did not have any extras on board the boat, I had to use it or not dive. (Personally at this point, I felt the dive master should have offered me his and he use the defective one, he didn't care!) I held it in my mouth the whole dive! Then during the dive, my weightbelt kept slipping and I
had to keep tightening it. The buckle was not closing all the way.
Needless to say, I spent most my dives adjusting equipment and not looking at the fish.
The dives were VERY short! less than 30 minutes. They wanted
to get us back to take out the next group!
Several years ago (about 4) this was not the case, but now..........
Sorry I don't know who to recommend..