Hi folks, long time lurker, first time caller.
I thought I'd share my experience diving while staying in Yelapa last week. Yelapa is a small village south of Puerto Vallarta accessible only by boat; it's a very mellow place with a large ex-pat/hippie community, live music almost every night, great food and starry nights. However, diving from Yelapa is a challenge.
Based on recommendations from this board, I booked a dive trip with Pacifica Scuba. However, most shops in town start their trips at 9 a.m. Getting from Yelapa to downtown PV by 9 a.m. is possible in theory, but unlikely unless everything goes just right. After missing my dive boat by a solid half hour, I then book with Boca Divers. This small shop is located a much shorter boat ride from Yelapa, and trips leave at 11 a.m. Much more doable from Yelapa.
I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed. Boca Divers is only two people, but Karla the divemaster is very professional and a real sweetheart. The rental gear is fairly new and in good shape.
We dove the Majahuitas, a dive just offshore, not far from Boca de Tomatlan. There's no coral and not much sea life, but diving with mantas was the order of they day. They were EVERYWHERE. One stopped to check me out at about 5 feet. Great experience. There is a signficant surge at the Majahuitas site, which got to me at the half-hour mark of the second dive. I blew chunks in my reg (there's a first for everything) and after blowing it out as much as I could had to remove the reg to adequately purge it. I highly recommend not vomiting underwater for fun, but I figure if I can do it and not panic that's a good thing.
I was fine after heaving and was okay to finish out the dive, but Karla saw what was happening and decided to pull the plug at that point. It was a conservative and wise call on her part.
All told a good experience, and a learning one at that.
I thought I'd share my experience diving while staying in Yelapa last week. Yelapa is a small village south of Puerto Vallarta accessible only by boat; it's a very mellow place with a large ex-pat/hippie community, live music almost every night, great food and starry nights. However, diving from Yelapa is a challenge.
Based on recommendations from this board, I booked a dive trip with Pacifica Scuba. However, most shops in town start their trips at 9 a.m. Getting from Yelapa to downtown PV by 9 a.m. is possible in theory, but unlikely unless everything goes just right. After missing my dive boat by a solid half hour, I then book with Boca Divers. This small shop is located a much shorter boat ride from Yelapa, and trips leave at 11 a.m. Much more doable from Yelapa.
I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed. Boca Divers is only two people, but Karla the divemaster is very professional and a real sweetheart. The rental gear is fairly new and in good shape.
We dove the Majahuitas, a dive just offshore, not far from Boca de Tomatlan. There's no coral and not much sea life, but diving with mantas was the order of they day. They were EVERYWHERE. One stopped to check me out at about 5 feet. Great experience. There is a signficant surge at the Majahuitas site, which got to me at the half-hour mark of the second dive. I blew chunks in my reg (there's a first for everything) and after blowing it out as much as I could had to remove the reg to adequately purge it. I highly recommend not vomiting underwater for fun, but I figure if I can do it and not panic that's a good thing.
I was fine after heaving and was okay to finish out the dive, but Karla saw what was happening and decided to pull the plug at that point. It was a conservative and wise call on her part.
All told a good experience, and a learning one at that.
