Rincon, PR

[Hoodlm13b]

The wife and I just got back from a week in Rincon. There are some great posts on here about diving there. The one from "dieswaytoofast" pretty much hits the nail on the head.

We were with 4 other couples so we rented a pretty nice multi-level house at Tres las Palmas right on the beach. Taino Divers is the outfit to dive with for boat dives. We spent a day at Desecheo Island. Vis was about 75+. A couple of us hit 90ft. for some deep diving but it was pretty much just the flats. La Cavernes and The Aquarium offer quite a bit for picture takers. Our guide was very knowledgable and profesional; JC and Emily. The ride out there was like riding a bull for about an hour though. We had a good time but one lady tossed her groceries in the bucket. So, if you get sea sick, take precautions.

While we were there, I logged 9 dives the entire week. I snuck one in on Saturday, our last day. I was a bit disappointed with Steps Beach but if you head south about 200 meters, you'll hit the Tres Palmas area. Very nice diving there but entries and exits can be tricky for newer divers. You really need to watch the sea urchins. I got nailed by one with about 10" spines on the leg. Plenty of Puffers, Cuddle Fish and many, many other fish to sea. The coral is very nice as well. About 300 meters off shore boats will anchor on the second reef known as Little Desecheo. A buddy and I surface swam out there and dove it. We both agreed that the first reef has a bit more to offer. Plenty of Spanish Lobster to catch if you like.

Taino Divers is the only outfit to go with in Rincon. We checked with a few others but chose them. Sport Diver Magazine was there most the week which made it a bit difficult to get tanks but Taino pulled through for us. The Shipwreck Bar and Grill next door serves pretty good food too. I've got plenty of pics on my myspace page at MySpace.com - DST1/OPS1 - 33 - Male - NIXA, Missouri - www.myspace.com/desertscubateam1 if you'd like to check them out.

Crash Boat is another leisure dive. Vis was very good. Just watch out for fishing lines, take a line cutter with you just in case.

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

Thanks for the report. It sounds like you had much better diving than my wife and had in PR. We dove the NE area of the island a few years ago and can't say there was anything worth going back for. I have since read several articles in dive mags about Rincon that have similar things to say about the diving there as you have posted. In sound like the town and area is interesting as well.

Did you hear about anyone going out to Isla Mona to dive?

What are your thoughts on topside activities?

Thanks.

 

[Luis H]

Thanks for the report.

I dove last November with Taino and it was great.

Here is a link to my trip report from November:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/gr...ort-puerto-rico-1st-week-november-2007-a.html


The NE of the Island is not the place to dive, too exposed to the Atlantic.

Some of my favorite diving area is Parguera.



The last I heard about Mona Island (last November) is that it was closed to commercial dive operators, but you could go with a private boat. This should only matter if you land on the island, but the trip is far enough that it deserves almost deserves to be a multi day trip.

The last time I was in Mona was about 30 years ago.

 

[Hoodlm13b]

Sport Diver Magazine was there with a group of people, Mona Island. We did not dive it. Mainly cause a 3 hour boat ride may be worth it but not bearable to some. As far as activities in the area goes, there's not much. We rented a house, 4 other couples and us, so we stayed busy playing around there. Driving there reminds me of driving in Kabul, Afghanistan a bit. We were going to do the bio-lum snorkel trip but it got canceled due to weather. Two of the other couples went golfing and said it was nice but the wind was a real booger for them. You can take little day trips up into the mountains and tour the forests via zip-line or whatever. El Yuenche(sp) is supposed to be really nice but that's southeast of San Juan. I'd just do plenty of research before you go and have your days planned out. All I wanted to do was log dives and lay around the pool/beach. Crashboat beach is pretty nice but down arounds steps the beach is a reef. You definitely want to wear some sort of foot gear or the urchins will eat you up. Night diving was great. If you get off the shore a bit, you can dive for lobsters. We had fresh lobster with our scrambled eggs the next morning. Hope this helps. Enjoy!