Rincon Puerto Rico : Whats the deal?

[LI Diver]

Hey guys I'm thinking of visiting my sister in Fajardo Puerto Rico in April and doing some diving. OK.. actually I'm going there to dive and will visit her while i'm there. From what I understand is that there is diving in and around Fajardo but the premier spots are in the west and south. So... I did some research about dive ops in the Rincon area and came up with an alarming trend of hits on the web about feuding dive shops and a couple bad mouthing one of the primary shops. Even possible violence and a sinking of a boat. As a person who speaks no spanish and will be diving with my 13 yr old and 15 year old children I have some trepidation. Any advice would be appreciated and I am looking for input from gringo's like me as well as local people defending there livelyhood or their friends dive shops.

PS : we are newbies and it will be my daughters first dive after certification so I would like to keep it shallow and calm if possible.

 

[Wally1716]

Any advice would be appreciated and I am looking for input
from gringo's like me as well as local people defending there livelyhood or their
friends dive shops.
PS : we are newbies and it will be my daughters first dive after certification
so I would like to keep it shallow and calm if possible.

..
Rincon is a fine area to dive, but it is mostly deep and the swells are very
high this time of the year. In the southwest, Parguera would be more a tamer
place to dive for newbies...Guanica would be also. Parguera Divers and West
Divers can cater to you in ways you'll always remember. Santos in Playa Santa
could show you corals like you never seen. In the northwest, Isabela and
Aguadilla are great shore diving sites, but large north swells very common
this time of the year can spoil a site quickly. Aquatica, right next to Gate 5
at (old) Ramey AFB would be your best operator in the area. For your kind of
diving, Fajardo is the diving mecca due to the number of cays and islands
where the diving is shallow and full of coral and marine life.
.
What you have heard of Rincon is mostly a personal vendetta rather than the
"business as usual" spat that happens anywhere.

We just returned from our annual trip to the west coast of PR and heard about
your stories, but our kind of diving was better than ever before. I will be
posting an account of our trip very soon on our web site with address below.

 

[ronbeau]

Hey guys I'm thinking of visiting my sister in Fajardo Puerto Rico in April and doing some diving. OK.. actually I'm going there to dive and will visit her while i'm there. From what I understand is that there is diving in and around Fajardo but the premier spots are in the west and south. So... I did some research about dive ops in the Rincon area and came up with an alarming trend of hits on the web about feuding dive shops and a couple bad mouthing one of the primary shops. Even possible violence and a sinking of a boat. As a person who speaks no spanish and will be diving with my 13 yr old and 15 year old children I have some trepidation. Any advice would be appreciated and I am looking for input from gringo's like me as well as local people defending there livelyhood or their friends dive shops.

PS : we are newbies and it will be my daughters first dive after certification so I would like to keep it shallow and calm if possible.

I dove last year with Oceans Unlimited out of Casa Rojo (just south of Rincon). They were exceleent, did exactly what they said they would and treated everyone with respect regardless of experience.

Ther boat has a marine head, full radio, EPIRB and emergency gear.

I just went to their web site to make sure I was giving you an accurate URL and and found the following passage highlighted in bold text below. They recommend going to Paguera divers as another ScubaBoard member suggested.


We regret to inform you that we have sustained severe vandalism damage to our vessel and are currently unable to charter. The parties under investigation for the vandalism incidents are other dive charter operators from the Rincon area. The nature of the damage indicates a lack of concern for the safety & well-being of the guests to the area. For your personal safety & piece of mind, we suggest that you seek charter services outside of the Rincon area at this time.

We would like to recommend the following reputable operators servicing:


West Coast:
Mona Aquatics 787-851-2185
Tourmarine 787-255-2525 / 787-375-2625


South Coast:
Parguera Divers 787-899-4171
Paradise Scuba 787-899-7611
_______________________________________________

 

[THX1138]

I went diving in Fajardo area last year, but it was not too exciting in my opinion. If you can, I would head to the Western area or South-Western area. Below is a discussion of the diving from last year. Hope it helps. John.



http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=86371

 

[LI Diver]

Thanks guys, I'm going to ck out that link now THX. I heard the vis is not so great around Fajardo??? Anybody?

 

[THX1138]

Thanks guys, I'm going to ck out that link now THX. I heard the vis is not so great around Fajardo??? Anybody?

Agree. When I was there the vis was really poor and not much sea life.