SW Puerto Rico? Wall diving?

[yellowfish]

Is the diving really worth it out of southwest Puerto Rico? Off the wall there? How long a boat ride to the wall?

We have been diving in quite a few great places in the Caribbean (Little Cayman, Grand cayman, Turks and Caicos, Roatan, Curacao, Cozumel...). Looking for a place with really good wall diving, lots of fish, PLUS some life on land for the 2 twenty something guys who will be with my husband and me.
Thinking of going in mid-February.
Any other suggestions?

 

[ibj40]

We were in Playa Santa, diving with Island Scuba, in June. Previously, about five or six years ago, we dove the wall at La Parguera. I have been diving Cozumel since the mid-80's, and I can say that the wall dives at either location compare favorably, if not, for certain elements, better than what you will see in Cozumel. I especially appreciated the large colonies of Black Coral, which you won't see in Cozumel due to the local poaching. The other significant sightings we had on the Playa Santa dives were the free-swimming reef sharks (of course, they were being fed Lionfish).

Can't necessarily recommend staying in Playa Santa, due to the very limited places to dine. We didn't stay in La Parguera, either, instead coming down from Rincon on a day trip. In Rincon, we also dived on Desecheo for two days, before driving down to La Parguera for the wall. Once we dove the wall, it was clear that for our next trip (this past June), we needed to stay closer to the wall. If you are looking for a variety in dining, I'd recommend Rincon, however that commits you to a more than an hour commute to the wall dives. La Parguera may have promise, we just didn't stay there long enough to be knowledgeable.

PM me if you think I can help out more.

 

[bradells]

I enjoyed my dives there (and Desecheo) a few years ago.

Went with Chiko at Paradise Scuba. They have a fairly roomy wooden boat that they leisurely take to the wall (20-30min ride). Cachi and the french DM (can't remember his name) are great guides and let them know what you're after, and they will find it! We went out a few days with just 2 divers, other days there were more. Other shops in town wanted more $$ just to go out without a completely full boat.

Desecheo was like swimming in a very well stocked clean aquarium! It's a longer boat ride out, and can be quite choppy.

I found the wall to be fairly deep compared to other places in the Caribbean, with the top of the wall generally around the 80ft mark.

We stayed in La Parguera at one of the hotels. Not much was open when we were there (went just before labour day ... the start of hurricane season and few travellers), but had no problems finding places to eat and things to do. Lots of topside stuff to do back towards the highway such as hiking in some of the parks, take a drive on the mountain road, visit some of the coffee plantations, etc.


BRad