finack
New
Hey divers!
Just got back from a short 5 day trip to Huatulco and wanted to share my observations.
tl;dr Great place to visit with mediocre diving conditions (based only on two tanks)
We started out our journey first spending a couple days in Mexico City and then taking a Volaris flight over to Huatulco ($237 USD round trip airfare). The timing of the flights were not great when it came to connecting back to our trip back to the states so we ended up returning to Mexico City and staying another night to connect back to the states.
When we arrived in Huatulco we took an airport shuttle (there were plenty) to our Airbnb in the Tangolunda area with a stellar view of Montosa Island. Amazing properties found via https://www.renthuatulco.com/. Once in the area, we took cabs everywhere and that was super easy. Most cab rides where under $5 to Santa Cruz or Chahue. Renting a car would have been a fine idea too. Driving in this area seemed reasonable.
One of my friends on the trip had a funny observation that many of the touristy restaurants were stuck in the ‘70s serving rice pilaf and other old school resort food. We found the street food and hotels in the main square of Chahue the best option. The main supermarket Chedraui is also amazing and massive. Food outside of the tourist areas was very reasonably priced. There are many different types of shopping in this area but I would not count on it for dive related supplies. Everyone was out of reef safe products and we only luckily found a (very ugly) UV shirt.
As for the diving we originally planned to dive three 2-tank days, and one evening (if there was enough divers) via Huatulco Dive Center | PADI Resort. Buceo recreativo en Huatulco, México. The first day’s dive was cancelled because high winds from previous days. Were able to dive the second day but were unable to get on a boat on the third day (a Saturday that was booked weeks in advance) or on a night dive.
The Huatulco Dive Center is a great and I recommend them. They were great to communicate with, to dive with, and have a great dive boat. Most dive sites where 15m from the Chahue harbor. We were also able to get a private boat for $100 usd (included boat, staff, food, drink, transport) for the non divers to go see beaches and snorkel. We did this via our taxi driver.
On our single dive day on Friday we went out in relatively calm waters to Morros Maguey. Visibility was 10’ and water was 77-82f (temp changed often). It was a good shakedown dive and we were able to see some small rays, many puffers, and a couple small eels. The second dive at La Blanca was a bit rough. High surge in front of the surfaced rock. Visibility was at best 5’ but many times I could not see the fins of my dive partner. With silt in the water, there were times when I could barely see my hand. Low visibility and high surging currents meant there was not much to see and I was not terribly comfortable in these conditions. The dive master was great though and was able to show us a couple nudis but I was not able to get photos due to the surge.
I did ask the divemasters and other folks who have dived there a bit about conditions and it seems this was not too unusual visibility or chop. A bit rougher than normal, but not so exceptional that I would go back to give it another chance. My assumption is that on a day with good visibility it would be a good, not great place to dive. I would not say no to another dive trip here but personally like calmer, clearer waters.
Afterwards we had amazing fish tacos and beers at the cafe next to the dive shop. A great way to end the morning
Happy to answer any questions that I can.
Just got back from a short 5 day trip to Huatulco and wanted to share my observations.
tl;dr Great place to visit with mediocre diving conditions (based only on two tanks)
We started out our journey first spending a couple days in Mexico City and then taking a Volaris flight over to Huatulco ($237 USD round trip airfare). The timing of the flights were not great when it came to connecting back to our trip back to the states so we ended up returning to Mexico City and staying another night to connect back to the states.
When we arrived in Huatulco we took an airport shuttle (there were plenty) to our Airbnb in the Tangolunda area with a stellar view of Montosa Island. Amazing properties found via https://www.renthuatulco.com/. Once in the area, we took cabs everywhere and that was super easy. Most cab rides where under $5 to Santa Cruz or Chahue. Renting a car would have been a fine idea too. Driving in this area seemed reasonable.
One of my friends on the trip had a funny observation that many of the touristy restaurants were stuck in the ‘70s serving rice pilaf and other old school resort food. We found the street food and hotels in the main square of Chahue the best option. The main supermarket Chedraui is also amazing and massive. Food outside of the tourist areas was very reasonably priced. There are many different types of shopping in this area but I would not count on it for dive related supplies. Everyone was out of reef safe products and we only luckily found a (very ugly) UV shirt.
As for the diving we originally planned to dive three 2-tank days, and one evening (if there was enough divers) via Huatulco Dive Center | PADI Resort. Buceo recreativo en Huatulco, México. The first day’s dive was cancelled because high winds from previous days. Were able to dive the second day but were unable to get on a boat on the third day (a Saturday that was booked weeks in advance) or on a night dive.
The Huatulco Dive Center is a great and I recommend them. They were great to communicate with, to dive with, and have a great dive boat. Most dive sites where 15m from the Chahue harbor. We were also able to get a private boat for $100 usd (included boat, staff, food, drink, transport) for the non divers to go see beaches and snorkel. We did this via our taxi driver.
On our single dive day on Friday we went out in relatively calm waters to Morros Maguey. Visibility was 10’ and water was 77-82f (temp changed often). It was a good shakedown dive and we were able to see some small rays, many puffers, and a couple small eels. The second dive at La Blanca was a bit rough. High surge in front of the surfaced rock. Visibility was at best 5’ but many times I could not see the fins of my dive partner. With silt in the water, there were times when I could barely see my hand. Low visibility and high surging currents meant there was not much to see and I was not terribly comfortable in these conditions. The dive master was great though and was able to show us a couple nudis but I was not able to get photos due to the surge.
I did ask the divemasters and other folks who have dived there a bit about conditions and it seems this was not too unusual visibility or chop. A bit rougher than normal, but not so exceptional that I would go back to give it another chance. My assumption is that on a day with good visibility it would be a good, not great place to dive. I would not say no to another dive trip here but personally like calmer, clearer waters.
Afterwards we had amazing fish tacos and beers at the cafe next to the dive shop. A great way to end the morning
Happy to answer any questions that I can.
