Puerto
Vallarta diving offers a vatiety of diving for both the beginner and more experienced
divers. It's part of the beautiful Bahia de Banderas (or Bay
of Flags), on the Mexican Riviera and hosts the bottleneck dolphin,
giant manta rays and and abundant tropical fish.
The marine life at Puerto Vallarta is quite similar to that
found in the Sea of Cortez. The bay is host to humpback
whales and Whales sharks from December to April.
The
three Islands Los Arcos, Majahuitas and the Marietas
are especially rich in marine-life and they have been designated
as protected, underwater national parks.
Los
Arcos "The Arches" offers more diversity
of tropical life than any other site in the entire bay. Diving
on this site is like going into a huge aquarium filled with
with friendly tropical fish. There are several sites going from
30-60 feet/9-18 meters, and provides something special for all
levels of divers. The more experienced divers doing a deeper
dive will find very varied terrain. The western side of Los
Arcos has an area called "Devil's Canyon". The
beginning of the drop starts at 60 feet/18 meters giving
experienced divers a great wall dive, combined with the deep
blue abyss that lies below.
Majahuitas
is a coved area, near the shore, with a gradual slope and is
populated by friendly schools of tropical fish.It's
a good spot for novice divers due to its shallow depths and
abundance of aquatic life. Majahuitas is a popular and easy
dive with something for everyone. Dive depths go down to approximately
120 feet/36 meters.
The
Las Marietas Islands are located close to the northern
end of the Bay of Banderas has a variety of caves, reefs
and drop-offs. Las Mariettas with depths going to aprroximately
75 feet/22 meters is one of the most popular and visited areas,
for scuba diving and snorkeling, in the Mexican Pacific.
Other
interesting dives are found at Colomitos and El Chimo
Colomitos is a small cove, located just around
the bend from Boca de Tomatlan. It offers a great dive experience
with a sharply-sloped underwater hillside where you can observe
a variety of aquatic creatures living among the embedded rocks
and boulders that are precariously perched along its walls.
Depths are from 30 to 120 feet/9-36 meters.
El
Chimo dive site is located near the southern end of
the Bay of Banderas and is considered to count among the best
dive sites in the entire bay. The remote area is usually full
of marine life of all kinds from giant mantas, dolphins, whales
and turtles to the beautiful Moorish Idols, Sargeant-Majors,
and delicate sea-horses.
The dpths vary from 15 to 120 feet/5-36 meters and currents
are not rare. For this reason Chimo is more appropriate for
more experienced divers.
The
entire south side of the Bay of Banderas is excellent
for snorkeling and scuba diving as the Sierra Madre Mountains
extend directly into the ocean. Although just any spot in this
area is good for diving where you can always be sure to see
loads of small, tropical life feeding off of the wall formations
note that these rugged walls are accessible only by boat.
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