Diving Puerto Vallarta – An Exciting Adventure
The town of Puerto Vallarta is located on the west coast of Mexico. It is part of the Pacific Ocean’s Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Flags) on the Mexican Riviera. Situated on the same latitude as Hawaii, Puerto Vallarta has a lovely subtropical climate. This beautiful location offers many sheltered coves and several incredible dive sites. Puerto Vallarta is well-known for the breathtaking geological formations that are the result of ancient volcanic activity.
Image Courtesy: wikimediacommons/Tim&Annette
The beautiful coral reefs are home to a wide variety of marine life and perfect for luxury adventure travel. The various dive spots can include sightings of giant manta rays; several species of eel; loggerhead, green and other turtles; orca and humpback whales; bottlenose dolphins; mollusks and crustaceans; many varieties of corals and sponges, and many species of colorful tropical fish. These will be easy to spot in the warm nutrient-rich water that can have visibility of up to 120ft.
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The variety of dive sites ensures that Puerto Vallarta will provide memorable diving for all levels of divers, from novice to experienced ones. You can even learn to dive and complete other dive training. Some of the best dives sites on offer are:
Los Arcos (“The Arches”)
is probably the most popular site. This protected underwater national park features calm water and is suitable for all levels of divers. You might see king angels and sergeant majors during the day, and lobsters, moray eels and octopus on night dives.
Majahuitas
is a secluded beach that is only accessible by boat. The dives are shallow (reaching approximately 120ft) and mostly along rock walls. You could see sea cucumbers, moray eels and a variety of rays.
Image Courtesy: wikimediacommons/DavidetMagalie
Las Marietas Islands
is a great site for all levels of divers, reaching approximately 75ft. These volcanic islands are part of an underwater mountain range that provides at least 10 good dive spots. It consists of an exciting combination of caves, tunnels, swim-through, reefs and drop-offs.
Image Courtesy: wikimediacommons/MarcinKlapczynski
El Chimo
is a fishing village located on the southern end of the bay. This site varies from 15-120ft and often has currents, and is only for divers with more than 30 logged dives.
El Morro
features has underwater pinnacles, caves and a tunnel that starts at a depth of 100ft and ends at 60ft. The tricky currents make this a challenging dive, so it is limited to divers with more than 50 logged dives.
Image Courtesy: wikimediacommons/Jpatokal
Top Image Courtesy: flickr.com/MatthewRutledge
