Dive Review of
Sea Ventures/ Parguera Divers/Copamarina Resort in
Puerto Rico/Guanica

[Unspecified]

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

Rinse bucket provided and care with cameras taken.   

Overall Rating

This was our first trip to Puerto Rico. There are several good areas of
diving on the island, but the best diving is on the southwest side (wall
diving), the west end and Desecheo and Mona Islands. Flight was an easy one
hop from Dallas and airport was easy to get through. Rented a minivan for
our group, I believe renting a car is a must as there is quite a bit to see
and do in different parts of the island. The island is absolutely beautiful
with dramatic mountainous areas in the central island, rainforests in the
northeast end and dry forest in the southwest. All make for an excellent
half-day of land exploration. We stayed at the Copamarina Resort in
Guanica, which was a 2.5 hour drive from San Juan. Highway system is modern
and easy to get around and we easily found Guanica. However, getting to the
Copamarina Resort is tricky and requires a drive of several miles on a very
narrow and twisted paved road with virtually no signs to the resort.
Recommend renting a navigation system through the rental car agency which
will take you right to the resort. The resort was absolutely wonderful and
top-notch with several pools, hot tubs, etc. There were few people there in
October, so we asked for and received a free upgrade to a superior
ocean-front room. There are two on-site restaurants, we ate at the Palms
cafe which had good lunch and dinner. Did not eat at the formal restaurant
but it is reportedly outstanding but expensive. This is a wonderful resort
for the diver with non-diving family or kids. Dove 3 days with Sea
Ventures, which is the dive shop on the resort itself and one day with
Parguera Divers. Both excellent operations. Sea Ventures appears to take up
to 20 divers or so, but we never had more than 7. Dive briefings were
somewhat sparse. No nitrox available through Sea Ventures. First dive was
on the wall, second was on a reef. Dives were generally 45 - 50 minutes and
led by a guide. You had to stay with the guide through the dive, but
towards the end back near the boat you were allowed to explore on your own
and extend your dive as long as you wanted while coming up with 500 psi. On
our third day, Sea Ventures boat's engine broke in between dives. We
snorkeled while waiting for a pick-up from another boat. We did not get to
make our second dive that day and were obviously not billed for the second
dive. They were unable to take us out our last day, so Sea Ventures made
arrangements for us to dive with Parguera Divers. Parguera Divers is
approximately 25 minutes from the Copamarina Resort. They take out small
groups, our three divers where the only ones on board. Dive briefing was
outstanding, surface interval was at sea on the boat and sandwiches were
served. Dives were loosely led by a guide and were 45 - 55 minutes.
Parguera normally does nitrox, but their blender was down so again we dove
air. The diving on the wall of southern Puerto Rico was very good. We dove
Black Wall and Fallen Rock - the wall there is every bit as good and the
coral as healthy as more famous islands for diving such as Grand Cayman and
Cozumel - the main difference is the visibility in Puerto Rico will
sometimes not be as good. I am told visibility on the wall of southern
Puerto Rico is generally 80 feet, but we had several dives of 30 - 50 foot
viz. Coral is very healthy and there were many fish, though not many large
fish. Saw at least one large green moray on 6 of our 7 dives and saw
several morays on some of the dives -I saw more large green morays
consistently in Puerto Rico than anywhere else I have dived. Turtles were
present on most dives and were not shy of divers. A couple of nurse sharks
were also seen. No other pelagics, though I was told they do have whale
sightings occasionally during certain seasons. Neither Sea Ventures or
Parguera divers routinely offer 2-tank afternoon dives, only morning dives.
Night dives are available but must have a minimum number of divers. Ponce
is an interesting town and worth visiting one evening. The short hike to
the Cabo Rojo lighthouse on the southwest tip of the island has dramatic
scenery and is worth the drive and hike. I also recommend a night snorkel
in the bioluminescent bay, the phosphorent show in the water is amazing and
great to do with kids. English is fairly widely spoken in Puerto Rico, but
I was surprised by the large number of locals that did not speak any
English, especially on the southern side.  

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