Scuba in PR

People always ask me where we dive in PR and this is what I tell them. There are lots of scuba shops in PR. From where I live in Arecibo, I find the west coast convenient. This is not a comprehensive list, just my opinion and the places I have visited.

RUN, DO NOT WALK away from Sea Ventures FIVE STAR PADI scuba center of Fajardo, PR. This is the most flagrantly incompetant scuba outfit I have encountered in twenty years of sport diving. Customers there are truly the hated enemy. They will scream and yell and do their very best to ruin your day and steal your money. If the screaming incompetant boat captian had told me his name - he was too incompetant for that - it would be published here. If you are looking for abuse or death by drowning, this is the place for you.

We like Jose Rafols of Aquatica. His shop is in Aguadilla, but I heard he sold his boat. A number of people I know took their training with Jose.

Also, we have had good luck diving with a guy named Angel who owns Paguera divers out of La Paguera (south west coast). The diving is a little different there and there is a deep wall. But its a farther drive and longer boat ride. Angel has stateside standards. Brand new, well-maintained boat.

Angel 787-899-4171 Paguera Divers

Or there is Juan Carlos who owns Arecibo dive shop (rt2 west of 129). He will take divers out in his boat occasionally. The north coast tends to be rough in the winter. If you want to rent tanks and equipment, Juan Carlos is the closest to AO. Lots of people from AO have had training from Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos is a good guy. FYI, his store doesnt take credit cards. We dive often with Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos 787-880-3483

I also dove with Taino Divers out of Rincon. They are fine but a tad on the expensive side. Taino is still going out there. The problem with Taino is that their harbor silted up and they make you haul the tanks and gear to the boat from the shore. At $95 for 2 tanks thats out of control. I can dive for the price of a fill if I haul my own tank.

Taino runs a trip out to Mona. That is nice. But some friends of mine got burned after they scheduled a trip to Mona with Taino and then a week before the trip, the Taino people looked into getting the permits for Mona and oops no permits because the Boy Scouts took them all. My friends came to PR anyway and did some diving, but its not Mona.

We now go often with Elick Hernandez in his boat, Tourmarine. (787-851-9259) You can hire the boat as you like. He provides the tanks and you dive as you like without being let around by the nose. You need a few more experienced divers for this trip. He runs the boat for a fixed price with a fixed number (6,8,10) of people. That is nice. Cheapest way to to get to Mona or Desecheo that I know short of buying a boat.

The boat is a bit uncomfortable and stinky and the trip to Mona is long but Mona is fabulous. Worth the discomfort. If you go on that trip and hire the cook, make sure its Beto. He is good. Its Puerto Rican food.

I buy my parts (Scuba Pro) from a shop in Isabella (because they are a dealer), "La Cueva Submarina". They are friendly and well stocked. I have filled tanks there with ease. If the owner is there he will give you the usual bullshit about being qualifed to lube an o-ring. In the end, he will sell you the parts. The first time I overhauled a regulator, there was no qualification to get. (I would have gotten it then, too.) Now, I just want to dive.

There is a shop in Rincon called Oceans Unlimited. Lately, they were rude to us for no good reason. No need to dwell on the negative. I don't reccommend them.