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Scuba Diving Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico boasts over 20 miles/32 km of continuous wall diving. Boats leaving from the seaside communies of Guanica and Parguera
Satellite islands, including Desecheo, Mona (said to be the Galapagos travel on the peaceful water of the inner lagoon, where you see color-
of the Caribbean), Vieques and Culebra offer their own unique blend fully painted weekend homes. Once outside the barrier reef, the boat
of fanciful marine life and intriguing submarine contours. will turn south to reach any of the 40 or more already discovered dive
For divers, the names Guanica and La Parguera are synonymous with sites. Average seas run 3 to 5 feet/1 to 2 m, and 5 miles/8 km out to sea
wall diving. Lying 5 to 8 miles/8 to 13 km from shore, stretching over there’s no place to hide, so medication for seasickness prevention is
20 miles/32 km east to west from Guanica to well past Parguera, there highly recommended. All of the area’s deep wall dives share the same
is a tumultuous drop-off of continental proportions that resembles characteristics. The reef top leading to the drop-off is carved with
the rim of the Grand Canyon. The first drop-off begins at an average canyons that slice deep ravines through densely packed hard corals
depth of 65 feet/20 m and falls away steeply to a broad shelf at a depth and lead directly to the wall. These canyons are spaced about 15 to 30
of 600 feet/182 m. From here it continues well beyond 2 miles/3 km yards/16 to 32m apart along the wall, and in some places the canyons
deep to join the oceanic depths of the Venezuelan basin. The impres- themselves are the crux of the dive. Many of the wall’s most dramatic
sive scale of a drop such as this can be overwhelming. Recreational di- features are located just below a depth of 100 feet/30 m. For this rea-
vers explore only the top of the wall at depths ranging from 60 feet/18 son, much of the diving in the southwest region of Puerto Rico can
m to 130 feet/40 m. The continental shelf drops off precipitously sev- be considered intermediate to advanced. Dive computers are recom-
eral miles off the southern coast, producing a dramatic wall 20 miles mended. Underwater visibility ranges from 60 feet to 80 feet/24 m or
(32km) long and teeming with marine life. Compared favorably to better most of the time.
the wall in the Cayman Islands, this Puerto Rican version has become Puerto Rico’s west coast, blessed with calm seas and gentle breezes
the Caribbean’s newest world-class dive destination. Paralleling the near shore, also offers high-voltage diving adventure in the form of an
coast from the seaside village of La Parguera to the city of Ponce, the offshore island named Desecheo. The west coast runs north to south
wall descends in slopes and sheer drops from 60 to 120 feet (18-37m) for 35 miles/56 km. The two major cities are Mayaguez and Agua-
before disappearing into 1,500 feet (457m) of sea. Scored with valleys dilla, each with its own airport offering easy connections to San Juan
and deep trenches, it is cloaked in immense gardens of staghorn and International Airport. Maps of the sea floor indicate the second deep-
elkhorn coral, deep-water gorgonians, and other exquisite coral for- est place in the entire world is located just north of Puerto Rico in
mations. Visibility can exceed 100 feet (30m). There are more than 50 the Puerto Rican Trench. The trench spans more than 500 miles/805
dive sites around Parguera alone. km from east to west. There is a submarine canyon that climbs up
nearly 30,000 feet/9,150 m. Situated at the top of this canyon is the
uninhabited island of Desecheo. This accounts for the overwhelming
