Puerto Vallarta

[claugen]

I'm a newbie and looking for some recommendations.  I'll be in Puerto Vallarta (Punta de Mita) in October and looking for some recommendations on some dive operators and sites.

[Schultz]

I spent a few days in Puerta Vallarta and dove two of those days.  The first day we went to Los Arcos, which apparently is where all of the divers in Puerto Vallarta go.  It's close to just about everything and (if memory serves) there were 7 or 8 dive boats there when we got there.  I did two dives there with new divers, which was cool, because the dive site and visibility were atrocious.

The next day, we went away from shore out to Las Marietas and dove Nagalos and Las Marietas sites.  The boat ride was interesting (about half an hour in a 16 footer), but the dive sites were about a thousand times better than Los Arcos.  We saw lots of moray eels at Nagalos and some of the swim throughs at Las Marietas were pretty awesome.  I'd definitely dive those two sites again, but would dive Square Lake for fun before Los Arcos.

Couple of cautions...  First, water temperature.  Don't expect the water to be above 70, even in October.  If you don't tolerate cold well, definitely plan to bring a thicker wetsuit.  I dove in a 3mm, which was fine for me, but the folks I was diving with were in a 5mm and a 7mm and they got cold.  I even gave my hood to one of the guys.  Second, only use reputable dive operators attached to a certifying agency that speak and understand English.  I'm not a big "I only speak English wherever I go" kind of guy (I'm probably half fluent in Spanish and can get by when I'm traveling), but because of the water temperature and your own desire to see what you want to see, I don't think you want to leave it to chance.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to PM me!  Have a safe trip!