Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbadco
Awesome pics!!!
I went on a couple of beginner dives in PV this past winter but I didnt see half the stuff you did!!!
Where did you go diving (location) and what type of camera did you use?
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The locations this time were all in the south part of the bay -
Los Arcos (Devil's Canyon, Baha de Cristo, pinnacles)
Mahajitas (just south of Las Caletas) &
Chimo (pinnacles & cave areas).
What dive shop did you go with? I would assume you likely used Vallarta Adventures? They are good for most tours but not for diving. I recommend Twin Dolphins dive shop and the best diving is in the summer months.
In Vallarta you need to get up pretty close to the reefs (because of the color loss under water) or many dive sites just look like a bunch of rocks but when you get in close they are rich with colorful life as seen in my pictures. Some of the best dive sites are rated advanced like Chimo or El Moro but there is still plenty of great diving in the Banderas Bay area for less experienced divers. The unfortunate thing with many of the dive masters in PV is that they just don't understand what people like us really want to see. They try and cover a lot of ground during a dive and show you a couple of cool things but in the process take you over lots of sand & rock to get to the spots they think you would want to see instead of dropping down over the reef and spending the dive there. I can spend an hour in a small area of a reef and be very happy and see lots of amazing things. It took a while but I am slowly getting the guys at the shop I use to slow down and let me lead. (Personally I prefer to dive by myself) Long story short is you need to tell them exactly what you want in a dive and hope they understand the concept. I had a DM tell me this trip that nobody likes to dive like me because they want to see the big stuff and go swimming, not waste time looking at corals & small sea life. I told him he's wrong but like many others he just doesn't get it - especially if they grew up in the area because they really take the corals for granted and have very little understanding of them.
I hope my long diatribe answered your questions. Regarding the camera, I use the same camera I use at home to shoot my tanks. It is a Sony DSC-WX5 cyber shot with an underwater case. If you plan to go back to PV and have any questions just drop me a line and I can make recommendations for restaurants, tours, diving, etc.