It happens every time: on a dive trip somewhere in the
Caribbean, on Tuesday or Wednesday night, après dive, I’m
having beers with new friends and they ask, “so where else
do you dive?” “I love to dive in Puerto Rico,” I say. Then
I see that look on their faces. They’re thinking Sharks
and Jets and “I love to be in America,” and they can’t
fathom my love for Puerto Rico.
“So why’s Puerto Rico so good?” they ask. The answer,
for me, is Parguera, a small fishing village turned resort
village in southwestern Puerto Rico. There are plenty of
good things about Parguera: nice people; cheap prices; a
great dive operation; great food; good hotel; nice
weather; and over 20 miles of walls to dive. I love walls,
I love good, uncrowded diving, and that’s Parguera.
Parguera Divers is owned and operated by Efra Figueroa,
who is ably assisted by Angel Rovina. Efra has been diving
Parguera for well over a decade. He discovered all the
sites and is one of the “founding fathers” of Puerto Rican
diving. No one loves to laugh and joke more than Efra, but
this isn’t apparent on day one, because his face is polite
and captain-stern. “Show me your “C” card. When did you dive
last and how many dives do you have under your weight belt?”
I followed Efra’s routine, which was to rig your tank
while the boat was at the dock. The staff was watching me,
but I’m glad I didn’t let that put me off, because I soon
discovered that this crew is capable of watching and running
dives without over-supervising, making them a pleasure
to dive with. In fact, the staff truly loves to dive:
Efra is thrilled to be in the water while for Angel it’s
serious play. They participated and guided, but, once I’d
rolled my bones with them, if I informed them of my profile
and dove well, I discovered that there weren’t a lot of rules: off the boat; dive your profile;
stay with the guides or not; back
to the hang line; and then up on the
boat with 500 psi. A safety stop is
required. I followed these guidelines,
and all went smoothly. Screw up, however,
and I’ve seen Efra banish people
from his boat. My log shows a lot of
120-something foot dives. With these
beautiful walls and the 100-foot visibility,
dives like that are typical.
It’s a small operation; expect only
6 to 8 people on the boat. If there are
a lot more (say, over 12), it gets
beyond cozy. If the group gets much
larger than that, there’s a second, 28-
foot boat to back up the partiallycovered
36-footer. Although the boat’s
spacious enough, with ample gear storage,
there really aren’t any comfortable
seats. The shop keeps some rental equipment (Sherwood), and they can fix
broken stuff, but it’s best to show up with your own gear. Photographers will be at
home here, though: Efra is also a photographer (I’m not) and has a freshwater rinse
tank on the boat just for cameras. There’s also a shower contraption for humans. A
weighted line with a spare tank and regulator hung beneath the boat on every dive,
and a 30 or 40-foot Jesus line trailed behind. But compared to other multi-Newton,
fleets of 42s type operations, Efra’s is modest. The hour run to dive the walls
wasn’t luxurious, but once I’d gotten to the sites, I found walls that challenged
anything I’d seen. Efra’s Wall, Two for You, and Canyons were all excellent. I’m a
certified Wall Freak, and on my Wall-O-Meter the best walls at Parguera were heartpounders
on a par with walls in Cozumel, Little Cayman, and some of the outer cays
of Belize. When the boat dropped anchor next to the wall and I headed down to a 40
- 60 foot sand bottom, then flew out over the wall, it was magic.
For me, the real magic and best wall dive ever was Black Wall. The wall is
monstrous: it starts at 50’ and goes down to forever. At the west end, it horseshoes,
then straightens out. Though it’s called Black Wall because of a stand of
black coral, the wall itself is brilliant, and on a sunny day it shimmers with
color. Vivid reds, yellows, and greens deck the almost vertical wall, along with
huge basket and tube sponges. I slid down the wall, swam to the horseshoe, and
was buzzed by durgeons, angels, and on down the list of typical tropical
colorfuls. Swimming around the horseshoe, which is half the size of a football
field from one end to the other, I peered down into the water turning from light
blue to black as it neared a few little shelves at 150 and 200 feet. The magnificent
scale was literally awesome. Black Wall was my favorite dive, period.
Several other dives stood out: Fallen Rock was another beautiful, sheer wall
that started at 60’ and went down to infinity. A huge, school bus-sized boulder
has broken off the wall and landed on a ledge, and in the spaces behind it I
discovered a bevy of mega-lobsters and crabs. Old Buoy, starting at 40 to 50
feet, teamed with fish. There were huge schools of the Puerto Rican piranhas,
black durgeons, and they were especially fierce if I threw a chunk of my sandwich
over the side of the boat. I also kept company with a few barracuda, and my last
time there I saw a honker southern ray. Parguera’s fleet of French angels boasts
size and curiosity, and there are deep trenches to swim through. I tried hitting
the trenches and swam out and over an impressive vertical drop into the deep blue.
My shallow dives were also excellent, including Chimney, a fish-filled, 40-
foot flat with a great chimney coral formation. I swam into a comfortable-size
horizontal opening and found myself in a sun-filled amphitheater filled with
fish. I felt as if a Gary Larson-type deity had put together the perfect aquarium
for leisurely viewing. I couldn’t get over the huge variety of soft coral,
sponges, and smaller fish. I played with a good-sized octopus, then swam up and
out through the top. Though I’m not a shallow/la-la diver, my log shows 75 minutes
at Chimney: something must have been interesting. Other dives turned up a
100-member spade fish team and a fleet of over 50 barracuda that hung overhead
like a silver cloud, along with the usual suspects, Caribbean fish augmented by
the occasional ray or nurse and black tip shark.
If it’s so good, why aren’t divers flocking in droves to PR? Why isn’t
Parguera Little Cayman? There are several reasons. Let me explain.
My wife and I go to Parguera every February. The weather is clear, beautiful,
and warm (low to mid 80s) then. The water temp is always 78 to 81. For me, that’s
tee-shirt diving; for most others not on my special high-fat diet, it’s up to 3
mills. The vis averages around 100’. I’ve also been there in May when the air gets
into the 90s and the water to low 80s. PR is definitely in the hurricane belt, but
except for hurricanes and the really hot summers, I haven’t heard of a bad time to go.
One option is to fly into San Juan and drive over the mountains to Parguera,
which takes about 3 to 4 hours. The roads are superhighways, but Puerto Rican
driving takes some getting used to. Most cars stay in the left lane (which is
usually in better shape) and pass on the right. On my first trip, I did the long
drive thing, and of course I expected to see friendly villages with tropical
folks waving from charming roadside restaurants. Forget it: it’s highways, though
there are some nice views going through the mountains. For those less enthused
about driving, do what I did on this trip: take American Eagle from San Juan to
either Ponce or Mayagüez, both of which are about 45 minutes from Parguera. Having
a car for the week is helpful.
Parguera is a little town where
Puerto Ricans go for the weekend or
for a holiday. It’s the Jersey shore,
and it’s honky-tonk. Over the past few
years, there’s been more building and
more gentrification, but Parguera is
essentially a few grocery stores, lots
of bars, a few restaurants, and Puerto
Ricans having their seashore weekends. Everybody is friendly, everybody is
happy, and few locals are divers --
Reason No. 1 why this isn’t Little
Cayman: it’s not a dive destination.
That, for me, feels different from my
trips to the Brac or Cozumel or Provo.
But the town was great. I stayed at
Parador Villa La Parguera (70 rooms
with a/c and phones). It’s one of a
few paradors (inns that must meet
government standards) in town. For
under $650 a week, I got a nice room
with a view of the water, a pool, and
a restaurant. It was by no means a
luxury resort, and at times there were too many little kids screeching by the pool for my W.C. Fields-like tastes. It
was clean and functional as opposed to big and luxurious, but still comfortable
enough that my wife was completely satisfied. Parguera Divers has an affiliation
with Posada Por La Mar, another parador a block away, where the boat is docked.
It’s supposed to be comparable, but I was so content at the Villa that, other than
waving at the owner and getting on the boat there, I didn’t check it out.
Life on my dive trip consisted of two morning dives and then lunch, and I
usually followed this with an island adventure. There are lots of places to go
and adventures to have within an hour’s drive from Parguera, and I filled my
dance card in a variety of different ways. There was the drive to the beach. (Ah!
Reason No. 2 why this isn’t Little Cayman or Bonaire: there’s no beach in Parguera. There’s a bay with mangrove
all over the place. I tried renting a
rowboat and outboard (there are also
kayaks) and cruising the “canals” that
ran through the mangroves, and it was
very nice.) There was the trip to
Boquerón, which seems to be the place
where old hippies and burnt-out surfers
go to retire and die. And the beach was
great: it took me 45 minutes to get
there, I had a fantastic, cheap lunch by
the water, and I spent a great day. At
night, I tried the party boats to Phosphorescent
Bay. There was good food at
several places in town (the restaurant at
Villa La Parguera, the great new restaurant
at Posada Por La Mar, and the restaurant at the marina were all winners; for
bigger bucks and minimal dress up, drive 45 minutes to Copamarina, an upscale resort,
for dinner.) Food in town was reasonably priced, and I could go out for a
nice dinner of fresh fish and a few beers (Medallia, the PR beer, is very good) for
$20-$25. I think I’ve become addicted to skirt steak with beans and rice. And those
who travel the Caribbean eating peas and rice/rice and beans should add PR, where
it’s pinto beans swimming in a wonderful red sauce, to their list.
Wait! Only two morning dives? That’s it? Yes, that’s Reason No. 3 why this
isn’t the most popular dive destination in the world: constant seas of three to
five feet (sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more). Parguera Divers’
36-foot boat rocks and rolls. With the walls about hour’s run from the dock, two
a day for a week was enough for me, but Efra will do afternoon and night dives
upon request. With groups, depending on their wishes, stamina, and the seas,
he’ll do afternoon and night dives up to a total of four a day.
The seas are definitely an issue for the seasick-prone. If you’re going to
barf anywhere, you will here. It was easy enough to backroll off the boat, but,
given the prevailing rough waters, getting to the bobbing ladder to get on again
without getting ladder-shined was sometimes a real challenge. In really rough
seas I had to shed my weights at the dive platform in back, hang my BC and tank
on the Jesus line, swim to the platform, and time my jump with a maneuver I could
only call an “ass-flip” onto the rising platform. But no matter what was roiling
on the surface, once I got below 10 or 15 feet, there was no evidence of what was
going on above and little surge. Imagine a rough day on the ride from Provo to
West Caicos, and you’ll have a good idea of what the ride was like. The vast
majority of the divers on the boat were experienced and self-confident; our motley
crew included a brother and sister from Argentina, a gaggle of American
divers from all over, and a few Puerto Ricans. (When my wife and I were on St.
Croix, the dive shop owner asked where else we’d dived. We said, “La Parguera.”
He said, “Oh, then you can dive anywhere.”)
Efra has both the capacity and willingness to coach newer divers, but this is
certainly not the place for bad or stupid divers. It was a fun boat, and there
was a lot of laughing, but once I set up my tanks and 8:00 came (the boat didn’t
wait), things settled down quickly. Once the boat left the dock and slipped out
of the bay into open water, no one walked around much. Everyone grabbed a seat
and hung on. But once we arrived at the site, the crew got into gear. When I came
up from the first dive, they changed my aluminum 80 and presented me with a hunk
of “authentic Puerto Rican sandwich.” There were also soda, water, and snacks on
board. Someone asked if there was a head on the boat, and Efra just shook his head and walked away. More importantly, however, the boat had O2, radio, first
aid, and well-maintained dive equipment.
I found Parguera because I was looking for “another” place, somewhere easy to
get to and a reasonable addition to the Caribbean circuit. Its reef and fish life
is interesting, and the dive sites rival the top-ranked Caribbean Wall Heavies. If
Parguera becomes more popular and the demand for Efra’s services increases, he’ll
have to strengthen the operation, which means newer and bigger boat(s), more personnel,
and perhaps a glitzier dive shop. I like it the way it is, a bit funky but
uncrowded, a relatively unknown getaway with plenty of walls and plenty of fun.
— K. B.
Diver’s Compass: À la carte diving with Parguera Divers is $360
for 6 x 2...There were no nitrox, photo processing, or camera or
video camera rentals available...Their website is
netdial.caribe.net/~divepr; the site has lots of info about the
dive operation and the dive sites...Parguera Divers’ packages
are all with Posada Por La Mar, where the boat is docked. It’s
more dive-oriented than Villa Parguera, where I stayed. According
to their website, Posada Por La Mar’s packages run from $732
(8 days/7 nights/6 days X 2 tanks) to $878 per person...Book packages through Into
the Blue at 1-800-6-GetWet (643-8938) or e-mail at divepr@caribe.net...Boat
scuttlebutt was to spend the extra money on 4th-floor “deluxe ocean view” rooms...Villa
Parguera is $636.50 for 7 nights; for reservations call 787-899-3975; fax 787-899-6040
or see their website at www.elshop.com. There is no “package arrangement” between
Parguera Divers and Villa Parguera. If you go to Villa Parguera, ask for a room in the
section of the hotel that’s on the left (as you’re facing the water), where rooms have
better views and are more open...For burgers and night life, try The Blues Café (easy
walk from either hotel). There was live music sometimes and a nice deck for sitting
out...La Jamaca, which looks like a converted house in the middle of a residential
neighborhood, serves Puerto Rican/Continental food at an average of about $15 per entree.
It’s cozy, and the owners trip over themselves to be of service.