Where We Dive
We don't hand you a fixed itinerary. Every scuba dive is shaped around your experience and what you want out of the day, then matched to whatever the ocean is doing that morning. The west coast of Puerto Rico makes that possible — Rincón, Aguadilla and Isabela sit within a short drive of each other, so when the wind turns we move rather than compromise. These just are some of the sites we come back to, and the ones we look forward to sharing when the day lines up.
Black Eagle Marina
Rincón, Puerto Rico
If you're hoping to see a turtle, this is where we'd take you. Black Eagle sits inside Tres Palmas Marine Reserve, and the protection shows — elkhorn coral, sea fans and sea plumes, and hawksbills on most dives. The water is shallow and calm, the swim from shore is short, and the reef is far richer than the easy access would suggest.
Skill Level
Average Depth
Max Depth
Dive Time
Entry
Beginner
25 Feet
40 Feet
60 Minutes
Shore
Wildlife
Diverse - Hawksbill turtles, elkhorn coral, blue tang, giant anemones, sponges, long-spined sea urchins
Conditions
Minimal current. Boat traffic at the marina entrance is one thing to respect.
Crashboat Beach
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
A military pier collapsed here decades ago, and the ocean has spent the years since turning the wreckage into reef. The pilings are furred with sponge and coral now, bait schools between them, and the sand flats around the edges hide the odder things — octopus, moray eels, the occasional seahorse. It's sheltered enough for an easy first dive, and it's the site we come back to after dark.
Skill Level
Average Depth
Max Depth
Avg. Dive Time
Entry
Beginner
45
55 Feet
45 Minutes
Shore
Wildlife
Green turtles, octopus, moray eels, blue tang and sardine schools, snapper, sponges. Seahorses and frogfish occasionally. Lionfish present — invasive, we point them out.
Conditions
Sheltered most of the year; rip currents can be present near the pier in winter
Shacks Blue Hole
Isabella, Puerto Rico
The reef at Shacks is cut through with tunnels, arches and caverns linking the blue holes to the open ocean side, and moving through them is an exploration experience like no other. It's the most dramatic water on this coast and the most temperamental — it needs a genuinely flat day, and it doesn't get many of them. When it's on, nothing else comes close.
Skill Level
Average Depth
Max Depth
Avg. Dive Time
Entry
Intermediate
35 Feet
45 Feet
50 Minutes
Shore
Wildlife
The tunnels, arches and caverns are the reason we dive it, and they're what people remember afterwards, but we frequently see turtles, blue tang, snapper, and lionfish.
Conditions
Overhead environment. Tunnels run guided, on our route, or not at all.
Playa Stella
Rincón, Puerto Rico
Stella gives you two dives in one site. Close to shore it's shallow coral reef a short swim off the beach — low coral heads, sand channels running between them, and enough small life in the cracks to reward going slowly. Swim further out and the bottom drops away into a wall, where the site finds its depth. That range is why it works equally well for a first dive in Puerto Rico and for divers who want something with more edge to it.
Skill Level
Average Depth
Max Depth
Avg. Dive Time
Entry
Intermediate to Advanced
50 Feet
100 Feet
45 Minutes
Shore, Moderate Surface Swim
Wildlife
Moray eels, lobster, shrimp, brittle stars, nudibranchs, southern stingray
Conditions
Sheltered and forgiving over the reef; current picks up along the wall. Best on a day with the swell down.
El Natural
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
There's no sign for El Natural and no parking lot — you'd drive straight past it without knowing it was there. Past the rocky volcanic shoreline the reef opens into big coral formations and stands of sea fans, and hawksbill turtles are common. It's the site that most rewards knowing the water: where to get in, when to go, and where the current sits at the reef edge are the difference between a beautiful dive and a hard one.
Skill Level
Average Depth
Max Depth
Avg. Dive Time
Entry
Intermediate
60 Feet
75 Feet
40 Minutes
Shore, jagged volcanic rock, water shoes essential
Wildlife
Hawksbill turtles, moray eels, angelfish, butterflyfish, tangs, snapper, wrasse, octopus
Conditions
Sheltered and forgiving over the reef; current picks up along the wall. Best on a day with the swell down.