Diving in Puerto Rico: when, where and what to bring

Best and worst months to dive

Because we’re on an island, when one coast is rough, the opposite coast is usually calm. When the north is bad, the south is good. When the east is bad, the west is good, and the other way around.

In general, the summer months bring some of the best diving on the north side of the island, and the winter months bring some of the best diving on the south side. It mostly comes down to the cold fronts that come down in winter and push swells onto the north coast.

If we had to pick the worst month, it would be October, and even that isn’t necessarily bad. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, so a storm in the area can change plans on the north side. If you come with some flexibility, it’s not a big deal. Our conditions by month page has the water temperature and seas for every month.

Where to dive, town by town

For training and shore diving, San Juan has a great training site in a protected cove, but it isn’t the only one on the island. Vega Alta has a good training spot too, and so does Aguadilla.

For boat diving, you’ll have to get out of San Juan. Your options are:

• East: Ceiba, Fajardo, Vieques and Culebra
• South: Ponce, Guánica and La Parguera
• West: Rincón and Aguadilla

As a rule of thumb, the north coast is mainly shore diving, the west coast has both shore and boat diving, and the south and east coasts are mainly boat diving.

Water temperature and what wetsuit to bring

The water stays between about 80°F and 86°F (27–30°C) all year. Wetsuits are personal preference. We’ve seen people dive in a bathing suit and people dive in a drysuit, and it all depends on what kind of diving you’re doing.

On average, most people use a 3/2 mm full suit or a 2 mm shorty for most of the year. In the cooler months, people who tend to get cold sometimes bump up to a 5 mm. More in our wetsuit guide for Puerto Rico.

Mistakes we see visitors make

• Diving too close to the flight home. Some people book a dive, boat or shore, without leaving enough time before they fly the next day. Check our When can I fly? timer before you book.
• Expecting a boat dive on a cruise stop. Cruise passengers come in with a short window and want to do a boat dive, but boat dives here leave from other coasts, not San Juan. On a short stop, shore diving in San Juan is the realistic option. Tell us when your ship leaves and we’ll tell you what fits.
• Servicing gear right before the trip. Some get their gear serviced right before they leave, with no time to try it, and then something malfunctions once they’re down here. Get it done a few weeks ahead and test it in a pool if you can.
• Bringing gear that hasn’t been used in years. Gear that’s been sitting in a closet for a long, long time tends to fail on the boat or at the dive site, right when you need it.
• Skipping the refresher. Some people assume they don’t need one, and once they jump in the water it’s clear they really do. They try to play it off, but in reality they’re having issues with their equipment. If it’s been a while, read how to get back in the water first.

Shore or boat with only 2–3 days?

It depends on what you’re looking for. Some people prefer shore diving and others prefer boat diving. With only a few days, the bigger question is how long you’ve been out of the water and how comfortable you feel.

If it’s been a long time, it’s often better to start with a shore dive or a refresher instead of jumping straight onto a boat. You’re not only risking your own safety, you’re also putting the crew taking care of you at risk if you don’t tell them you’ve been out of the water for a while.

What surprises people most

A lot of people come looking for the big stuff. It does exist, but it’s hard to promise, because it’s marine life and it isn’t on a leash out there.

What surprises them is that there’s always something to see on every dive. It can be as simple as lobsters, octopus, sea turtles and stingrays, and every now and then the less common ones show up: sharks, dolphins and manatees. They’re all out there, we just never promise them, because you never know when they’ll come by. Every dive is an adventure. See what lives here in our marine life guide.