- Open Water course
- MX$8,970
Updated July 2026
Good to know
Good to Know
- There is no liveaboard diving based out of Puerto Vallarta — everything here, including the remote offshore pinnacles, is done as a day trip by boat, so expect long transit times (up to 90 minutes each way) for sites like El Morro and La Corbeteña rather than easy shore access.
- If you want to see whale sharks or hammerheads, aim for the advanced offshore sites (El Morro, La Corbeteña) in season — the easy, close-in sites like Los Arcos are calmer but see fewer big pelagics.
- Winter (roughly November-May) brings colder water and a wetsuit becomes genuinely necessary, even though it's also when humpback whales and the best pelagic chances show up; June-October is warmer and generally clearer for reef-focused diving.
- Most dive shops run a fixed weekly schedule (e.g., Los Arcos/Majahuitas certain days, Marietas other days), so check which site is on offer before booking if you have a specific site in mind.
- Most dive shops here price and quote directly in US dollars rather than pesos, since the client base is overwhelmingly international tourists and nomads.
- Completing the PADI e-learning/knowledge portion online before you arrive is commonly recommended so you spend less vacation time in a classroom and more time in the water.
- Divemaster and Master Scuba Diver training is offered by several shops but availability can be limited outside peak season — worth confirming dates directly with the shop rather than assuming daily start dates.
- If freediving is what you're after rather than scuba, Puerto Vallarta is not the spot — the Riviera Maya/cenotes area on Mexico's Caribbean coast is the country's real freediving hub.
Sites
Los Arcos (Los Arcos National Marine Park)
- Type
- Rocky pinnacles/islets with tunnels, caves, arches, and an adjacent wall/drop-off
- Access
- Day-boat, roughly 30-45 minutes from Marina Vallarta; the most accessible and most-dived site in the bay
- Best Season
- Year-round; calmest conditions November-May, warmest water and clearest visibility June-October
- Marine Life Highlights
- Octopus, moray eels, lobsters, rays, sea turtles, colorful nudibranchs, and dense reef fish; the adjacent seamount known as El Bajo and a feature called Devil's Canyon offer deeper terrain
- Depth Notes
- Shallow terrain from about 6m/20ft suitable for beginners and Discover Scuba dives, dropping to a wall reported at extreme tech-diving depths on the outer edge
Islas Marietas (Marietas Islands National Park)
- Type
- Volcanic islets with underwater tunnels/swim-throughs and reef
- Access
- Day-boat; roughly 10-15 minutes from Punta de Mita area marinas, or about an hour+ from Marina Vallarta. Widely considered Puerto Vallarta's most popular site for certified divers
- Best Season
- Year-round diving; winter months bring the chance to hear whale song underwater and more pelagic sightings
- Marine Life Highlights
- Pacific manta rays, sierra mackerel, Pacific amberjack, California needlefish, Moorish idols, king angelfish, giant damselfish, convict tangs and yellowtail surgeonfish
El Morro
- Type
- Offshore rocky islet with a true swim-through tunnel and multiple current-swept trails
- Access
- Day-boat only, a long transfer (around 90 minutes) from Marina Vallarta — an advanced-diver site, not for beginners
- Best Season
- Manta rays can be seen year-round; winter brings a chance of whale shark encounters
- Marine Life Highlights
- Nurse sharks resting in small caves, manta rays, sea lions, occasional whitetip and whale shark encounters, plus a roughly 40-meter underwater tunnel running through the rock between about 15-37m depth
- Conditions Notes
- Moderate-to-strong currents; recommended for experienced divers only, dive lights recommended for the tunnel
La Corbeteña
- Type
- Offshore volcanic pinnacle/seamount
- Access
- Day-boat, a long transfer similar to or beyond El Morro; advanced/high-difficulty site often booked as a special trip requiring a minimum group size
- Best Season
- Best for experienced divers year-round; currents and conditions are most manageable outside peak rainy-season swell
- Marine Life Highlights
- Strong currents attract hammerhead sharks, whitetip and nurse sharks, and giant manta rays
El Chimo
- Type
- Remote offshore rock/reef site
- Access
- Day-boat, offered as a special high-difficulty trip (some operators require a minimum of 4 divers); not a standard daily-schedule site
- Best Season
- Not well documented separately from the general dry/rainy season pattern for the bay
- Marine Life Highlights
- Grouped by local operators with El Morro, La Corbeteña and Corrales as one of the bay's more challenging, current-affected sites
Los Corrales
- Type
- Remote offshore reef/rock formation
- Access
- Day-boat, offered only as a special advanced trip alongside El Chimo, El Morro and La Corbeteña
- Best Season
- Not separately documented; follows the general bay pattern
- Marine Life Highlights
- Marketed by local dive operators as one of the bay's advanced-diver-only sites, similar in character to El Morro and Corbeteña
Los Anegados
- Type
- Remote rocky site in open water
- Access
- Day-boat; described by at least one Puerto Vallarta operator as visited only once or twice a year due to weather and diver-experience requirements
- Best Season
- Weather-dependent; only run on select days
- Marine Life Highlights
- Nurse sharks resting in caves, large schools of tropical fish, and dense coral/invertebrate growth; positioned as a site for encounters with sharks and other large marine life
El Sequial
- Type
- Reef/rock formation
- Access
- Day-boat from Marina Vallarta area operators
- Best Season
- Not separately documented
- Marine Life Highlights
- Noted by local operators for rich marine biodiversity and as a strong spot for underwater photography
Majahuitas
- Type
- Sheltered cove/reef, calm water
- Access
- Boat-only (no road access) south of the bay; often paired with Los Arcos on the same day trip and used for beginner/Discover Scuba dives
- Best Season
- Year-round; calmer and more sheltered than the open-water sites
- Marine Life Highlights
- Described as a tranquil tropical setting rather than a big-animal site; good for beginners alongside Los Arcos
Colomitos
- Type
- Small sheltered cove/reef
- Access
- Day-boat, grouped with the southern-bay circuit (Los Arcos, Majahuitas, Mismaloya)
- Best Season
- Not separately documented
- Marine Life Highlights
- Used as a calmer secondary stop on southern-bay dive-boat itineraries rather than marketed for a specific signature species
Mismaloya
- Type
- Nearshore reef/rocky point
- Access
- Day-boat, part of the southern-bay circuit
- Best Season
- Not separately documented
- Marine Life Highlights
- Used as a beginner-friendly stop on southern-bay itineraries
Seasonality Overview
- Dry Cool Season
- November to May/June
- Rainy Warm Season
- June to November
Notes
- Vallarta Adventures/PADI describe June to October as having the warmest water (around 30°C/85°F) and the best visibility (up to ~40m).
- Banderas-area operators describe the dry/winter season as bringing lower average visibility and much colder water at depth (as cold as 13°C/55°F on the same site that runs above 29°C/85°F in the rainy season), due to stronger tidal/upwelling effects — but this is also the season for whale encounters and the best chance of pelagics.
- PADI notes some divers consider November to May the best window overall because Pacific sea conditions are calmer and pelagic encounters (including humpback whales) peak, even though water is colder and a wetsuit is recommended.
Typical Costs
Discover Scuba Diving (intro/try-dive)
- Cost
- MX$925
- Note
- Entry-level taster price seen advertised; not a certification.
- Cost
- MX$8,970
- Course
- PADI Open Water Diver (full certification package: equipment, manual, boat dives, card)
- Note
- One established Marina Vallarta school quotes this all-inclusive price; other sources put full Open Water certification generally in the roughly 450-485 USD range.
- Cost
- MX$4,440
- Course
- Referral course (classroom/pool work done at home, open water dives completed in Puerto Vallarta)
- Note
- Cheaper option for divers who complete the academic portion before arriving.
Certifying Bodies And Levels
- Dominant Agency
- PADI is by far the dominant certifying body in Puerto Vallarta, with most shops holding PADI Dive Center or PADI 5-Star Dive Center status.
- Other Agencies Available
- A handful of shops also teach or recognize NAUI, SSI, IANTD, RAID, SDI and CMAS alongside PADI, though PADI courses are the default path most visitors take.
- Notes
- Multiple shops explicitly advertise the full pipeline from Open Water through Divemaster, and at least one operator lists technical/rebreather-level courses (IANTD, RAID) alongside recreational PADI training.
Levels Commonly Offered
- Discover Scuba Diving (single-day try-dive, no certification)
- PADI Open Water Diver
- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
- PADI Rescue Diver (paired with Emergency First Response/EFR)
- PADI Divemaster
- PADI Master Scuba Diver program
Operator Density
- Summary
- Puerto Vallarta has a genuinely broad, multi-operator dive market rather than just one or two shops — this is not a niche destination.
- Note
- At least eight to nine distinct named shops/operators were identified across PADI's own directory and independent guides, several with decades of operating history in the bay.
Named Operators Identified
- Vallarta Adventures (PADI 5-Star Dive Center)
- Oceano Adventures
- PV Ocean Tours
- Silent World Divers
- Crocdiver Center
- Vallarta Under Sea (Escuela de Buceo Vallarta Under Sea)
- Dressel Divers (Puerto Vallarta & Punta de Mita)
- Banderas Scuba Republic
- Chico's Dive Shop
Access Summary
Diving around Puerto Vallarta is genuinely day-boat based, not liveaboard-dependent — there are no liveaboard operations covering Banderas Bay. Boats depart daily from Marina Vallarta (and some operators from Punta de Mita) for two-tank day trips. Some sites are close (Los Arcos is roughly 30-45 minutes by boat from Marina Vallarta, Marietas can be reached in 10-15 minutes from Punta de Mita marinas), while the more remote offshore pinnacles are long day-boat transfers of 75-90+ minutes each way rather than shore dives — there is no walk-in/shore diving of note in Puerto Vallarta itself.
Certification Notes
Los Arcos and Majahuitas are run as beginner/Discover-Scuba-friendly sites by most operators; Marietas Islands, El Morro, La Corbeteña, El Chimo, Los Corrales and Los Anegados are restricted to certified (often advanced) divers due to depth and current.
Freediving Crossover
- Found Locally
- No
- Note
- No evidence turned up of Puerto Vallarta dive shops commonly offering AIDA/Molchanovs/SSI freediving certification courses or of local sites being marketed as freediving destinations. Mexico's well-known freediving training hub is the Riviera Maya cenote region on the other coast, not Banderas Bay — so this crossover does not appear to genuinely exist here and is not claimed.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
More About Puerto Vallarta
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.