A Guide to Scuba Diving in Puerto Rico
Scuba diving in Puerto Rico is an exciting adventure worth adding to your itinerary.
With crystal-clear waters and a thriving marine ecosystem, Puerto Rico offers an extraordinary diving experience for all skill levels. In fact, the high visibility, healthy reefs, and variety of tours make scuba diving one of the must-do activities in Puerto Rico.
Like many other Puerto Ricans, I’m a local with a passion for the ocean. In this article, I’ll go over the 19 best spots for scuba diving in Puerto Rico.
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19 Best Scuba Diving Spots in Puerto Rico
Escambrón Beach
Spot sea turtles and artificial reefs at one of San Juan’s popular beaches.
📍 Google Maps | 👉 Book a Escambrón Beach Scuba Diving Tour
Escambrón Beach is an easy and shallow dive for all types of divers. Located in San Juan, Escambrón Beach offers you an option if you’d like to stay in the capital city but still adventure underwater.
The beach has artificial reefs and a maximum depth of 30 feet. The site also has caverns where it’s easy to spot marine wildlife including manatees and green turtles.
Desecheo Island
Adventure into underwater caverns on an offshore island.
Desecheo is an uninhabited island outside Puerto Rico’s west coast. It’s off-limits to visitors, as it has unexploded military ordinances, but the surrounding waters are a diver’s dream.
Desecheo Island has multiple dive sites with up to 100 feet of visibility. Las Cuevas is a group of caves and arches you can swim through even as a beginner.
Candyland, named after the board game, has colorful coral reef species, gigantic sea fans, and schools of tropical fish. Taino Divers and Aquatica Underwater Adventures offer tours to Desecheo.
The Wall
Dive into one of the most acclaimed Caribbean diving sites filled with black coral.
The Wall is one of the best dive sites in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean as a whole. It’s part of the 22-mile-long wall on Puerto Rico’s south coast and it drops well over recreational limits, reaching 1,500 feet underwater.
Also known as the Black Wall, this diving site in La Parguera is popular for its black coral gardens.
The deep wall dive and high visibility make it easy to spot diverse sea life. Stingrays, hogfish, triggerfish, octopus, sharks, and many more species are present in the wall.
Mosquito Pier
Swim side-by-side with turtles and jellyfish at this man-made pier.
Mosquito Pier is one of the top attractions in Vieques.
From Playa Blaydin, dive to the left side of the pier for a beginner-friendly spot. Or, if you’re an experienced diver, head to the end of the pier. Either way, you’ll get to experience and appreciate marine life.
Turtles, jellyfish, and fish swim between the pillars filled with corals. Creole wrasse, angelfish, eagle rays, sting rays, and grunts swim in the area too.
Mona Island
Explore the underwater world of the Gálapagos of the Caribbean.
Mona Island is located 41 miles west of Puerto Rico. The Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet in its waters and welcome multiple species throughout the year, including dolphins and humpback whales. Sharks and turtles are common too.
The strong currents and warm waters combine to create a mesmerizing ecosystem with large mammals, reef fish, and healthy hard and soft corals.
Mona Island also has underwater caves recommended for more experienced divers.
Crash Boat Beach
This popular diving pier in Aguadilla is the home of dozens of sea creatures.
📍 Google Maps | Entrance: Free, Parking $5 (seasonally) or free on-street parking
Crash Boat Beach’s pier is one of the best dive sites in Puerto Rico for beginner divers. The colorful pier is the home of many fish species easily accessible through a shore dive. Sea turtles visit the pier frequently too.
Past the pier and just a few yards from the beach, you’ll find the wreckage of an old pier. What’s left of the steel pillars now serves as the home of the fish and makes for cool underwater photos.
The depth is about 30 feet deep and the visibility ranges between 20 and 40 feet at this Aguadilla popular attraction.
The Wit Power
Dive at one of the few accessible shipwrecks in Puerto Rico.
The Wit Power Tugboat is one of the best Culebra diving sites out of the numerous sites in this archipelago.
This tugboat sank in 1984 and is currently filled with corals and marine life. Turtles and lots of fish swim around the boat.
The dive is about 50 feet deep and is one of the most accessible shipwrecks in Puerto Rico.
The site is recommended for intermediate and advanced divers. Culebra Divers is one of the companies in the area that offers a tour of the shipwreck.
Angel Reef
This shallow dive surprises you with one of the most well-preserved corals on the island.
Vieques beaches offer some of the best diving sites – including Angel Reef.
Although it’s relatively shallow with a maximum depth of 60 feet, Angel Reef has healthy colorful coral reefs teeming with marine life. Spot gray angelfish, yellow wrasse, and butterfly fish during your dive.
The site is beginner-friendly, but a tour operator is recommended to visit. Once inside the water, ask your dive instructor to show you the historical Spanish anchors in the area.
Cayo Lobito
Nicknamed “the hospital”, this cay’s reefs are home to plenty of nurse sharks.
Cayo Lobito is a cay that belongs to the town of Culebra. Although small, the surrounding waters of the cay are great for spotting nurse sharks and barracudas.
The site is 75 feet deep and is great for intermediate divers. Due to its distance from mainland Puerto Rico, Cayo Lobito has healthy corals that are worth the boat trip from Culebra.
Cayo Ratón
Get surrounded by large schools of fish while diving at this cay.
Cayo Ratón is a cay off the coast of Culebra with a semicircular reef. Although it starts shallow, it descends 60 feet underwater, which is why it is recommended for intermediate divers. This dive spot has coral reefs that house great biodiversity and large schools of fish.
Queen angelfish, butterfly fish, and parrotfish swim in these waters. The visibility can reach up to 100 feet, so it’s easy to stay oriented and to appreciate marine life from afar.
Palomino Wall
Visit colorful corals at this diving site a short distance from Fajardo.
📍 Google Maps | 👉 Book a Fajardo Diving Tour
Palomino Wall is a semi-wall located near Palomino, one of Puerto Rico’s offshore islands.
The site is ideal for beginner divers as its currents are mild. Hard and soft corals populate the site. The depth varies from 15 to 80 feet at this site, also known as the Sand Slide.
Hawksbill turtles, small reef fish, and eagle rays swim at Palomino Wall. This is one of the popular diving tours you can take from Fajardo. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has a coral nursery in the area too.
Fallen Rock
This unique pinnacle formation outside Guánica’s coast offers a challenging dive.
Located on Puerto Rico’s south coast, Fallen Rock is a notch on The Wall formed by a fallen boulder. The dive site is considered one of the best dive sites in Puerto Rico for advanced divers.
The depth goes from 65 to beyond 100 feet. The formations and the corals serve as home to hundreds of species.
Mackerel, barracudas, spotted eagle rays, and many more reef fish populate the dive location. Visiting this site is one of the best things to do in Guánica.
Carlos Rosario Beach
Take a wall dive from one of the best Culebra beaches.
Carlos Rosario Beach in Culebra is famous for its reefs and marine life, easy to spot even from the shore.
The Carlos Rosario wall runs parallel to the beach and drops up to 40 feet. Soft corals along the wall are home to yellow snapper, creole wrasse, and other tropical fish. Turtles, stingrays, and sharks are also easy to spot.
Due to the mild currents, this dive is best for an intermediate diver. Keep in mind the area is part of a nature reserve and you shouldn’t fish at this beach.
Shack’s Blue Hole
Explore underwater caverns and tunnels at this Isabela beach.
Shacks Beach is one of the most popular places to visit in Isabela. Besides being a great spot for watching the sunset, Shack’s Beach has reefs and caves that make a dive at the site magical.
The reef is accessible from the beach. Go beyond the shallow part to find the Shack’s Blue Hole, and other underwater caverns and overhangs.
While visiting, it’s easy to spot turtles, eels, and tropical fish. The weather and tides affect the access to the cave.
Los Tubos Beach
This surfing beach is also great for diving on the north coast.
Los Tubos Beach is a popular spot for surfing in Puerto Rico, but this beach is also a fabulous diving destination.
Go near the boat ramp to access the beach reefs and swim around soft and hard corals. Keep an eye open for stingrays, moray eels, lionfish, octopuses, and sea turtles. Occasionally, manatees visit this area too.
The depth is between 15 and 33 feet. The area is ideal for getting certified, and also quite safe for beginner divers.
Ambar Wreck
Deep dive into the Caribbean and find one of the best shipwrecks in Puerto Rico.
The Ambar Wreck is one of the best scuba diving trips for experienced divers in Puerto Rico. The wreck sits over 80 feet deep off the coast of Aguadilla and is only accessible by boat.
The dive to the shipwreck requires additional training and decompression equipment. While it’s one of the hardest dive sites to visit on the island, the depth of the Amber Wreck as well as the high visibility guarantee the presence of marine life.
Barracudas are largely present in the area. You can spot manta rays, nurse sharks, snappers, jacks, and blue tangs too.
Tres Palmas Marine Reserve
Admire the elkhorn corals at this marine nature reserve.
📍 Google Maps | Phone: (787) 455 6614 | 👉 Book a Rincón Diving Tour
Tres Palmas Marine Reserve is one of the best spots for snorkeling in Puerto Rico, but it’s also great for diving.
This marine reserve is home to one of the largest and healthiest elkhorn coral gardens in Puerto Rico. It’s also home to many species like angelfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish, and spotted eagle rays.
Tres Palmas is a nesting site for hawksbill turtles, so you might spot them on the beach during your dive. The dive is of shallow depth and easy to do, but watch out for high tides and strong currents during the winter season.
Efra’s Wall
Dive off of Guanica’s coast at another famous part of The Wall.
📍 Google Maps | 👉 Book a Stay and Diving Tour at Guánica
Efra’s Wall is another great Puerto Rico diving destination. It also forms part of the 22-mile-long wall on Puerto Rico’s south coast.
Efra’s Wall refers to a canyon section located south of Guánica. The coral reefs start at 50 feet deep and descend to 100 feet.
Black corals, whip corals, and rope pore sponges cover the wall. The large ecosystem is home to slipper lobsters, moray eels, parrotfish, and other fish.
For its currents and depth, this dive is best for intermediate and advanced divers.
Cayo del Diablo
Chill out with turtles at this offshore cay.
Cayo del Diablo is a cay located east of Fajardo with multiple diving sites. The cay’s surrounding waters have high visibility and pristine coral reefs filled with marine life.
The site has a maximum depth of 55 feet and it’s easy to do if you’re a beginner.
Besides healthy corals and lots of fish, this site is also great for seeing turtles.
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Those were the best places to do scuba diving in Puerto Rico! Not sure if you’d like to go that deep into the water? Check out the best Puerto Rico snorkeling spots instead!
