MACHALILLA NATIONAL PARK FOR DIVERS
The Mantaraya II is the fast boat allows scuba divers and passengers to explore the full range of Machalilla National Park waters.The Mantaraya can reach Isla the la Plata,Machalilla´s crown jewel,from Puerto Lopez in slightly over an hour.(That´s half the travel time of older tour boats in the area.)And the Mantaraya scuba center in Puerto Lopez is literally “the only game in tonw” for well maintained, modern scuba gear.Mantaraya is a world-class operation with excellent organization,equipment and facilities.
Machalilla divers will swear that Poseidon grafted vibrant Caribbean reefs to the drab ocean bottoms of the Galapagos. A confluence of current nourishes local waters. The could Humboldt Current from the south joins warm flows from the north. As a result,the waters are rich in bouth could-and warm-water marine life large and small. Machalilla offers a dazzling variety of reefs that are colorful, vibrant, and thick with colorful warm-water fish, hard and soft corals, sponges, and gorgonians.
Machalilla´s reefs and inhabitants are much more colorful than the drab rocky-bottoms of some Pacific American dive destinations.Except for visibility in the 30- to 50- foot range and the some timnes-stong surge,divers could easily believe they´re exploring reefs in the Caribbean. But Machalilla offers encounters with the large marine life that´s typical of the Galapagos. Seaturtles,dolphins, sharks and giants manta rays are common year´ round.
Between July and October, Machalilla waterts are a breeding ground for humpback whales.During that period, charter boats operatos can almost guarantee daily whale encounters. A word of advice:schedule a Machalilla dive trip during whale season.A close-up view of breaching humpbacks is valuable bonus for even the most single-minded scuba diver.
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