Scuba Diving
San Salvador is famous for its vibrant wall dives and abundant marine life, including hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, Eagle rays, and more.The Telephone Pole is a stimulating wall dive where you can watch stingrays, grouper, snapper, and turtles in action.
Riding Rock Resort & Marina. The dive operation here (both SSI and PADI recognized) uses mostly buoyed sites to avoid damaging the marine environment by dropping anchor. The 42- and 46-foot dive boats are spacious and comfortable. Resort and certification courses are offered, and all new computerized dive gear and camera gear are available for rent. There's also a modern underwater photographic facility. Complete dive packages, including meals and accommodations, are available through Riding Rock Resort and Marina. However, dive trips are not offered daily so book well in advance. Riding Rock also rents bicycles and golf carts and can arrange half-day and full-day reef, inshore, and offshore fishing trips. The offshore waters hold tuna, blue marlin, dorado, and, in winter, wahoo. Riding Rock Resort and Marina, Cockburn Town, San Salvador Island. 800/272–1492; 242/331–2631; 954/453–5031; www.ridingrock.com.
Seafari Dive Center at Club Med Columbus Isle. The diving operation at Club Med is now run separately by Seafari International, and all dive trips and certifications (PADI and CMAS) are exclusive to Club Med guests only. If you are not staying at Club Med, you must buy a Day Pass ($64), which is all-inclusive of meals and other resort activities, in addition to paying for any dives. This professional dive center consistently offers three dives a day, in addition to a weekly night dive, to over 35 dive sites with permanent moorings. Divers go out on one of two catamarans, 54 and 52 feet. A hyperbaric chamber is on-site, and the staff consists of 10 dive instructors and four dive masters. All necessary equipment is available for rent including underwater cameras, dive computers, and Nitrox. Club Med, Cockburn Town, San Salvador Island. 242/331–2000; 242/331–2195; www.clubmed.us.
