Juan Barnard, the dive master and co-owner of the Zihuatanejo Scuba Center, has quite a passion for diving the area's waters. A marine biologist, he and partner Ed Clarke run a first-class operation that includes a complete retail store (a NAUI pro facility) with equipment repair services and E-6 processing. Their three dive boats, a 34-footer and two 24s, are rigged to carry 10, 8 and 6 divers, respectively, so crowding is never a problem. The center runs a one dive master to three divers operation. Water visibility off the coast is 50 feet, and the water temperature runs in the 80s during the winter when the shore is washed by the Humboldt Current. During the summer low season, clarity runs in the 100- to 150-foot range due to the warm, clear waters produced by the Equatorial Current that washes the onshore coast of the area. Regardless of season, the diving is superb. Passing pelagics are often encountered at sites such as Sacramento, a group of rock islets and pinnacles a quarter-mile west of Ixtapa. Turtles, mantas and even whale sharks may be encountered. Schools of pompano and Mexican goatfish inhabit the area, as do Pacific boxfish, zebra and green morays, jack crevalles, the impossible-to-see frogfish and more. The tropical eastern Pacific contains species whose range runs from the Sea of Cortez and the Revillagigedos to Ecuador and the islands of Galapagos. You may also discover many species which are found throughout the tropical Pacific- the Moorish idol, several species of puffer and gobies, seahorses, the beautiful queen angelfish and the yellow goatfish, as well as numerous delicate nudibranchs. There are 28 prime dive sites in the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo area (and a new recompression chamber in Ixtapa). The dive sites are categorized for beginner, intermediate and expert divers. All are within a 30- to 45-minute boat ride from town. There is also superb shallow-water diving and snorkeling just south of Zihuatanejo at a place called Manzanillo Beach.
