Lost Paradise dive site at María La Gorda

"Paraíso perdido"

depth range:60-100 feet

location: (21 46. 154 N 84 31. 372W)

features: wall dive, strong currents, big fish.

A superb wall dive with lots of big fish and a variety of interesting swim-throughs and caves. The site is home to impressive shoals of jacks, tuna and barracuda, a number of stingrays, and all the usual reef species like snappers and grunts. This is a beautiful site, sadly only suitable for experienced divers, but with a stunning variety of views, aquatic species and geological formations. Visibility is usually in excess of 30m as is the maximum depth of the site.

The coral and fish in this area are delightful. Huge lettuce, plate and flower corals and a lot of sea fans, whips and rods, surrounded by large purple baskets and yellow tubular sponges are a common sight. The density of sponges and fans increases as you move closer to the wall, which begins at the depth of 30 meters and reveals a great deal of marine life. The wall has many interesting holes and crevices offering shelter to a variety of fish and invertebrates. Ascending along the wall to submarine terrace, you will find entry to shallower regions through sandy channels. It is common to see schools of blue tromp as well as angelfish, groupers, snappers and surgeons.

An awesome dive! So many big fish! Another wall dive, but there were so many more fish than at the other sites, possibly because this is one of the furthest sites from the dive Center. The dive began by passing through an undercut in the reef to get to the wall which emerged at about 18 metres. Huge shoals of jacks, tuna and a lot of barracuda can be seen.