Exploring new dive sites with local divers

Octopus hunting on the reef

The Costalegre coast holds a lot of potential for seasonal dive tourism.

During the month of August, the Sierra A Mar team, local dive operators, and fishermen took advantage of the calm conditions and explored multiple new sites south and north of Chamela Bay.
In part, this was to see how great the eco-tourism potential might be and also to establish what species are abundant and which ones have been decimated. While large predators are almost non-existent, several locations hold great potential for recovery if they are protected from over-exploitation. During many dives along the coast one unfortunate fact became very obvious - there is a lack of top predators, such as sharks. They have most likely been decimated for the harvest of shark fins, a trade that brings profits only to a handful of fishers and traders. The damage done to the balance of the ecosystem is devastating and long-lasting. But no matter what the conditions are at this moment in time, the hope lies in the establishment of protected areas, where species get a chance to recover.

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