Information about the site
Experience level. Advanced. Current is sometimes unpredictable.
There are two main parts of Punta Sur. The Punta Sur reef to the south consists of nice swim throughs and a spectacular chamber called the Cathedral. The northern part of Punta Sur contains the infamous Devil's throat. Due to the depth of the dive and the distance travelled, you will usually do one or the other, but not both. However, if you do the Cathedral section of the reef, you will usually dive by the Devil's throat section on the way to Colombia.
The Cathedral section is spectacular. There are large swim throughs at about 110'. The Cathedral is further north from the start of the swim throughs. David, with Aldora, likes the Cathedral the best of all.
Currents can be strong when you are out over the wall. Due to the depth of the dive, the strong currents, and the long swim throughs, this dive should only be done by experienced divers.
I personally witnessed a diver that went to take photos of the cobia above, at the beginning of the dive, stayed a minute too long, and swam hard to catch up with the group. He had to find the group after going through the first swim through, then had to swim up current to the next swim through. This diver became bent at about 50' on the way up. The dive master kept him calm, and got him to the surface in a controlled manner. He was given oxygen, rushed to the chamber, and survived. However, he had to stay a week, and all travel plans had to be changed.
As for Devil's throat, it is a constricted swim through that starts at about 90' depth. There are a few ways to go. One way takes you steadily down and you come out on the wall at 130'. Another way takes you to 115'. Most dive companies will have you come up as you exit the tunnel, and then do an ascending dive over the rest of Punta Sur into Colombia. Some divemasters may take you through the tunnels a few times exploring different passages. The scariest part of Devil's throat is where the tunnel narrows to about 5' wide and drops about 15' down before it opens up again.
There have a been a pair of juvenile reef sharks spotted here in Dec. of 2010. You will usually see some turtles here, but the fish and animals are not as numerous as other areas.
We need more photos of this area. Please feel free to submit some in our galleries.
Conditions around the site
strong currents, advanced, and experienced divers
Recommended diver experience level
Open water diver with experienceOpen water diver with experience,Open water diver with up to 30 dives