Native Diving Ecuador

Isla de la Plata, Ecuador

The team at Native Diving Ecuador are the ones you want if you’re heading out to Isla de la Plata. We dove with them last season and found their local knowledge impressive, especially when it came to navigating the currents that can kick up around the island. They’re PADI-focused, offering everything from Open Water up to Divemaster, but it’s the fun dives and particularly their fluorescent night dives that we really think stand out. You’re choosing Native Diving for a proper, immersive experience of the island’s unique environment. They’re not just taking you to the nearest buoy; we found they really aim to get you face-to-face with the local residents. We love that they push the fluorescent night dive; it’s a completely different way to experience the reefs, with corals glowing under UV light, and the nocturnal critters, like decorator crabs and sleeping parrotfish, out in force. Visibility can vary with the seasons – generally clearer during the drier months from June to December – but even on days with a bit of a chop, Native Diving always seemed to find us a sheltered spot with plenty to see, often schools of jacks circling and plenty of green sea turtles grazing on the bommies. They’re a solid pick for divers who appreciate an operator that knows their backyard intimately.