El Doradillo is a sheltered bay on the Atlantic coast near Puerto Madryn, in Patagonia's Golfo Nuevo. The sites here are suited to beginners, with depths reaching a maximum of around twenty metres across natural reef and artificial reef structures, including the long underwater ridges known as restingas. Visibility at most sites ranges from ten to thirty metres, which is notably good for this coast. Water is cold for much of the year, peaking around eighteen to nineteen degrees in late summer and dropping to eleven degrees in winter, so thick wetsuits or drysuits are necessary. Divers can expect South American sea lions, nudibranchs, Patagonian redfish, and octopus.
Monthly water temperature across El Doradillo's sites, from satellite sea-surface data corrected for depth. The band shows the site-to-site spread.
Water is warmest from late summer into autumn, when it reaches around eighteen to nineteen degrees, and coldest from mid-winter into early spring at around eleven degrees. The better visibility typical of spring and summer makes those months the most productive for underwater observation.
1 operator
Water temperature around El Doradillo ranges from about 11°C in August to 19°C in February, based on satellite sea-temperature data for its dive sites.
In the warm season (about 19°C) a 5mm suit is comfortable in El Doradillo; in the coldest months (about 11°C) step up to a drysuit.
Fin maps 4 sites in El Doradillo (4 scuba diving sites).
Across El Doradillo's dive sites, January, February and June are most often reported as the best months to visit.
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