Thanks, LeeAnne! La Bufadora certainly does offer nice diving, and I totally agree, the abundance of life and size of the structures and critters is the real draw. It *is* cold (colder than SoCal). This trip we saw highs around 51F, and last year in September we had lows around 48F. Brrrr (especially with a leaky drysuit the first day!).
As for the important question of "safety", all I can say is that we had no problems, nor did we see anything to make us worry. I do think it's imperative to be conservative in your planning. We stuck the the federal toll highway for most of the trip, and otherwise stayed along the major roads from Ensenada to La Bufadora. These seem quite well-traveled, guarded, and safe. Don't flash around money, don't be loud or obnoxious, etc.
On both trips, we've opted to stay at Dale's two bedroom villa instead of the bunkhouse or camp grounds. The villa is quite nice (two big bedrooms, full kitchen, common area, big flat screen TV with cable, wireless internet, dryer for undergarments, etc). Importantly, though, it is adjacent to Dale's own house and sits behind a wall (the houses form a sort of relaxed compound). Especially with all the gear we had (and the need for about twenty power outlets...), the villa just makes more sense. It's a pretty good deal ($75/night, or less than $20/person/night) as well. [That said, Dale offered us the entire bunkhouse for the week for about the cost of two nights in the villa.] You can see some pictures of the the villa in our shots from the trip last year:
la bufadora « these days
and on Dale's website:
Dale's dive shop in La Bufadora, Baja California
If you haven't yet read our more detailed trip report from this last visit, it can be found here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mexico/427113-mexico-trip-report-hd-video.html
So to sum up, we've been twice in less than a year, had wonderful trips both times, and wouldn't hesitate to return.
Beautiful video! Charlie and I spent a weekend diving La Bufadora a few years ago, and what I remember about it is that it was like SoCal diving, but EXPONENTIALLY more spectacular. It had all of the elements you can see in a good SoCal dive, but in so much more vivid color, and so much more quantity, it was breathtaking. Your video bears that out: I see all the usual suspects of some of my best Catalina and/or Channel Island dives, but it's all more vibrant and life-filled. Thanks for sharing!
I also remember it was the coldest diving I'd ever done - we dove wet, and on one dive it was a numbing 48 degrees! I resolved to not dive there again until I got myself a drysuit.
I've been wanting to go back to La Buf, but we haven't because of fears of the drug gangs down there. We drove down and stayed in a big ol' bunk house on a cliff next to Dale's Diving shack, which we LOVED - it was rustic, but we love camping and it was right over the water, with dolphins inhabiting the little bay. We felt safe while we were there - there were guards manning a gate to get onto the cliff with the bunkhouse - but I've read too many horror stories of the dangers of traveling down to the area in recent years. Bandits stopping vehicles on the highways and robbing them, families being harassed, corrupt police pulling people over and stealing from them, divers getting their gear stolen. I'm curious if the situation has improved? Are my fears overblown?
Thank you, Lynne! I just found your Loreto report and I must say, there is PLENTY of nice diving to be had in Baja. I guess the caves and Coz aren't the only Mexico dive highlights.
Yes, La Bufadora is basically a doppelganger for Monterey/Carmel. The nice thing for us is that heading to LB over Point Lobos is much less of a drive, better food and drinks, boat dives vs. shore dives, and overall we calculate it's about 40% of the cost of a long weekend in Monterey. Now, all that said, it *is* more work with loading/unloading the boats, climbing back into the pangas, driving around, etc. I do think our next cold water trip will be *up* the coast.
Glad you enjoyed the video. Having a small group of divers on the same page makes such trips all the more fun. Was really happy to have Stephen shooting stills and let me incorporate them into the video. This was my first time mixing media like that and I agree, it works nicely.
FABULOUS video! It should be a poster video for how DIR diving works beautifully for single tank, critter-watching dives. And I absolutely love the juxtaposition of video sequences with still photographs -- I really think that's the most effective way to create evocative video.
The place really does look like Monterey on steroids. It made me miss Monterey terribly!
