Headed to Cabo Sept 20th-27th

[mohave_steve]

I am starting to get excited!! I haven't been in warm water in well over a year.
We will be staying at the Finistera and likely be diving with Amigos Del Mar. I have heard good things about them and they are close by.

Anyone have any suggestions for "Must See" dives & sites?

Anyone else going to be down there diving on those dates?

I expect that I will want to dive more than my wife and it would be great to hook up with other SBers.

Thanks

Steve

[driftwood]

Take your wife to Casa Raphael's for dinner. It will more than make up for the time you spend diving without her. Also try the bacon wrapped shrimp at Mocabo Marriscabo, excellent!

[mohave_steve]

Thanks,

I will put them on our short list. I tried the bacon weaped shrimp at a little hole in the wall place im Mismaloya several years ago. To this day one of my favorite meals of all time.

Any other SBers headed that way in late Sept?

Thanks

Steve

[Dzscubie]

A must do is the "Sandfalls" night dive, fantastic is all I can say. Also the "Lands end" dive where you enter in the pacific and swim around the Baja Peninsula and end up in the Sea of Cortez is a great dive, very strong currents and surge but worth the effort.

[mohave_steve]

Thanks DZ,

Sounds great except I am afraid of the dark :) Therz boogiefish out there!!

[scubastaci]

Lobster House and Trailer park(maybe the other way around) Great food. Really bad location. Ruth's Chris if you want a really expensive meal that is mediocre.

Have fun!

[mohave_steve]

Thanks Staci,

I was planning to try the Ruths Chris steakhouse. I have never tried one before.
Sounds like they may not be up to expectations??

[driftwood]

Steven,

You are going to Mexico, why eat at an American chain. Here is the best link I have to Cabo, Cabo San Lucas - Los Cabos, Mexico (http://www.loscabosguide.com/).

[Dzscubie]

Steve,

Don't forget "Cabo Wabo" an establishment of dubuious libation that is owned by Sammy Hagar, from what I remember (I was with a group of divers and they forced masive amounts of beer down my throat, Honest, I was forced) also has really great food.

Cabo Wabo Cantina - Restaurant - Bar - Concert Hall - Clothing Line

http://www.loscabosguide.com/nitelife/pics/wabo3.jpg
http://www.loscabosguide.com/nitelife/pics/wabo1.gif (http://www.redrocker.com/cabowabo.html)restaurant - bar
concert hall - clothing linehttp://www.loscabosguide.com/nitelife/pics/wabo4.jpg
Located at Lazaro Cardenas and Vicente Guerrero
Cabo San Lucas
boutique: 9am - 12pm
restaurant: 11am - 11pm
club: 7pm - 2am Phone: (624) 143-1188
Phone: (624) 143-1901
Fax: (624) 143-1198
www.cabowabo.com (http://www.cabowabo.com/)
Where Land Ends and The Party Begins in Cabo San Lucas


On February 27, 2007 Cabo Wabo Cantina was awarded the prestigious Distintivo T
(Distinctive T) by the Tequila Regulating Council (Consejo Regulador del Tequila).

[mohave_steve]

Good point Driftwood :) I give my Wife a bad time when I take her someplace unique and she orders a cheeseburger....

DZ, don't you just hate it when those "other diver" force beer down your throat???

From the sound of it I am going to need to buy a larger wetsuit when I get back. Maybe I should get some exercise while I'm there? How's the diving???

[driftwood]

Cabo Wabo is not the place. Hit Squid Roe after midnight one evening. That is a great show to watch! Cabo Wabo is fun on a busy night, but Squid Roe delivers every time.

[Franklyhooked]

We're going to Cabo next March? Any recommendations for dives and who's best to work with? I'm new (hopefully 30 dives or so by next March) and prefer to go with a good dive shop.

[Sideways]

Nice thread...I was just gonna post a Cabo thread :) Im looking for a good operator down there to dive with. I'll look at yours, have you had good referrences about it from many others? As far as some of the other stuff, restaurants etc...

We go there every year (timeshare). This is just my first year certified ;)

Restaurants- too many to even try to list, of course the following is just MY opinion.

Lorenzillo's - Overrated and expensive
Trailer Park - Overrated and expensive, I don't pay $60-70 here for lobster(maine) so why would I pay that much there for pacific lobster??
The Office - a must do for breakfast :)
Any Plaza area Taco stands (restaurants...not carts :P )- awesome and inexpensive. I get better food at these stands then the high priced restaurants...seriously. I think one of the plaza's is called the Blue Moon? Has a little outdoor bar area in the plaza, with a little taqueria right next to it.

Cabo has a billion restaurants. My recommendation?? Ask the locals at your hotel (staff....not conceirge) and taxi drivers. When you hear a name pop up repeatedly...your probably golden. There are tons of clean, nice, inexpensive places to eat awesome food :)

Clubs? You can't go wrong with any of the majors, Squid Roe, Giggling Marlin is an institution not too be missed in Cabo. Cabo Wabo...etc..

[AzDiver23]

Hey...

I'll be in Cabo on 9/22. I'm taking a Carnival Cruise and plan on doing as much diving as I can get before the ship leaves.... Maybe I wouldn't mind if it left. If I dont get the chance to meet up with ya for some dives have fun!

:D

[mohave_steve]

Thanks for the dining recommendations. Sounds like we are definitely going to be eating well!

Any more dive suggestions? Any shore diving?

AzDiver, do you know where the cruise ship docks or which dive ops cater to the cruise passengers?



PS: AzDiver.....don't give up hope....It took me 7 years to finally escape from Purgatory :) :)

[mohave_steve]

Another question:

What age range do the clubs recommended cater to? My "clubbing" days are a few years in the past......

[driftwood]

Go late to Squid Roe, sit back and watch the show. It is always interesting.

[PriusDrIVER]

We went to Cabo for our first trip 2 years ago for T-day, we are going again this year for T-day. We pretty much hit every club on the main strip and came away with a few impressions. There were 6 of us, ranging from mid-20's to 30 year olds.

- Wabo Cabo: it seemed the drinks were mixed weakly, even those that used the self-named Wabo Cabo tequila. It definately is a good place for "adults", more in the mid-30+ (or 40+?) range than many of the other places
- Giggling Marlin: odd place, they put on shows that involve taking advantage of drunk people's exhibitionist sides, not my favorite spot..boring really, just sitting at a table while drunk people make fools of themselves
- Zoo bar: great for teeny boppers, this is the place the kids on Laguna Beach (on MTV) always go, its packed with the 18-20 year olds who wish they were 21. They play the same top-40 'dance' songs on a loop, stay for more than 2 hours and you get to hear the same songs over and over (just like commercial radio in the states). It was day (night) care with alcohol for teeny boppers on there 'legal' drinking binge from SoCal. Overpriced, diluted and mostly flavorless drinks.
- El Squid Roe: likely the best 'club' in town. Lots of different areas, very mixed crowd of all ages...I saw people ranging from the early 20's to those that must have gotten there with their walkers, but all having a good time. We were sad it was the place we visited last, will be going there again

If you want decent italian food, you can check out Romeo y Julieta's...its on the west end of town after it starts fading out by the marina. This happens to be a short walk from our house in Pedregal that we stay rent.

One of the more challenging things is finding tequila that is unique. We found one place that had a great tequila selection, but most just had the same stuff as you get at any decent liquor store stateside. So if you want to check out some fine tequilas, we had the best luck at Tequilas & Tequilas Boutique Store.

If you are after cigars (not that anyone would bring cuban cigars into the states...) you will have to be careful, a lot of "cuban" cigars just aren't. But there are a couple of great cigar shops that have a wide selection of fine cigars from around the world, though in some cases the prices may not be that much better than stateside.

We also did a booze/sunset cruise on the La Princesa III sailing cat which was fun, and had more drinks than we should have...I'm not sure if we got the drinks free with the cruise, or the cruise free with the drinks...but either way, we got our drink on.

There is also a Costco between the airport on Cabo, they have a pretty decent selection of tequila as well...and a great stop if you are staying in a house, we bought cases of beer, mixers, and groceries for the week there.

Diving wise, we picked one of the shops in the Marina. I don't recall the name of the one we chose, it was one of the smallest shops closest to the main road/dirt parking lot (there are ~3 dive ops in a row). They didn't have their own boat, but instead hired one of the water taxis that ferry people to Lovers Beach/Sunset Beach. The advantage was that it was "private" for our group of 6 and one other diver....and we had 3 divers in our group, and 3 snorklers...overall it was pretty cheap, and allowed the non-divers to just to hang out on the beach or snorkel as they wished.

In Cabo itself, there isn't any real shore dives that I had been able to find. You could shore dive from Lovers Beach, however you'd have to take a water taxi to get there. The better diving is supposed to be in La Paz (such as Club Cantamar), which is ~2 hours out of Cabo and many of them have shuttles that run up for the day. We may do the trip to La Paz this year, its still up for discussion in our group.

I'd also recommend checking Trip Advisor for more restaraunt and club info, or other transportation questions.

[mohave_steve]

Thanks Prius,

Sounds like Squid Roe is more my speed. The current crop of "dance music" doesn't do much for me.... I think I stalled somewhere in the 80's.... Anybody for some Hughey Lewis or REO Speedwagon?

My main interest on this trip is the diving. What sites do you think will give me the best "bang for my buck"??

ANEGADA
THE POINT
LA LARGA
ACROSS THE BAY
THE BLOWHOLE
CABO PULMO
GORDO BANKS

[Lorenzoid]

Anybody answer Franklyhooked's request for a dive outfit recommendation? I'd like to get some recommendations, too, as I'm headed to Cabo in November. My fiancee wants to do her AOW.

[mohave_steve]

I too would welcome any specific dive op recommendations.
I have heard some fairly general posative comments regarding Amigos Del Mar and Manta Divers. But none specific to instructors etc. I have been contemplating doing my AOW as well.

I would also love some additional input on the particular dive sites.

Thanks

Steve

[PriusDrIVER]

In Cabo itself, we used Baja Dive International (baja-dive.net). They seemed nice enough, I can't say anything about their dive boat as we were not on it. We just did a "private" dive trip which involved one of the little dinky water taxis out of the marina with a make shift ladder tossed over the side, we just dived there by Lover's Beach/Lands End. The dive guide was nice enough though, and the owner of the place seemed like a decent guy as well.

[Sideways]

I've read some decent things about Lands end Dive shop...including this one.


We went to Cabo San Lucas Mexico in march 2004. I had pre- booked diving with a site I had found on the internet. However, when I arrived, the phone number I was given of course did not work. I went to the concierge and had them call him . The office phone was disconnected and the mobile # was a voicemail, who by the way never called me back.

So what was I to do? I needed to dive!

I went with the concierge's recommendation and was very, very happy with Land's End Divers.

Cabo San Lucas Scuba Diving - Land's End Divers - Los Cabos, Baja, Mexico (http://www.mexonline.com/landsend.htm)

I am happy to see that someone else here on the board recommends them. My Divemaster's name was Chalo. An unforgettable character who I would dive with any day. He went very out of his way to make sure I had a great time. I did about 6 dives and each one different. From Pelican Rock to Neptunes Finger. We dove Lover's Beach and Land's End. Pelican Rock and Neptune's finger are multiple dives and you'll not see the same fish twice. We also saw the Sand Falls, very nice. I was disappointed by lack of Sharks though. The marine life was abundant, with Pufferfish, Grunts, Squirrlefish, Parrotfish and Grouper.
The surge was stronger than expected, but luckily I am a strong swimmer. The water was also colder than anticipated never higher than 64 degrees.

Chalo, the DM, went so far as to go to their local "COSTCO" and transferred his digital pics to CD for me. Of course I tipped him heavily and bought him beers (Pacifico, good stuff) when the dives were done for the day.

So, if you're going to Cabo, dive Land's End! Ask for Chalo! Tell him Mike from NY sent you ..

Being this is my first "Dive" trip to Cabo...Im looking for dive shop info also. The ones Im looking at are "Blue Adventures" , "Manta" and "Lands End" All 3 offer 3 tank dives for right at $100.


**edit......also have read a few good reviews for "Baja Dive"

heres a link to all of these shops.....

http://www.bajadivers.com/Dive-Operators-Los-Cabos.html

[RAWalker]

I was in Cabo in May and dove with Eric at Land's End.
I had a great time even though it was off season. I we dove Pelican Rock/Sand fall and Mira wall. The owner of Land's End is acttually a diver who lives in the Phoenix area. From what Eric told me he bought the business because he liked diving in Cabo so much he spent much of his time there anyway.

[Franklyhooked]

I just finished my Advanced Open Water this weekend and noticed one of the AI's had a "Dive Cabo" T-shirt -- I asked him his recommendations: He spoke highly of Deep Blue (cabo diving/cabo san lucas scuba diving (http://www.cabodeepblue.com/)). He said the divemaster, Oscar, is great. I sounds like there are quite a few good choices.

[elwebst]

My buddies and I are going in Jan/Feb. Here's the situation - we always rent a house or very large condo. This is the big trip of the year, we splurge. It seems Pedregal has some nice villas for rent. Money really isn't the driver here, luxury is. No chance at all we'd stay at a resort or hotel.

But, we are also hoping for somewhere we can get back to at 2AM after Squid Roe or Cabo Wabo. We're diving too, but always put an "offgassing" day in the middle of the trip so we can go out the night before and then sleep till noon.

How does one get back to Pedregal late night? Are taxis plentiful? Or should we get a house elsewhere?

Finally, transportation? Rent a car? Mopeds for bar trips?

Thanks in advance!

Eric

[drbill]

As a videographer, one of the things I really liked about diving Cabo was that the fish seemed accustomed to human presence and allowed much closer approaches in many cases than I'd had elsewhere in the Gulf of California (where I dove for four winters). One of the things I didn't like was the heavy presence of boats and the related safety issues in the region of Pelikan Rock and Land's End.

[mohave_steve]

Hey Dr Bill,

Thanks for the input. I spoke with Carlos at Lands End earlier this week and it sounds like much of the diving activity is centered around Pelican Rock & Lands End.

What dive sites do you most recommend?

I had planned on diviving Cabo Pulmo but am hearing that a trip to La Paz may be a better choice.

I am hoping for at least four days of diving.

Thanks

Steve

[scubabob08]

Hello Divers. I have been Diving Cabo for 7 years and have dove with all the shops but I now Dive with Baja Dive.Shop is American owned and operated and I know I will get the same great service every time I Dive.
They have a 40 foot boat with hard top.They also wash and dry my gear for the next Dive at no charge.All Dive Masters do there best to make sure you have a great Dive.
check

[PriusDrIVER]

SCUBA Diving magazine covers Cabo and other areas of Baja in the current issue of the magazine.

Scuba Diving Magazine - Baja & Western Mexico (http://www.scubadiving.com/travel/pacificandindianoceans/bajawesternmexico)
Scuba Diving Magazine - Trip Reports by Location (http://www.scubadiving.com/tripreportlocation/?location=3800)

[evilclown]

Please give us a report when you get back. Thanks! have a great trip!

[ItsBruce]

I've done a dozen dives at Pelican Rock and have only just begun to see all there is to see. If your group is up to a deep dive, i.e. sufficiently knowledgeable and experienced, you might try a dive that starts at Middle Wall and ends at Pelican Rock. There are some spectacular pinnacles at about 115 fsw. Let me repeat: This is an advanced level dive, and is well worth doing.

BTW: One of my favorite restaurants anywhere is a place called Brazilia. They serve meat. Lots of it. On skewers that they bring to your table and carve right there. Warning: You won't fit into your wetsuit afterwards.

[driftwood]

My buddies and I are going in Jan/Feb. Here's the situation - we always rent a house or very large condo. This is the big trip of the year, we splurge. It seems Pedregal has some nice villas for rent. Money really isn't the driver here, luxury is. No chance at all we'd stay at a resort or hotel.

But, we are also hoping for somewhere we can get back to at 2AM after Squid Roe or Cabo Wabo. We're diving too, but always put an "offgassing" day in the middle of the trip so we can go out the night before and then sleep till noon.

How does one get back to Pedregal late night? Are taxis plentiful? Or should we get a house elsewhere?

Finally, transportation? Rent a car? Mopeds for bar trips?

Thanks in advance!

Eric

2am is not late for Squid Roe, the party there is just getting started and there should be plenty of taxis around. Transportation, since Pedregal is pretty close to 'downtown', I would rely on taxis. Talk to the property manager of the house you are renting and get the number of a good taxi driver that you can stick with the entire trip. Might be less expensive to hire a taxi for your entire trip than to nickel and dime the fares.

[shawnferd]

Does anyone know of an "all inclusive" hotel/resort that has diving included as part of the stay?

Also any dive operators to avoid would be appreciated, as well as good ones and good dives.

Thanks for the info, all.

[scubabob08]

I have been Diving with Baja Dive for a few years.They have a 40 foot boat that has a full hard top and wide beam so its stable also all safty gear H2o,first aid and PADI Dive Masters that take small groups of 5 Divers.I dont like sitting on a small boat with Divers stepping on my gear and baking in the sun.
My gear is washed,dryed and stored for the next day by the crew.
They also dont put new Divers with the advanced Divers. This can cut short your Dives.
There is always a full cooler if bottled water on board and spare save a Dive parts.
Last Dive out I needed a fin strap and another Diver needed a BCD hose both were on Board. check this link Home (http://www.baja-dive.net)

[PriusDrIVER]

You can rent mopeds and cars in town, we had 6 of us staying at a house in el Pedregal and we had a mini-van we picked up at the airport. We used it to go grocery shopping and to visit a beach off the beaten path, but beyond that we didn't really use it much...other than toting the dive gear to the marina.

As for getting around town, we walked a good bit. We were in lower el Pedregal close to the gated entrance right by Romeo y Julieta Ristorante...so the walking wasn't too bad. We also took a taxi/van back one night, I'm sure the women would have prefered less walking in their uncomfortable shoes.

One thing to keep in mind is that water is limited in a house. If you run out, you usually have to pay for a truck to refill your water supply. So, skip the 2-showers per day...I couldn't understand why you'd shower and then go lay on the beach 30 minutes later and get all sandy/salty. Take a morning dip in the pool to wake up, shower before going out to dinner and clubbing at night.

Taxis are pretty common from what I recall. If you have someone that speaks spanish you will likely have an easier time calling a taxi to drive you from the house to the clubs...but, there aren't really addresses in el Pedregal, so it can be tricky to tell them where you are.

Getting back from the clubs, you may have to walk a little way to get to where they are all at, but they are definitely around. Avoid the temptation of driving drunk, and also avoid bar fights...otherwise you can end up like this guy: Oregon man dies in Mexican jail after reported beatings - Breaking News From Oregon & Portland - Oregonlive.com (http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/oregon_man_dies_in_mexican_jai.html)

We haven't decided what we are doing this year, if we just take a taxi from the airport to the house and rent a car for the first day to go get groceries and then just take advantage of feet and taxis or what. We still have to decide how much we want to "get out of town", we didn't visit San Jose del Cabo last time.

Good luck. The houses in el Pedgregal vary greatly, but all seem to be pretty nice and some are just over the top.


How does one get back to Pedregal late night? Are taxis plentiful? Or should we get a house elsewhere?

Finally, transportation? Rent a car? Mopeds for bar trips?

Thanks in advance!

Eric

[suedownunder1]

Hello Divers.I just got back from Cabo from two days of Diving. The storm just missed Cabo. We had about 60 feet of vis and warm water.We saw Mantas, green sea turtles,sea Horses.The Day after the storm passed there were more fish than I have ever seen in one place you could barely see the outher Divers.The wreck on the point is more uncovered than I have ever seen it and the sea lions colony is very active.
I Dive with a company called Baja Dive located in the Tesoro Resort its the First shop as you pull in to lot 8.They have great Dive Masters nice boat good gear and take small groups.I have used several shops there but the service is never the same. web site here www.baja-dive.net (http://www.baja-dive.net)

[Sideways]

Hello Divers.I just got back from Cabo from two days of Diving. The storm just missed Cabo. We had about 60 feet of vis and warm water.We saw Mantas, green sea turtles,sea Horses.The Day after the storm passed there were more fish than I have ever seen in one place you could barely see the outher Divers.The wreck on the point is more uncovered than I have ever seen it and the sea lions colony is very active.
I Dive with a company called Baja Dive located in the Tesoro Resort its the First shop as you pull in to lot 8.They have great Dive Masters nice boat good gear and take small groups.I have used several shops there but the service is never the same. web site here www.baja-dive.net (http://www.baja-dive.net)

Thanks for the report!! Heading down in 2 days :)

[PriusDrIVER]

What sites did you dive? Sounds like a great trip!

Also, what depth were your dives at? We have a newbie in our group, just trying to find our options.

Hello Divers.I just got back from Cabo from two days of Diving. The storm just missed Cabo. We had about 60 feet of vis and warm water.We saw Mantas, green sea turtles,sea Horses.The Day after the storm passed there were more fish than I have ever seen in one place you could barely see the outher Divers.The wreck on the point is more uncovered than I have ever seen it and the sea lions colony is very active.
I Dive with a company called Baja Dive located in the Tesoro Resort its the First shop as you pull in to lot 8.They have great Dive Masters nice boat good gear and take small groups.I have used several shops there but the service is never the same. web site here www.baja-dive.net (http://www.baja-dive.net)

[suedownunder1]

We Dove peligan rock Down to 65 feet and lands end at 60 feet.
Diving Cabo is real easy most Dives start shallow 15 to 25 feet.