Dive Report....Cabo San Lucas

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masterof0

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Location
Work in NorCal, Live in Midwest
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I just spent a week in Cabo San Lucas and doing two days of local diving and a day at Cabo Pulmo. While there, I went a non-traditional route and contacted Baja Sur Tours (DonnaCabo here on the board or bajasurtours@yahoo.com) who offers eco tours including private DM tours. For the same price as the traditional dive shops, I received personalize service including a private boat, tour of the Cabo area, and a trip to the waterfalls north of San Jose. This definitely made the trip much more enjoyable since the city was in such disrepair while they work on roads and try to recover from the storms from the week before. For anyone who is interested, please do not hesitate to contact Donna. She does not operate out of a traditional storefront, nor is she a cattle shop. They are a very laid back operation that caters the tours to you, both top side and bottom side. Julio, the DM, is also a blast, he has a very outgoing personality and knows everyone in town. He as born and raised there so he knows the ins and outs of the city, which was a tremendous help since this was a first visit to the area. Definitely a much better investment than a traditional dive shop.... and yes, that was a shameless plug. The services they offered were worth every cent and made the trip much more enjoyable.

With that said, what you really want to read about, a dive report on the sites I visited while in Cabo. Unfortunately, I didn't have internet access, or even a computer, while I was in Cabo, so I am writing this strictly from memory (which is horrible).....

There were three days of diving scheduled while in Cabo. Since this was my first warm water dive, I was going to use the first two days to get acclimated to the waters and get my weighting down and used to the conditions...or lack there of. On the first day, we hit two sites both in the 60ft range. The first dive was at Pelican Rock. This was a beautiful dive that has a sandy bottom and steep incline. The water in this area was very clear with visibility in excess of 80 feet. Because of the amount of traffic in the area, there isn't much for coral, fans, etc, but there is a large amount of wildlife. The fish are very playful. To the east of the pinnacles is a step wall that goes off into the abyss. It was a beautiful sight just to look of into the deep blue.

One the second dive of the day, we went to the most southern part of the baja peninsula, Land's End. There is usually a colony of sea lions who like to swim with the divers in the area, but on this day, they were busy sunning themselves on one of the rocks. Although the sea lions weren't in the water, there was plenty of other wildlife. This is a very rocky area that supports a large variety. There were spotted eels, morays, barracuda, rays, puffers, etc... Because this is the area where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, conditions change very rapidly. Because of this, there was a large amount of surge. Also, just to the east of the point, there is a small boat wreck that was fun to explore. This is also the location of the infamous El Arco (The Arch).

One the second day we went to the opposite side of the cove to an area called Whale's Head. This was an interesting site and since it is unprotected, it doesn't get dived very often. It was a very rocky area with an extreme amount of surge. Aside from the water movement, it is a beautiful dive. As long as you stay tucked down in the rocks, you don't feel much of the surge, but as you move from one side to the other, or over the top of the pinnacles, the surge hits hard. At one point, I was kicking for my life just to stay in one spot to keep from going backwards and in the next minute, I was thirty feet from where I started. Definitely not a site for a beginning diver, but beautiful none the less. On this dive you definitely want a DM and boat captain who know the area. In our case, we went through our dive plan and immediately descended as soon as we hit the water. The captain followed us and picked us up about 100 yards from where we started to keep us from having to fight the current.

After the dive at Whale's Head, we were a little tired from the surge so we went back across the bay to Neptunes finger. A protected site between Pelican Rock and Lands End. It is primarily a sand bar wit ha few pinnacles. This the area where a lot of classes are held due to the shallow depths and sandy bottom. Luckily the water was calm because we had to cover a lot of ground to see much. Of the dives over the two days, this one was did the least for me. With that said, it was still a great dive.....

After two days of diving, we took a day off and on thursday, we had teh grand finale....Cabo Pulmo. This site is BEAUTIFUL. It is a bout a 2 hour drive North from Cabo San Lucas, about an hour south of La Paz. It is a very remote area with no electricity. It was recently converted to a reserve, and once you hit the water, you will see why. When you first get there, you will notice the beatiful colors of the water. One the day we were there, the water was as calm as could be.....and clear. You could see to the bottom and even identify fish from topside. It was amazing. It wasn't until we hit the dive site that I realized it was a drift dive. One the first dive, we hit the reef call El Bajo. it is about a 150-200 yard reef just teaming with life. There was a mild current that just pulled you along effortlessly. This area ranged from 30-50 feet, but overall was a "level" dive. This area is just teaming with coral, fans, fish, eels, you name it. There are a large number of mantas that inhabit the bay, unfortunately we didn't get to see any on that day. What we did get to see is large bait balls that just parted like the red sea as you drifed through them. AWESOME. I took my camera on this dive but forgot to charge my camera the night before. Because of this, my flash was going off intermittently. I was able to grab a few good pics, but not as many as I would like..... Battery finally died about 3/4 way through the dive. I attached a couple of the pics I really liked just to five you an idea. But the pics really don't even come close to showing how beautiful this area is.

The second dive at Cabo Pulmo was just a continuation of the last dive, but required a little more effort. El Castil was a much rockier area that held more fish, eel, lobsters, etc. Didn't see as many schooling fish as we did at El Bajo, but there were definitely more bottom dwellers. This are required more buoyancy control as you were constantly up ad down. The last hooray of this dive is an arch swimthrough that is about 30 feet long.

Although Cabo is not well known for its diving, it does offer some beautiful dive sites. I wouldn't put the local dives on a pedestal, but Cabo Pulmo is definitely something special. After talking to Donna and Julio, my dive master for the week, if you really want to see some spectacular dive sites La Paz and Cabo Pulmo are the places to go.

I have attached a few pic from both top and bottom side to share. If you want to see a few more, go to the following links....

Cabo Pulmo
Cabo San Lucas
 

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Hi Chris,

Thanks for the great trip report :wink:. Sounds like you had a fantastic time!!

Glad you're back!
 
I was there last Tuesday- did Pelican Rock and Neptunes finger in the afternoon.

I was staying on the REALLY big white boat out in the middle of the harbor. :D
 
TC:
I was there last Tuesday- did Pelican Rock and Neptunes finger in the afternoon.

I was staying on the REALLY big white boat out in the middle of the harbor. :D

We probably passed you then. We were out there when all of the shuttles were running back and forth. I was the only black guy (at least that I saw) out there diving, so you may have seen me. I wouldn't have been too hard to miss. I was in a rackety old boat (water taxi).

If I wasn't diving, then I was at Solomon's Landing.
 
Quick query:

how do you get the fish to puff up like that? or does it do it on its own as a defense mechanism?

are the spines poisonous to the bare hand?

thanks :D
 
Honestly, I have no idea how he did it. That is actually the DM in the background. I was drifting backwards watching an eel and turned around and there he was.

I am sure someone on here has done it. Since it is the fish's defense mechanism, I can only assume that if you play with it or make it feel threatened then it will probably puff up.
 
Great report Chris! looks like you had a great time! I'm looking forward to hearing your stories personally this weekend.
I hope you remember how to use a dry suit. :D

[Lord.Harshil] It should be noted that puffing a puffer fish stresses the fish, and can shorten its life. yes its a defense mechanism but you shouldn't intentionally cause one to puff just for a picture, its considered bad manners and harmful to the fish. To bad the DM on this dive was such a bad example.
 
Great report and pics Chris! Sounds like you had an awesome trip.
 
Quick query:

how do you get the fish to puff up like that? or does it do it on its own as a defense mechanism?

are the spines poisonous to the bare hand?

thanks :D

Puffers puff up by themselves as a response to a threat ... they're a tough meal to swallow when "puffed." None that I have seen have poisonous spines, though maybe there are some. Playing with a puffer to get it to inflate certainly has to be seen as harrassing the marine life, and I imagine a great stress on their system.
 
You don't suppose to get the fish to puff up like that as the result when she does it she is really scared. Last option of defens for her and no just for your record spikes are note sharp to touch as I did hold it before I have read more about these puffers
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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