Mexico Diving??

[fstout]

About any deals or recommendations on diving anywhere in Mexico, I found the links you all gave great.

Mexico and the articles in the Travel Section were great too, thanks!

 

[old_mike]

You got your choice of two coasts: Caribbean and Pacific. Its getting a little late to do the Pacific side (BAJA). By the time Christmas vacation rolls around, the water will be in the low to mid 60s with unpredictable, ill tempered weather. May to August is the window for Baja in my opinion, although others may disagree. Cozumel is of course, your (and right now, mine as well) best bet. The place is well geared to divers and the water is nice and warm (compared to Southern California)

An alternate spot is somewhat farther south than Coz. This place is known as the Chinchorro Banks. I have heard that it is virtually untouched by divers, but i have not yet been there. The place is very high on my list of things to do within the next 24 months.

If you like the gnarly stuff, Mexico does have a some big flooded caves but that is outside my area of expertise.

hope this helps.

 

[kechco]

I am sorry to see such a negative response about BAJA. I lived in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico for several years. I am also a PADI instructor. The diving in Cabo is great year round (if you don't mind a little cold water in the winter). You can wall dive, deep dive , drift dive, wreak dive, dive with mantas and seals with a whale shark and hammer heads. There are the underwater falls. I could go on and on. The price is great too. You can stay in a 5 star resort hotel or a small B&B. The food is super from expensive to the local resturants. Don't worry if you do not speak spanish everyone there speaks some english and for the most part all memebers of the diving community speak english as if they lived in the US. Check out the following site for more info. http://www.travel.com, http://www.padi.com, http://www.yellowpages.com

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[old_mike]

many a Winter and Spring i've seen howling winds rake across the Sea of Cortez kicking up all sorts of waves and silt in addition to kicking the arses of kayakers and divers and yachtsmen. I have some awesome respect for that tongue of the Pacific as it has kicked the you know what out of me several times now. I will take the more benign conditions of late Spring/Summer and Fall thank you. As for big animal action, the Islas Revillagegedo and Cabo offer some world-class action but the Revillagigedos are not cheap (around $2400.00 on the Solmar V) and given a limited amount of money, and the need to accomodate snorkelers and newly certified divers, i would vote overwhelmingly for Coz (still, in due time, you must do the Revillagigedos or you haven't lived). The big animal action off of Cabo is easily accessible, inexpensive, but also VERY hit or miss! (Whale sharks were dependable for a while, but they've moved on. wait a while they'll be back) I would wait 'till i've had a couple of deep dives and dealt /w/ some currents before i'd head over to Cabo. That is my realistic view of Baja: magnificent yes, but one should get some experience under one's belt in order to get the most out of Baja.