Last week 11/14 to 11/22/09, I visited the Los Cabos area, staying in Cabo san Lucas and diving the Land's End, Corridor, Cabo Pulmo and Gordo Banks sites. I had planned extensively for the trip; choosing a dive operation, considering local travel, and planning non-diving activities.
Los Cabos is mostly two cities; Cabo san Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. It is known as a Riviera-like area because the rich and famous visit regularly and buy property close to the ocean. The weather is always great (it's a desert), the service is always great, there is fishing and various other activities. I went for diving the Sea of Cortez and chose Los Cabos because I had a friend there and could get an inexpensive hotel.
First the diving;
The Lands End area contains about 9 sites that are spread over about one half mile so they are all quite close and, in fact, there is overlap while diving. They are different in topology though. The "walls" are a sandy slope about 200 feet wide that drops off significantly (3,000 feet) at about the 50 foot level. Typically, you would dive the fringe which contains most of the life or scan the murk for pelagics. There are two "rocks" that contain life closer to the surface from 100 feet up to the surface. There is a small useless wreck and the sea lion colony where there is a 50% chance of
getting inspected by teams of sea lions. The life can be incredible but, as always, the right time and the right day is important. There are thousands of school fish here; snappers, tang, bonitos. There are lobster, nudis, turtles, green morays also. The density of sea life was surprising. There will be schools of various types of rays; hognose, spotted eagle. In fact, seeing a squadron was a guarantee here. Coral life is sparse and coral eaters (like parrotfish) are not here. There are sea fans on the rocks.
The Corridor is the area between the two cities and there are a few sites here but the best are two protected bays that contain reefs near the shore. This diving was shallow and comfortable but I was more impressed with the Land's End area. Still a fun side trip though.
Cabo Pulmo is the protected marine area 2 hours drive north of Los Cabos. The trip was rough but worth it. There were more species than can be named; schooling fish, turtles, sea lions hunting, The reef is incredibly robust. The coral is very healthy; again though, there are fewer large coral heads but many rocks that support smaller coral life. Here I saw a school of Jacks that blocked out the sun. There is really a lot to see here.
Gordo Banks is a must. 200-300 schooling hammerheads at first sight. Massive amounts of schooling fish also. There were schools of rays also. The depth is about 130 feet but our guide kept us at about 100 feet with Nitrox 28 so we had about 15 minutes at that depth.
The Operators:
I hope I'm not edited too much for this. I prefer a full service operator when on vacation and I can be a bit hard on some. I dove with Eagle Dive, Manta, Cabo Pulmo Dive and Sunshine Dive. All of the operators require that you stay with them in a group while diving. I prepaid with Eagle dive for 6 days of 2 tanks. I did more dives than that. I was disappointed with all except Sunset dive mainly due to the divemaster attitudes. Because most of the divers are inexperienced, DM's there tend to only watch divers instead of leading a group to explore and see life during the dives. They tended to act bored on most dives like they would prefer not to be there. I typically tip the DM's but chose not to here. One exception was my dives with Sunset Dive, a newer shop. The DM here was very interested that we see as much as possible and he was excited by all that we saw. He helped some folks set up the best camera shots as well.
Cabo Pulmo Dive was also good but very relaxed and not interested in leading a dive. Eagle Dive, due to a non-communication of a change in dive start time, left without me one day. I lost the cash but he did help arrange a dive later in the week to make up for it. Manta was very professional and second only to Sunset in my experience.
All dives are very expensive; a typical 2-tank is USD100. I did get a discount for prepaying multiple dives and for bringing cash. You cannot negotiate much because there is plenty of business (new divers) for the shops and they can get the price.
The boats are pretty much all the same. Even the so-called large boats have the same amount of diver space (rather tight).
One nice thing is that most shops will go out with one diver. I went for a night dive here with Manta just with 2 DM's and was surprised that they went just with me. That was a good dive as they took me past the arch to view the sunset on the Pacific.
Hotel, Transportation:
I stayed just out of town in a place called Best Western Quinta de Sol (Solmar). It had a guarded lot, a pool, great service, continental breakfast included. All good here. I chose to rent a car (National). All went well but the required mexican insurance is very expensive, especially with the collision option. I got it anyway just in case. I was glad I had a car here and had no problems driving or finding anything. The trip from the airport is about 1 hour.
In Town:
I ate out every night and am providing notes here for where I ate best to worst.
Mi Casa - Hands-down the best meal but very expensive >USD60 with wine. Mexican wine btw is very good.
Tres Mil Islas - Very authentic and great price.
El Pescador - Great price, very good authentic food and great staff.
Tacos & tacos - authentic mexican, cheap and really just a local tacqueria.
Quesadillas - Good price, OK food but right on the busy corner. Good for people-watching.
Venezia - Italian food in Cabo! Don't waste your time unless you want small portions, high cost, and kya service.
La Fuente del Sabor on Primo de Mayo street in San Jose del Cabo - Fantastic. Hard to find and only open during the day. A local fresh food place. My meal was almost free since I was speaking spanish and sharing my life with them. I had to force them to take something. I drove here twice just for the food.
Activities:
I had planned many things but ended up diving more after all. I did walk to the arch from the Marina and that was fun. Going to divorce and lovers beach is cool because they are opposite each other and waves come from two different bodies of water; the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez.
I would recommend the area for divers and I would come again. This area's dives were like Cozumel on steroids. I was impressed very much with the life and the dives.
Los Cabos is mostly two cities; Cabo san Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. It is known as a Riviera-like area because the rich and famous visit regularly and buy property close to the ocean. The weather is always great (it's a desert), the service is always great, there is fishing and various other activities. I went for diving the Sea of Cortez and chose Los Cabos because I had a friend there and could get an inexpensive hotel.
First the diving;
The Lands End area contains about 9 sites that are spread over about one half mile so they are all quite close and, in fact, there is overlap while diving. They are different in topology though. The "walls" are a sandy slope about 200 feet wide that drops off significantly (3,000 feet) at about the 50 foot level. Typically, you would dive the fringe which contains most of the life or scan the murk for pelagics. There are two "rocks" that contain life closer to the surface from 100 feet up to the surface. There is a small useless wreck and the sea lion colony where there is a 50% chance of
getting inspected by teams of sea lions. The life can be incredible but, as always, the right time and the right day is important. There are thousands of school fish here; snappers, tang, bonitos. There are lobster, nudis, turtles, green morays also. The density of sea life was surprising. There will be schools of various types of rays; hognose, spotted eagle. In fact, seeing a squadron was a guarantee here. Coral life is sparse and coral eaters (like parrotfish) are not here. There are sea fans on the rocks.
The Corridor is the area between the two cities and there are a few sites here but the best are two protected bays that contain reefs near the shore. This diving was shallow and comfortable but I was more impressed with the Land's End area. Still a fun side trip though.
Cabo Pulmo is the protected marine area 2 hours drive north of Los Cabos. The trip was rough but worth it. There were more species than can be named; schooling fish, turtles, sea lions hunting, The reef is incredibly robust. The coral is very healthy; again though, there are fewer large coral heads but many rocks that support smaller coral life. Here I saw a school of Jacks that blocked out the sun. There is really a lot to see here.
Gordo Banks is a must. 200-300 schooling hammerheads at first sight. Massive amounts of schooling fish also. There were schools of rays also. The depth is about 130 feet but our guide kept us at about 100 feet with Nitrox 28 so we had about 15 minutes at that depth.
The Operators:
I hope I'm not edited too much for this. I prefer a full service operator when on vacation and I can be a bit hard on some. I dove with Eagle Dive, Manta, Cabo Pulmo Dive and Sunshine Dive. All of the operators require that you stay with them in a group while diving. I prepaid with Eagle dive for 6 days of 2 tanks. I did more dives than that. I was disappointed with all except Sunset dive mainly due to the divemaster attitudes. Because most of the divers are inexperienced, DM's there tend to only watch divers instead of leading a group to explore and see life during the dives. They tended to act bored on most dives like they would prefer not to be there. I typically tip the DM's but chose not to here. One exception was my dives with Sunset Dive, a newer shop. The DM here was very interested that we see as much as possible and he was excited by all that we saw. He helped some folks set up the best camera shots as well.
Cabo Pulmo Dive was also good but very relaxed and not interested in leading a dive. Eagle Dive, due to a non-communication of a change in dive start time, left without me one day. I lost the cash but he did help arrange a dive later in the week to make up for it. Manta was very professional and second only to Sunset in my experience.
All dives are very expensive; a typical 2-tank is USD100. I did get a discount for prepaying multiple dives and for bringing cash. You cannot negotiate much because there is plenty of business (new divers) for the shops and they can get the price.
The boats are pretty much all the same. Even the so-called large boats have the same amount of diver space (rather tight).
One nice thing is that most shops will go out with one diver. I went for a night dive here with Manta just with 2 DM's and was surprised that they went just with me. That was a good dive as they took me past the arch to view the sunset on the Pacific.
Hotel, Transportation:
I stayed just out of town in a place called Best Western Quinta de Sol (Solmar). It had a guarded lot, a pool, great service, continental breakfast included. All good here. I chose to rent a car (National). All went well but the required mexican insurance is very expensive, especially with the collision option. I got it anyway just in case. I was glad I had a car here and had no problems driving or finding anything. The trip from the airport is about 1 hour.
In Town:
I ate out every night and am providing notes here for where I ate best to worst.
Mi Casa - Hands-down the best meal but very expensive >USD60 with wine. Mexican wine btw is very good.
Tres Mil Islas - Very authentic and great price.
El Pescador - Great price, very good authentic food and great staff.
Tacos & tacos - authentic mexican, cheap and really just a local tacqueria.
Quesadillas - Good price, OK food but right on the busy corner. Good for people-watching.
Venezia - Italian food in Cabo! Don't waste your time unless you want small portions, high cost, and kya service.
La Fuente del Sabor on Primo de Mayo street in San Jose del Cabo - Fantastic. Hard to find and only open during the day. A local fresh food place. My meal was almost free since I was speaking spanish and sharing my life with them. I had to force them to take something. I drove here twice just for the food.
Activities:
I had planned many things but ended up diving more after all. I did walk to the arch from the Marina and that was fun. Going to divorce and lovers beach is cool because they are opposite each other and waves come from two different bodies of water; the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez.
I would recommend the area for divers and I would come again. This area's dives were like Cozumel on steroids. I was impressed very much with the life and the dives.
