Cabo Pulmo...good diving?

[k8chen]

My husband and I are thinking of going to Cabo Pulmo mid-October and I have been searching for info on the diving and accommodation there but haven't found much yet...any advice? We do not have our own equipment (except fins and masks) so are looking for a dive op with well maintained and newish gear. We are not resort-y type people and like the idea of renting a small place and doing our own cooking (we are vegetarian)but are open to anything.
I have heard that the whole town is off the grid and there are some places that have noisy generators so we want to stay away from those places and hopefully hear the water!
Has any SBers done any diving there? Any advice?

 

[Byte Me]

After reading a review in Undercurrent magazine a couple years ago I put Cabo Pulmo on my bucket list. I just did a search on the Undercurrent site and there are a couple older free reviews you can read. More recent reviews are member only. If memory serves diving was good, more big stuff than little, cooler water, not a lot of typical reef like Caribbean diving and from the way it sounded it was a pretty remote area. Sounded like it was a bit more advanced diving than typical swim along a wall until 1/2 tank, head up to the top of the wall turn around and head back to the boat type dives.

 

[mstclaire]

Cabo Pulmo can be great diving although it is also very exposed to the elements and high winds can mean days with no diving. I would recommend having a look at http://www.cabopulmo.com/diving.html that is a link for Cabo Pulmo beach resort and dive center, We have always found them to be very good and they should be able to take care of accommodation and diving needs.

Hope that helps

Happy Diving

 

[greta-inbaja]

HI,
We have been diving cabo pulmo for yrs. Other places stay, bajabungalows and reinhardsrentals both less than 5 min walk to beach, no generators nearby. the beach resort has generators for the diveshop and resturant. Also Creminscasas which is In beach resort complex, I don't know if you can hear the generators. I have stayed at reinhards for yrs and have seen bajabungalows as it is across the street from reinhards. I would stay at either place anytime. I now have a house in progress down the road so I stay there. We have been out diving with all the shops and we prefer cabo pulmo water sports, run by henri and pilu. Usaually only 4 people at the most. All these are online. We will be there oct 17 diving. If you go make sure you do your shopping in San Jose at the big grocery stores. Feel free to email me,
greta

 

[k8chen]

Thank you all for the replies! It really helps to get some inside info...
Thank you Scubaboard!
Maybe we will see you under the surface, Greta!

 

[NW_DiverDude]

Hi there k8chen,

Cabo Pulmo is a very quiet, remote village where diving, snorkeling, and hiking are the primary activities. Diving can be great with schools of Mobula Rays (like mini Manta's), very healthy coral reef, whales frequent the waters - although wind can be an issue from time to time. However, for those of us that want to be off the beaten path spending time with fellow divers or just our sweetheart and not deal with traffic or just be another guest at some massive resort with hundreds of tourists, you can hardly do any better than Cabo Pulmo.

I was there last January and will be there again in September. This time I will be staying in one of the bungalows in Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort (definitely not a "resort", more like a little village) with plans to complete 4 to 5 dives per day. If I remember, I will post another reply to this thread letting you know of my experience at CPBR.


NW_DiverDude (aka Ray)

 

[k8chen]

Thanks, Ray. I would love to read about your dive trip there. Cabo Pulmo sounds like JUST the kind of place we like...laid back and quiet and good diving! Right now I am searching for an ocean view bungalow but so far everything is taken for the dates we want in October. I was hesitant about CPBR because it sounds like they need to run generators (for the dive shop and restaurant) and we are looking for QUIET. But that may end up being our only resort (no pun intended).

 

[NW_DiverDude]

The dive shop & restaurant are not actually in the village but right on the beach a ways away. Even then they would have no reason to run the air compressor over night so if they run any generator at all over night it should be a relatively small unit for powering the refrigeration system to keep food cold/frozen. Just in case I will bring ear plugs but I am not actually worried.

Before I locked in my lodging reservation with CPBR, I did find another bungalow of interest that has an elevated terrace with a nice view. I would have chosen to stay there but I did not get a response to my inquiry soon enough to make that choice. Take a look at Cabo Pulmo | Vacation Rentals then contact Adam to see if it available during your time in Cabo Pulmo. The larger unit is named "La Casa" (not very original) but it looks very comfortable and the price is right. According to the web site, "Guests have complimentary use of a BBQ, a fun 2-man kayak and mountain bikes to enjoy the nearby trails"

Good luck!

~Ray

 

[John Higham]

N00B here. Thanks for the info. I'm planning on taking my family to the Cabo area (Cabo Pulmo?) for diving sometime within the next school year. Probably Thanksgiving week or spring break. What is the better time of year? Any recommendations.

thanks!

JSH

 

[CaboPulmoDiving]

'Los Cabos' is the name used for the whole Baja area from Cabo San Lucas to past Cabo Pulmo. Cabo Pulmo is a small hamlet in the desert on the shores of the Sea of Cortez at 1.5 hours from San Jose del Cabo and 2 from Cabo San Lucas. Cabo Pulmo is at an 3 hours drive from La Paz.

In Cabo Pulmo you dive the northernmost coral reefs of the Pacific, protected in the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park. The diving is spectacular, as the park is loaded with life; big fish and big schools of fish...
Breathtaking reefs, with clear (60 - 120 feet) and warm (up to 85F) waters from August - December. Schools of grunts, grouper in all sorts and sizes, moray eels swimming around during day, schooling puffer fish and so forth and so on...
From December - August the waters cool down severely (65F) with lower visibility (20 to 40 feet) because of the algae (turning the waters green). The park turns into some sort of 'ray-city'; hundreds of rays in the sand (stingrays, bat rays, electric reef rays, bulls eye ray, guitar fish...), in mid-water a huge school of cow nose rays is swimming by, while over head a few thousand of 'Mobulas' (a smaller kind of manta-ray) overtake you and keep you company even during the surface interval out of the water...
Oh yes, almost forgot to mention; female whales are entering the bay in December to give birth to their calves and to teach them swim. In April they go back north
When you're really lucky, you end up swimming with a whale shark in the change of temperatures and visibility...

Cabo Pulmo as a village is small, with holiday rentals (all bigger or smaller houses; no hotels or resorts) at all prices. Shops in town are mainly dive and snorkel outfitters, sports-fishing and restaurants. A mini-marked provides only the minimum (milk, cereals, tortillas, cheese and sodas), for 'real' shopping you go to La Ribera (25 minutes ride) or to one of the 'bigger' towns: Los Barriles, Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.
Spectacular desert nature is surrounding the village, giving an ideal start to any mountain-biking or hiking trip. But most special, Cabo Pulmo is of the grid and because of 'lack of electricity' the nights are black: the absence of light-pollution makes the Milky way and all its stars sparkle incredible bright and clear.

Cabo Pulmo is a paradise for nature lovers, off the beaten track, quite, relaxed and laid back.

We arrived in Cabo Pulmo to work as diving instructors for 9 months. Now, 5.5 years later, we're still here, not planning to go anywhere else. We've found our Paradise and we like to share it with you.
For more information check out our website or drop us a line by e-mail and we'll tell you all we know. To speak (Skype, so with a bit of delay) by phone, call our US number 310-315-5256 or by computer our handle is 'piluyhenri'.

See you soon in paradise!
Henri.