REALISTIC Trip report San Carlos/Guaymas Aug 8-10

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billeelou

Contributor
Messages
360
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0
Location
texas
# of dives
100 - 199
Went to SC on Friday Aug 8, Straight shot from Nogales Son./Arizona down Mx Hiway 15 (Toll Road) for about $15 American you get to travel on what "used to be" one of the better roads in Mexico. But on this occasion, substantial construction was underway with delays and lots of single lane road. Slowed us down to a crawl in some places, one military road check but they saw Us Plates and waive us thru. So if you are trying to drive down and do the Afternoon dive, leave a little early to make up for the delays( 288 km from the border) Oh BTW over 2400 murders in Mexico from the drug wars this year, thus far. Up from the 2200 Plus for all of last year

Dove with Ocean Sports, which I will go into detail later, Friday dive at Punto San Antonio was murky. Low vis for SC but warm, computer showed 84 degrees. Shallow dive with SEA HORSES, Octopusses and small juvenile fish. Interesting Dive for our "newby" and I got several pictures of the sea horse ( about 4-6 inches) but alas none worth "publishing." Two safety issues on the dive. One diver was seperated from his group, but he went to surface and stayed for several minutes, finally getting the boat crew's attention, but none of his group went up to look for him and yes there was a DM who determined that it was not important enough to follow the "suggested" rules and go to the surface to see if he was ok.


Saturday's "Cattle Boat" to San Pedro Nolasco will be posted later( 39 Divers ! plus Crew!) before I put down the happenings, can someone tell me, In a current, do you swim into the current at the beginning or at the end?....
 
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Ocean Sports/Cost of Diving with your equipment including IVA = $100.05 for a 2 tank dive. Snorkling is $77.05
Travel time to the island 1 1/2 hours (and 1 1/2 hours back) Leave at 7 am and get back at 1:30 pm. (Pacific time). "Local Dives"Zorro Point and Punto San Antonio) leave at 2 pm from the Marina

"lunch" is Pineapple, Melon and cookies with soda's

Condo's can be had for 70-90 nite and we had a house over looking the bay for 2 bdrm 2 bath with two story glass front for $438 for three night 4 day...
 
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Saturday 10th Out to San Pedro for the Sea Lions, Dove at Light house point with 39 other Divers and 6 crew memebers, To say the Ocean Spirit was full is an understatement. Hard to get dressed, find a palce to sit,put your equipment where its not stepped on....There was a class of 9 from Phoenix getting their certification dives out of the way, and they, under Steve's direction, were no problem.

The crew seemed very hurried trying to get people in and out of the water. The DM that went down with our group was adamant on getting us out of the water at 42 minutes so they could get going. Left the water with 1700 lbs on the computer. Whe I asked the DM about what was he doing? he said they were in a hurry to get everyone in and out "on time" as they had the afternoon group they needed to be back for at 1:30Pm

Due to one other group's insistance, we moved to the "far side" of the island in a current area. Again, the DM's insisted that we go in a group WiTHTHE CURRENT. After 15 minutes or so of following him around and seeing very little, we turned back toward the Boat and swam against the current. My poor wife was making NO progress, so she hooked on to my weight belt and I swam back to the point(me blowing through air like crazy). so we were on the boat in 25 minutes!
And my poor wife (and alot of other folks) was exhausted, And I was a little more than angry..., before you say we are "responsible for our own safety", there are rocks and coves around the island where the current does not flow as hard, I thought the DM was going to head to a rock outcropping to sheild us from the current. And no, the boat did not follow like in Cozumel.

Because my wife was throwing up after that, and totally spent, we tried to get a refund on her dive for Sunday, but "their policy" According to Sara was Store credit only. Now I ask you, after Friday and Saturday and since we go down th SC once a year, would you go for Store credit?
Our Newby was the beneficiary of that policy as I put them on the dive and left the wife at home
 
Sunday 19 divers, Light house again,smooth as glass, 84-86 degree water, clear skies until we were coming back, then it clouded up. This time I told the DM's to enjoy themselves as we were going to dive our plan. 2 dives of over an hour each, with the "4 sisters" Sea Lions who played and swam, lots star fish , angel fish, parrots, seargeant majors, BIG morey EEL, and no hurry.

BUT NO DOLPHINS IN OR OUT< first time ever I have not seen dolphins at SC....donno where they went , just not there.

We were first ones off the boat, last ones on....and a totally different feel. I must say , the crew was different on sunday, with a Johan playing DM.This time we left the Marina at 9 am and got back at 3:30pm.
We ate at home Saturday and Sunday with food from the Grocery Store in Guaymas. Friday was the night out at Toro Restaurant across from Charly's Rock have the hot rock ...Taco's Mortales in Guaymas has been there 20 plus years, for AUTHENTIC food...

Would I go back to SC? yes definately, What would I do differently?, I would make sure the "load "was 20 divers or fewer, and only pay for dives the day before. I looked for Surface Time divers but they are "out of Business" Gary's is a little cheaper on local dives, and has three tank special for 111.97 ( I do not know if that includes IVA tax) night dives are $53.00.

Happy to answer any questions....
 
I have dove Gary's for the past 15 years and his boats and crew are fantastic. I can't comment on any other operations as I haven't dove them. Gary's crews work their butts off to help all the divers, they fish on the way out to the dive sites and cook the fish as your doing your first dive, then you have fresh cooked fish to snack on as you head to the next dive spot. I don't know if they do this on a generaic trip as we always have enought divers from El Paso to take a boat to ourselves. I really love the "aquarium", shallow dive but fantastic for fish and photos.
 
Saturday 10th Out to San Pedro for the Sea Lions, Dove at Light house point with 39 other Divers and 6 crew memebers, To say the Ocean Spirit was full is an understatement. Hard to get dressed, find a palce to sit,put your equipment where its not stepped on....There was a class of 9 from Phoenix getting their certification dives out of the way, and they, under Steve's direction, were no problem.

The crew seemed very hurried trying to get people in and out of the water. The DM that went down with our group was adamant on getting us out of the water at 42 minutes so they could get going. Left the water with 1700 lbs on the computer. Whe I asked the DM about what was he doing? he said they were in a hurry to get everyone in and out "on time" as they had the afternoon group they needed to be back for at 1:30Pm

Due to one other group's insistance, we moved to the "far side" of the island in a current area. Again, the DM's insisted that we go in a group WiTHTHE CURRENT. After 15 minutes or so of following him around and seeing very little, we turned back toward the Boat and swam against the current. My poor wife was making NO progress, so she hooked on to my weight belt and I swam back to the point(me blowing through air like crazy). so we were on the boat in 25 minutes!
And my poor wife (and alot of other folks) was exhausted, And I was a little more than angry..., before you say we are "responsible for our own safety", there are rocks and coves around the island where the current does not flow as hard, I thought the DM was going to head to a rock outcropping to sheild us from the current. And no, the boat did not follow like in Cozumel.

Because my wife was throwing up after that, and totally spent, we tried to get a refund on her dive for Sunday, but "their policy" According to Sara was Store credit only. Now I ask you, after Friday and Saturday and since we go down th SC once a year, would you go for Store credit?
Our Newby was the beneficiary of that policy as I put them on the dive and left the wife at home

We were on the boat Sat. morning. The Ocean Spirit is typically chartered by Arizona dive shops just as it was that day. Unfortunately, Ocean Sports has a bad habit of crowding walk-ons onto the boat at the last minute. Packing the boat full like that decreases the enjoyment for all. We don't like it... but that's the way it is for now. Saturday morning's trip would have been much nicer if Ocean Sports had simply asked their walk-ons to take the afternoon trip. (It left that afternoon with only 10 divers.)

Some of us know what to expect and as such aren't so surprised or disappointed when it happens. Because of this we do some things that help us make the best of the situation and generally have a good time. For instance, we bring on very little in the way of gear or personal items. Because of this, stowing our gear and gearing up is relatively painless. We get in our wetsuits before everyone else... usually on the ride out when most of the others are up out of the way on the sun deck or bow of the boat. We gear up fast and splash immediately after hitting the dive site and plan our route so that we avoid the crowds. We usually don't see but just a few other divers. We had a nice relaxed 60 minute dive at Lighthouse... no rush... no crowd.

Despite the good dive, it was our group that asked to move the boat to the "Far Side" of the island. Sorry, but once that day was enough. (Lighthouse is such a yawner!)

The back side of the island is very nice just as it was that morning. There is always current on the outside at La Caverna but by diving the inside it is completely avoided. We had a very relaxed 60 foot 55 minute dive including sharing the last 20 minutes with several playful sea lions. Current did not affect our dive whatsoever.

I AM interested in knowing the name of your divemaster(s). The DMs supplied by the AZ LDS should not have been involved with your diving AT ALL. We have made it clear to Ocean Sports that when we charter their boat, they must provide a DM for any diver that is not our client. I was not staffing this trip (just getting in some father/son time) and I really wasn't paying much attention to the crew or staff or how groups or tasks were assigned. If somehow one of our divemasters WAS briefing or guiding your dive I'd like to know about it. I will be sure that all of the issues are addressed. Please PM me the name of the DMs that you reference in your post above regarding your Sat. morning trip.

Sorry that your dive morning was anything less than great!
 
I was always taught to start out a dive INTO the current and return with the current. The thinking is that you do the most difficult part of the dive first.

In a spring, this is a natural thing, since the flow is against you at the beginning. But in a siphon, the opposite is true, and this makes sac rates and gas planning for those dives even more important.
 
I was always taught to start out a dive INTO the current and return with the current.

I believe his question was rhetorical. What diver isn't taught this?
 
GREENDIVERFirst of All: the local dive in the afternoon is a once in a 3 year affair for me. ( that is sufficient time for me)As I was already there the day before, so had no desire to go back.

As far as extra gear,I do not wear a wetsuit there, I pack only one set of regs/bc/mask/fins,and a camera, My bag is empty after set up( which is done as I get on the boat), that did not keep it from being kicked around. And it did not stop others from taking up the seating available with bags, gear and extras. First in last out was my profile on Sunday and truly much better, but the first off the boat is not always possible especially with 39 people diving.

The DM was a local and with the "add-ons" not the Phx group/groups. If you knew where the current was and wasn't, how come the DM who goes out there 20 times a month did not know how to avoid it coming back to the boat? I would have been happy staying inside the cove and out of the current. I know my Spousal unit's limitations. Also I was not "blaming" anyone for the move, just pointing out we did move, really does not matter to me, just blew the crew's insistance they were in a hurry.....

BTW If KC is attached to you, I have sent him some pictures from Sunday's Dive via email. Pm me if you would like any pictures from Saturday....

Was the boat crowded? yep...Does that make it less than Perfect....yep, Does this report help anyone on their first trip to SC? You decide....Is there other options.....Yep do you have to take them??? ........up to you
 
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