La Paz - Cabo Pulmo - Cabo San Lucas in early December

[FairyBasset]

I am going to be in Baja for about 7 or 8 nights before 10th December 2012, when I am going on a LB to Socorro.
I would like some help deciding where to stay and what to do, as I have never been to Baja before.

About me and what I want out of my trip:

* competent diver, enjoy deep, drifts, wrecks, big fish, etc
* want to do as many different types of dives as possible during my stay
* would also like to do some sea kayaking
* would love to dive with sea lions
* want a small hotel, doesn't have to have dive shop on site, but open for either.
* traveling alone - so need single accommodation
* not interested in an all inclusive resort package - more than happy to wander into town for dinner and drinks
* a nice beach close by would be a big plus
* happy to travel between places with bus or local transport.

I've done a little research, and these are the places I have looked at and have on my plan so far:
* La Paz with trips to Espiritu Santo (maybe 3 nights?)
* Cabo Pulmo (maybe 2 nights?)
* Cabo San Lucas or San Jose del Cabo (maybe 2 nights?)

I'm sure they all have their pluses and minuses, so your thoughts and opinions are most welcome.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[tajkd]

See my trip report here at http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mexico/313110-los-cabos-trip-report-nov-09-a.html

I haven't heard much has changed except a dive shop had some trouble with bad gas. There may have been some tighter controls on tanks since the fills are done by only a few shops.

I enjoyed cabo pulmo even though it was a bear getting to the dive shop. The best dives, believe it or not, were the shallow dives at Land's End. The sites are quite close but all a bit different. The sea lions were great. I'd put csl on the list for sure. Do your research and find a cheap hotel. You can save a bit by looking around. You should have a car anyway even if it is expensive. I'd save on the hotel and spring for the car again. Good luck, have fun. PM me if you need details. I still have friends there.

 

[FairyBasset]

Thanks for that! Very useful.
I actually want to stay a few nights in La Paz and Cabo Pulmo though, to also check out the towns there.
I dont just want to do day trips from CSL.

I will def fit Lands End & Gordo banks into my schedule.
So maybe I should stay a few days longer in CSL.

 

[KevinG58]

I love Cabo and the diving there. The Lands End sites 5 minutes from the dock or a 45 minute or so boat ride across the bay , all great!
Place to stay? Hotel Del Mar de Cortez, in town but quiet, a crowing rooster next door might be your "alarm" in the morning, about as loud as it gets there. An easy walk to the marina, which leads me to:

If you have a car park it and cab or walk in Cabo. Your sanity will thank you. I drove in Cabo once. The main throughfare was closed for paving so a lot of traffic was going through side streets, so it may be better now. But there is little regard for the speed limits, they drive as fast as needed to "skim" the speed bumps. And a lot of the stop signs are hidden by tree branches & leaves or they are bent parallel to the street :shocked2:

 

[Baja Dive]

Hello from Cabo, Siesta Sutes cost about $60.00 a night as does Mar de Cortez both in town so you can walk everywhere.
We can take you on all the Dives offered here in Cabo. Am Boat is best 8:30am to 1:00pm for a two. Tank Dive.
Diving has been great 70 to 100 feet Vis at local sites including The Sea Lions Colony.
There is a Kayak rental just 100 feet from our Dive shop. We can point you to the best local beachs to hang out or have lunch.
Check our Dive Report for some photos.
Remember Scuba Board members get %20.0 off.
Thanks
Dee

 

[Lemonshark100]

We just returned from Baja and highly recommend La Paz and Cabo Pulmo. I'd stay away from CSL altogether. In La Paz we dove with FunBaja which is located in the CostaBaja resort and marina. The operation was safe and organized and the boats were fast. We dove at Los Islotes off of Espiritu Island which was a great experience! They provide lunch on the beach of Espiritu Island inbetween the 2nd and 3rd dives. They weren't going out to El Bajo when we were there, otherwise we would have stayed longer and done some more diving with Fun Baja. We stayed in a small B&B in la Paz called Casa Verde Inn--it was a great place--very private, extremely clean and a short walk from many restaurants and the malecon. Cinzia and Roberto were great hosts and gave excellent restaurant recommendations. We would have liked to stay longer in La Paz. Prior to diving in La Paz, we dove with Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort in Cabo Pulmo. The operation was adequate--but we didn't like how they didn't leave for the dive sites until almost 10am. We saw huge schools of fish and lots of eels. For us, 2 days of diving there was enough. I would prefer to dive more in La Paz. In Cabo Pulmo we stayed at Cremin's Casas--his hilltop house. Great place, wonderful views. You can google him and find his website. We ended our trip in Todos Santos for a couple nights and then dove one day in CSL in the bay with Nautilus Dive Tech--would not recommend diving in CSL--not much to see. We would skip it entirely next time. Once we surfaced from those dives we got the hell out of that town! Yuck! San Jose is much more our style and we stayed on the edge of the arts district there at Tropicana Inn which was fine. Send me a message if you have any other questions.
--If you go to La Paz check out the Corazon Cafe and Palermo's--great food!

 

[FairyBasset]

thanks all! really useful infos. am so happy to hear great things about La Paz as an really excited to go there!

 

[Baja Dive]

We just returned from Baja and highly recommend La Paz and Cabo Pulmo. I'd stay away from CSL altogether. In La Paz we dove with FunBaja which is located in the CostaBaja resort and marina. The operation was safe and organized and the boats were fast. We dove at Los Islotes off of Espiritu Island which was a great experience! They provide lunch on the beach of Espiritu Island inbetween the 2nd and 3rd dives. They weren't going out to El Bajo when we were there, otherwise we would have stayed longer and done some more diving with Fun Baja. We stayed in a small B&B in la Paz called Casa Verde Inn--it was a great place--very private, extremely clean and a short walk from many restaurants and the malecon. Cinzia and Roberto were great hosts and gave excellent restaurant recommendations. We would have liked to stay longer in La Paz. Prior to diving in La Paz, we dove with Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort in Cabo Pulmo. The operation was adequate--but we didn't like how they didn't leave for the dive sites until almost 10am. We saw huge schools of fish and lots of eels. For us, 2 days of diving there was enough. I would prefer to dive more in La Paz. In Cabo Pulmo we stayed at Cremin's Casas--his hilltop house. Great place, wonderful views. You can google him and find his website. We ended our trip in Todos Santos for a couple nights and then dove one day in CSL in the bay with Nautilus Dive Tech--would not recommend diving in CSL--not much to see. We would skip it entirely next time. Once we surfaced from those dives we got the hell out of that town! Yuck! San Jose is much more our style and we stayed on the edge of the arts district there at Tropicana Inn which was fine. Send me a message if you have any other questions.--If you go to La Paz check out the Corazon Cafe and Palermo's--great food!

Nothing to see in Cabo??? You must have had a real Bad Day these are Photos from yesterday on just one Dive in Cabo.

 

[glamourpuss]

We're currently looking for dive options in the area as well. Thinking about heading to La Paz for a couple of days.

Baja Dive - Sorry to say, but those pictures don't really make me want to dive CSL. The large schools of fish are impressive, but the visibility looks terrible!

 

[caboticket]

i like how people turn away from local diving in cabo with a very limited view on how beautiful it really is, also in general... some people arrive with a "carribean" attitude and after a dive they are negative that it doesn't compare... that is because it doesn't compare, the life here inside the bay is amazing... logistically its 2 minutes out of the marina, the authorities are about to close the pelican rock area to boat traffic, and the fact that we get all water types.. ie cooler to warmer, makes for a very abundant pacific dive!



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and of course the cabo pulmo dive is one of the best around mexico, the fish there are awesome, below is some shots from this past weekend..

and on saturday out of la paz, the whale sharks, we had a baby and a big mumma!