birdman27
Contributor
Just now getting around to posting a report of trip I took to Club Cantamar in La Paz about a month ago. I apologize in advance for the long read. This was a trip arranged by my LDS. Because we are from Sonoma County and this was so close after the fires it ended up being a small group of 6 (which I preferred for many reasons, but was a detriment for others). My wife and I chose to go on this trip for a few reasons. First, we were jonesing to go an another trip after our last one! Second, it was very affordable. 5 days of diving, 7 nights of accommodation, 1 day of snorkelling with whale sharks and all meals was right around $1500/person. We had to purchase flight separately, and it was about another $250 round trip from SFO to Cabo. Third, this was a very short 3 hour flight which made it very attractive.
Accommodations: this is the thing that might scare most people off. It must be noted that this hotel is not a 5-star resort, nor does it market itself as one. Rooms are clean, if a little small. The stairs are not a uniform height. Organization is a little chaotic. However, if you know what you are getting into, which we did from talking to others how have gone, it is fine. The pool is nice, if a little cold, but does have a swim up bar with a cool old bartender. The biggest issue we had was the food, which seemed to be a set menu where we hardly knew what we were getting. Most of the kitchen/restaurant staff didnt speak any English, which is fine, but made it hard for most people to get along. I speak just enough to get by, so we were ok. Once we figured out we could make requests of the kitchen, things got much better. Lunches on the boat were often the best meal of the day, which is great for a hungry crowd of divers.
The dive shop: The shop is run by Anna and Sergio and they do a very good job with the resources they have. Upon arrival, each diver is given weights and allocated a locker to store gear. The individual lockers can only be locked if you bring your own lock, but each bank is locked unless a member of the shop is present. The nitrox mixer was out the week we were there, but most dives were relatively shallow and not generally longer than an hour, so diving air wasnt too bad. The boats were large, with 12-20 on each, split into groups of around 6. They did have smaller zodiacs that would take out groups on request. We generally dove with Anna, but when we didn't, we dove with Julian. Both had similar styles of leading us around and pointing out a few critters, but generally letting us set the pace and do as we wished.
The diving: I really enjoyed the diving, whereas my wife was less impressed. I enjoyed critter hunting and all the different things I could find. She wished there was more color (most like we saw in Fiji or St. Lucia) and felt the dives got a little repetitive (which is a valid point). Honestly, a big portion of my enjoyment might have to do with me becoming more comfortable and confident in my diving. We finished our stress and rescue class on this trip and that really helped in feeling better. My underwater eyes also got better. I was much more able to find hidden/small creatures. I really enjoyed finding octopuses on almost every dive, as well as scorpionfish, nudibranchs, arrow crabs, etc. Highlights for me included a large guitarfish, a couple of bullseye electric rays, the octopuses, playing with the sea lion pups, the mobula night dive, and all the moray eels (probably saw about 500 over the course of the week). Below is a list of the dive sites we visited. I am happy to give any info about any site if interested, but will refrain here for brevity's sake.
1. Merito
2. Salvatierra wreck
3. Swanne Reef
4 and 5. Los Islotes (sea lion dives)
6. Fang Ming wreck
7. San Rafaelito
8. La Tintorera
9. C59 wreck
10 and 11. La Reina
12. Playa Ensanada Grande (mobula night dive)
13. El Bajo
14. El Bajito
15. La Paz 03 wreck
Accommodations: this is the thing that might scare most people off. It must be noted that this hotel is not a 5-star resort, nor does it market itself as one. Rooms are clean, if a little small. The stairs are not a uniform height. Organization is a little chaotic. However, if you know what you are getting into, which we did from talking to others how have gone, it is fine. The pool is nice, if a little cold, but does have a swim up bar with a cool old bartender. The biggest issue we had was the food, which seemed to be a set menu where we hardly knew what we were getting. Most of the kitchen/restaurant staff didnt speak any English, which is fine, but made it hard for most people to get along. I speak just enough to get by, so we were ok. Once we figured out we could make requests of the kitchen, things got much better. Lunches on the boat were often the best meal of the day, which is great for a hungry crowd of divers.
The dive shop: The shop is run by Anna and Sergio and they do a very good job with the resources they have. Upon arrival, each diver is given weights and allocated a locker to store gear. The individual lockers can only be locked if you bring your own lock, but each bank is locked unless a member of the shop is present. The nitrox mixer was out the week we were there, but most dives were relatively shallow and not generally longer than an hour, so diving air wasnt too bad. The boats were large, with 12-20 on each, split into groups of around 6. They did have smaller zodiacs that would take out groups on request. We generally dove with Anna, but when we didn't, we dove with Julian. Both had similar styles of leading us around and pointing out a few critters, but generally letting us set the pace and do as we wished.
The diving: I really enjoyed the diving, whereas my wife was less impressed. I enjoyed critter hunting and all the different things I could find. She wished there was more color (most like we saw in Fiji or St. Lucia) and felt the dives got a little repetitive (which is a valid point). Honestly, a big portion of my enjoyment might have to do with me becoming more comfortable and confident in my diving. We finished our stress and rescue class on this trip and that really helped in feeling better. My underwater eyes also got better. I was much more able to find hidden/small creatures. I really enjoyed finding octopuses on almost every dive, as well as scorpionfish, nudibranchs, arrow crabs, etc. Highlights for me included a large guitarfish, a couple of bullseye electric rays, the octopuses, playing with the sea lion pups, the mobula night dive, and all the moray eels (probably saw about 500 over the course of the week). Below is a list of the dive sites we visited. I am happy to give any info about any site if interested, but will refrain here for brevity's sake.
1. Merito
2. Salvatierra wreck
3. Swanne Reef
4 and 5. Los Islotes (sea lion dives)
6. Fang Ming wreck
7. San Rafaelito
8. La Tintorera
9. C59 wreck
10 and 11. La Reina
12. Playa Ensanada Grande (mobula night dive)
13. El Bajo
14. El Bajito
15. La Paz 03 wreck
