1dondino
Registered
Allow me to preface this dive report by saying that this was our first dive trip and our first time diving out of the pool. My wife, my daughter, and I had completed our classes and pool dives with Scuba Specialties (www.scubaspecialties.com) in Phoenix, AZ. We signed up for the dive trip to San Carlos, Mexico to complete our open water courses. We had performed a refresher dive in the pool the week before to brush up on our skills and to practice with the new Deep Outdoors BCs my wife and I had gotten. We were really excited about the trip and couldnt wait to get into the water.
We left for San Carlos the morning of March 18, and expected about a 7 hour trip. We ended up waiting two hours in Nogales, AZ for some stragglers to catch up. I was very apprehensive about the drive down since I had never driven in Mexico before. The trip was very uneventful and conditions couldnt have been better. The roads were in great shape and the border crossing was no trouble at all.
We arrived at San Carlos that evening and checked into our hotel, the Marina Terra (www.marinaterra.com). The hotel is right on the San Carlos marina and the view from the room of the marina and Tetakawi (the twin peaks which are the local landmark) are fabulous. According to the hotel all rooms have A/C, private balcony or terrace, color cable TV, purified drinking water, safety deposit box, telephone with direct dial long distance calling, kitchenette with wet bar and mini-fridge, and automatic wake up service. In our case, the AC didnt work, and the bed was hard as a rock. The reason we found was, under the egg crate and mattress, the bed was a poured concrete base! Other than that, the room was nice and we would stay there again. The restaurant on site, El Embarcadero, was good, and the view cant be beat. We had dinner there the first night and breakfast the next morning.
We boarded the Ocean Spirit (www.desertdivers.com) the next morning for the trip to the Isla San Pedro. Brand new in the summer of 1999, the Ocean Spirit is a 46' twin-diesel powered vessel that comfortably seats 36 divers. We had 32 divers on board, and appeared to have ample room for everyone. There was lots of room to sit on the bow, sun deck, or the main deck. Keep in mind that this was our first trip on a dive boat and have nothing to compare it too. I will say that Vincent and his crew did a fantastic job keeping up with us and helping us on and off with our gear. We were well fed and had lots of water and sodas to go around. If I had to judge a dive boat by its crew, the Ocean Spirit would have top marks! The trip to Isla San Pedro took about an hour and the sea was very smooth. We would dive in shifts since 16 of us were certifying open water during this trip. This allowed us to get our pre-dive briefs in and suit up without being on top of each other. About the time the last class entered the water the fun divers were ready to come up.
Over two days we dove in three coves at the island. The local names were Ricos Shangri La, Emerald City, and South Point. Visibility was 30-40 feet, the water temperature was 64 degrees, and the air temperature was about 85 degrees. Depths ranged from 30 to 60 feet. We wore 7 mil jumpsuits, 5 mil boots, and 3 mil gloves. My wife and daughter wore 3 mil hoods, but I did not find it necessary. There were sea lions on every dive, and I saw more starfish than I had seen in my entire life. Throw in some scorpion fish, a few puffer fish, skates, morays, and an arrowhead crab, and you have some very excited divers! We completed our requirements with time to explore on each dive. Having the sea lions playing around us was really neat. The way they move in the water was astounding.
There were 3 things I learned from these dive that really stuck to me.
1.A great boat crew can make all the difference to your dive experience.
2.Man, have I still got a lot to learn!
3.Why didnt I start this earlier?
I think this was a very good location for our first dives. My wife, who was a little wary of the whole thing, had a great time. My daughter now has another career opportunity to consider. The people at Scuba Specialties were great, and we look forward to doing more dive business with them soon. I cant wait to get back into the water.
We left for San Carlos the morning of March 18, and expected about a 7 hour trip. We ended up waiting two hours in Nogales, AZ for some stragglers to catch up. I was very apprehensive about the drive down since I had never driven in Mexico before. The trip was very uneventful and conditions couldnt have been better. The roads were in great shape and the border crossing was no trouble at all.
We arrived at San Carlos that evening and checked into our hotel, the Marina Terra (www.marinaterra.com). The hotel is right on the San Carlos marina and the view from the room of the marina and Tetakawi (the twin peaks which are the local landmark) are fabulous. According to the hotel all rooms have A/C, private balcony or terrace, color cable TV, purified drinking water, safety deposit box, telephone with direct dial long distance calling, kitchenette with wet bar and mini-fridge, and automatic wake up service. In our case, the AC didnt work, and the bed was hard as a rock. The reason we found was, under the egg crate and mattress, the bed was a poured concrete base! Other than that, the room was nice and we would stay there again. The restaurant on site, El Embarcadero, was good, and the view cant be beat. We had dinner there the first night and breakfast the next morning.
We boarded the Ocean Spirit (www.desertdivers.com) the next morning for the trip to the Isla San Pedro. Brand new in the summer of 1999, the Ocean Spirit is a 46' twin-diesel powered vessel that comfortably seats 36 divers. We had 32 divers on board, and appeared to have ample room for everyone. There was lots of room to sit on the bow, sun deck, or the main deck. Keep in mind that this was our first trip on a dive boat and have nothing to compare it too. I will say that Vincent and his crew did a fantastic job keeping up with us and helping us on and off with our gear. We were well fed and had lots of water and sodas to go around. If I had to judge a dive boat by its crew, the Ocean Spirit would have top marks! The trip to Isla San Pedro took about an hour and the sea was very smooth. We would dive in shifts since 16 of us were certifying open water during this trip. This allowed us to get our pre-dive briefs in and suit up without being on top of each other. About the time the last class entered the water the fun divers were ready to come up.
Over two days we dove in three coves at the island. The local names were Ricos Shangri La, Emerald City, and South Point. Visibility was 30-40 feet, the water temperature was 64 degrees, and the air temperature was about 85 degrees. Depths ranged from 30 to 60 feet. We wore 7 mil jumpsuits, 5 mil boots, and 3 mil gloves. My wife and daughter wore 3 mil hoods, but I did not find it necessary. There were sea lions on every dive, and I saw more starfish than I had seen in my entire life. Throw in some scorpion fish, a few puffer fish, skates, morays, and an arrowhead crab, and you have some very excited divers! We completed our requirements with time to explore on each dive. Having the sea lions playing around us was really neat. The way they move in the water was astounding.
There were 3 things I learned from these dive that really stuck to me.
1.A great boat crew can make all the difference to your dive experience.
2.Man, have I still got a lot to learn!
3.Why didnt I start this earlier?
I think this was a very good location for our first dives. My wife, who was a little wary of the whole thing, had a great time. My daughter now has another career opportunity to consider. The people at Scuba Specialties were great, and we look forward to doing more dive business with them soon. I cant wait to get back into the water.
