Nov 2020: Socorro and Cabo Pulmo Diving Ops Recommendation

[DivingChipmunk]

Hello,

Thanks to all the wonderful information found on this board, we booked a diving trip to the Cabos in Nov. Now we are hoping to make it there before any potential Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Here is the plan:
1) Nov 15-18, fly to SJD, stay at Tesoro at Cabo San Lucas, and dive 3 days locally with See Creatures.
2) Nov 18-26, Nautilus Explorer to Socorro
3) Nov 26-29, drive to Cabo Pulmo and dive two days before flying back on Nov 29

Most of the trip is booked and still have a few questions we hope this board might help us with:
1) We plan to dive with See Creatures at Cabo San Lucas as they are affiliated with Nautilus. Any other dive shop we should consider instead?
2) Any recommendation for a dive shop in Cabo Pulmo? How early should we book in advance? There are a few dive ops with very similar names and very limited information online.
3) Any suggestion for rental car company? It will be our first time renting a car in the area. We are considering using Alamo as they have an office in town we can pick up from and drop off at the airport. Will we need a 4*4 SUV or just a sedan to make it to Cabo Pulmo?

And if you have any recent experience with Nautilus or diving in Cabos area, we would love to hear from you and learn about what to expect during this new era of social distancing diving.

Thanks!

Sue

 

[scubadada]

Hi @DivingChipmunk

You may have already seen these, great trip, enjoy. Please report back
Cabo San Lucas: See Creatures, Tesoro Hotel, May 21-24, 2019
Revillagigedos on the Nautilus Explorer, May 24-June 1, 2019

 

[DivingChipmunk]

Thanks Craig! I read your reports multi-times. Your trip is quite an inspiration for us.

 

[peeweediver]

We dove with Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort in November of 2017. We were a group of 10 and we liked the operation, the food and the diving. We did have money stolen from a number of our cabins, so if you go there, use the safe. The cabins that were hit had non-functioning safes.
Be aware of the dive time restrictions and dive site restrictions in Cabo Pulmo. If you're only there for a few days, you might get frustrated. 45 minute dives and certain sites have daily restrictions. The Bull sharks at the wreck and the huge, circling schools of jacks (I think, Jacks) were the highlight.
Enjoy the whole trip. We did Socorro in 2013 and loved it.

Rob

 

[scubadada]

We dove with Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort in November of 2017. We were a group of 10 and we liked the operation, the food and the diving. We did have money stolen from a number of our cabins, so if you go there, use the safe. The cabins that were hit had non-functioning safes.
Be aware of the dive time restrictions and dive site restrictions in Cabo Pulmo. If you're only there for a few days, you might get frustrated. 45 minute dives and certain sites have daily restrictions. The Bull sharks at the wreck and the huge, circling schools of jacks (I think, Jacks) were the highlight.
Enjoy the whole trip. We did Socorro in 2013 and loved it.

Rob

The stolen money and nonworking safes do not make a very positive review. Perhaps they do better now, I see their website https://www.cabopulmo.com/

 

[peeweediver]

The stolen money and nonworking safes do not make a very positive review. Perhaps they do better now, I see their website https://www.cabopulmo.com/

The manager paid everyone the money taken and fixed all safes. Management handled it well. Just use the safes and it will be fine.

 

[DivingChipmunk]

Thanks @peeweediver for the pointer to Cabo Pulmo beach club. We are considering them but are a little unsure due to some negative online reviews.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[horn34]

I dive with a guy named Arturo, who works out of Cabo Pulmo Watersports.

+52 1 624 132 7537

 

[Matt B]

Hi, Just got back from Cabo Pulmo last week. We dove with Cabo Pulmo Diving, www.cabopulmodiving.com
We dove with one of the owners, Pilu, who we really enjoyed. She was friendly and quite knowledgeable. The boats we used were in great condition. We enjoyed the 4 dive sites we dove in 2 days, amazing amounts of sea life and the water was nice and warm. About 50' + vis. We used 1mm suits. Cost was 140 US for 2 tank dive. More than we usually pay, And wait until you see how the boats launch off the beach! Our friend rented gear and it was in good condition.

I would not recommend the ABNB that we stayed at. As the town is pretty much only on solar, if your place does not have generators, you have no AC. Our place did not even have a fan which made for some toasty nights. Sorry don't have any good info on any other places to stay.

Every place to eat is pretty much outside so there is a chance of being a bit buggy. We enjoyed all of our meals, La Palapa, El Caballero, and Tacos and Beer on the beach. Don't miss the beers from Cabo Pulmo Brewing, though the brewery is definitely not in Cabo Pulmo.

We took the www.cabopulmoshuttle.com from the airport to CAbo Pulmo. Cost 90 for 2 of us. It took about 1 hour 45 min. our friends met us there and already rented a car. The road is great until the last 5 miles when it turns to dirt. They had a Nissan SUV which was totally fine. If you need groceries, definitely stop on the way in La Ribberra and stock up as there is not much in town. We pretty much ate all meals out. There are no t shirt shops except the national park office. Check out some of the local beach's, pretty and no one else around.

Let me know if you have any other questions and enjoy.

 

[DivingChipmunk]

Thanks @horn34 and @Matt B for the pointers to Cabo Pulmo Watersports and Cabo Pulmo Diving.

@Matt B , what does ABNB (where you stayed) stand for? We haven't decided on where to stay and it would help to know what to avoid. And we are hoping by the end of Nov, it won;t be so hot that we need AC?