You can do this dive from one of the dive operator's boats - but you'd be wasting your money: you can do exactly the same dive from the shore. And a marvellous dive it is. If you're the kind of person who makes lists this begs to be included in your top ten dives.
The Dive
A series of crevasses and abysses run parallel to the shore, mirroring the cliffs above water. The sand at first slopes gently down but at 8 m takes a steep turn. Gullies lead downwards to infinity. At 25 m you find the top of a cliff, deeper and you hang at the side of it with nothing beneath you. Sea fans decorate the cliff and shoals of chromis join you. At depths sand cascades down the rock forming the "sand falls". An excellent dive.
A good plan is to swim straight out from the beach, until you reach the cliff. Then turn left along the cliff wall.
From Cabo San Lucas take a water taxi to Lovers Beach/San Lucas Bay, near the arch. Make sure you tell the boatman what time to come back for you. If you wish your boatman will probably be happy to take you the scenic route, past the sea lion colony, through the arch and by the "Mexican Chickens".
Santa Maria
Depth: 12 m
The Dive
Santa Maria is a small bay with the best diving on the left hand side (looking out to sea). It's full of rocky gullies: be careful not to get washed up some of the narrower ones. Abundant fish, including rays and snake eels. A good shore dive for both day and night - look out for the lobsters after dark.
Getting There
Santa Maria is between San José Del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. Follow the road from Cabo San Lucas until you see the Twin Dolphins hotel sign. Turn right down the track to the Santa Maria car park.
Chileno Bay
Depth: 13 m
The Dive
Chileno is a long beach with a dive shop on the right hand side. Two rocky reefs run parallel to the beach, the furthest having a depth of around 13 m. A shore dive, it's quite a long swim out, over sand. Clumps of coral cover the rocks, harbouring invertebrates and fish.
Getting There
Just up from Santa Maria, sign-posted by a Snorkler sign.
Palmilla Shore
Depth: 6 m
The Dive
A shallow dive near the Palmilla dive shop. Composed of small, broad rocky pinnacles. Very interesting when you stop to look at small things. Shrimp in holes in the sand give your fingers quite a nip. Teeny hermit crab, almost as small bright blue crab, red lipped and red headed blennies.
Gordo Banks
Depth: 40+ m
The Dive
Gordo Banks is rumoured to start at around 25 m. However, this is easy to miss and the dive quickly gets much deeper. Take a torch - the water gets dark and cold. Look for sharks, morays, rays, tuna...everything twice as big as you normally see.
Getting There
Take a fishing boat from La Playita - maximum of 4 people - book and negotiate in advance. Alternatively use one of the dive operators.
The Wreck
Depth: 14 m
The Dive
The wreck is a short boat ride away from Gorda Banks. It is in 3 parts, the parts forming a north-south-west triangle. The prop is south and big. The hull is north and upturned. If you're used to wreck diving take a torch and swim inside. The hull sparkled and was covered in fan worms with little fish peeping out of holes. A good second dive to do after Gorda Banks.
Cabo Pulmo is a small village, which now has a series of bungalows in which you can stay. The only true coral reef in Baja is here, although arguably the best dive is not on the coral reef but on a rocky reef out to sea. The coral can reef-build here because of the high water temperature in Cabo Pulmo bay, which is not exposed to the cold-water upwellings common elsewhere in the Sea of Cortez.
Cabo Pulmo Rocky Reef
Depth: 16 m
The Dive
An excellent dive site - the conditions vary but all dives here are good.
The reef is around 300 m long. Depending on the current, and how slowly you try to traverse it, you can spend around 20-55 minutes. The visibility is generally good. With a gentle current the dive begins with a garden of eels. Big, tight shoals of fish move over the reef - much more compact than you see elsewhere. Large schools of tuna swim overhead. Sea of Cortez really does contain more fish than elsewhere.
A strong current makes for an excellent drift dive. The fish frantically zip about, swimming easily against the current. This time the schools are loose and spread out. You don't just see fish of course, coral, sea fans, starfish, crabs, etc, are all here too.
Although close to the shore you need to take a boat to reach these caves, or swim-throughs. Lovely dive with several ways in and out the caves - no torch needed. Coral, sea fans and sponges cover the ceiling. Angel fish, soldier fish and squirrel fish, amongst others, freqent the area.
Cabo Pulmo Coral Reef - South End
Depth: 7 m
The Dive
You can dive the south end of the reef as a shore dive. Instead of going to Cabo Pulmo carry on round the road and take a small offshoot to a place where you can walk down to the beach. Snorkel out about 100 m. The vis is often bad to begin with, but gets better. There are three coral reefs (some sources say eight), but it is difficult to tell where one reef ends and one begins. The outer reef is beautiful with a carpet of elegant coral, Pocillopora elegans.
Cabo Pulmo Coral Reef - North End
Depth: 14 m
The Dive
The north end of the reef is a boat dive. Its east side is a cliff dipping from 5-14 m. Further east a sandy bottom slopes gradually away. The top of the cliff is a plateau of coral: very pretty. You sometimes get a current whipping across the coral, which makes for a wonderful drift at the end of the dive.
For La Paz diving you need to book with a diving operator. There are not really any shore dives. Puerto Ballandra was mentioned as an option, but didn't appear very enticing.
El Bajo (The Sea Mount)
Depth: 17-50+ m
The Dive
Another fantastic dive, but you have to be lucky with the conditions. The current here is unpredictable and if strong detracts a lot from the enjoyment. On good dives, you descend into a cloud of small wrasse, just inches from your mask. The visibility is at least 25 m. With luck you might see a turtle, swimming very slowly, being cleaned by cleaner wrasse. Typically of Baja, a multitude of fish live on the mount. Large shoals of jacks hang off it, and hammerhead sharks lurk in the background. Or, sometimes, in the foreground. In late summer and early autumn (fall) look for manta rays.
El Bajo is a submerged group of 3 pinnacles lying in a North-South line. The top of the north pinnacle lies at 23 m, the middle pinnacle at 17 m and the south at 20 m. The middle one is the largest and bottoms at 29 m. Its south side is a steep cliff. Take a southerly bearing from here and you can swim to the south pinnacle. You can see it if you stay close to the bottom, but the bottom slopes off downwards. Be very careful about the current: it's very easy to drift off. The south pinnacle is home to a clutch of large green moray eels, about 7 in 1 gully.
"Long ride out but beautiful scenery : stark uninhabited
mountains, dolphins, manta rays, turtles and flying fish jumping out of
the water, school of pilot whales to swim with on way back plus whale
shark. At site, medium to strong current and visibility max, 12 meters
but a wealth of life : a giant moray eel literally behind every rock,
saw more than fifty on the 25 minute dive, hammerhead sharks, barracuda
and many other fish.
" Arlene Weingart, 2007
"Lots of rays and eels, it was beautiful! Great viz!" Michael Lewis, 2009
The Salvatierra
Depth: 19 m
The Dive
A very good dive. The Salvatierra is sunken ferry lying in the San Lorenzo channel between Espiritu Santo and the Baja California mainland. The ferry collided with a rocky reef and sank with a cargo of trucks, but no passengers. The 300 foot hull is intact and lies at 19 m. The mast sticks up to within 7m of the surface.
The first thing that strikes you is all the yellow polyp black coral, Antipathes galapagenis. This is particularly beautiful. You can swim through the wreck and see some of the large truck wheels. Among the wrecks occupants are octopus and Sergeant Major fish Abudefduf saxatilus.
"Interesting and full of life. Biggest green moray eel we have ever seen!" Michael Lewis, 2009
Los Islotes
The Dive
Two small rocky islands upon which lives a sea lion colony. The young sea lions enjoy playing with you when underwater.
"300+ sea lions, the juveniles were with us the whole dive playing with our fins.": Pedro
"Large sea lion rookery. Filled with sea lion pups in the late summer and early fall. All wanting to play.
": John Banks
"Sea lion colony. Several sea lions large and small dive and
swim with you on every dive. Huge school of baby barracuda swarming
around us for what seemed like an eternity, several seahorses, puffer
fish, manta rays and many smaller fish.
": Arlene Weingart
La Reina
The Dive
A shallow reef where you can see both sea lions and manta rays.
"La Reina - the best Manta dive I have ever been on.": Manuel Duggal
"The viz was not very good on this dive, but the life was amazing. They said that the viz improves at this location later on in the year.": Hannah Chapman, UK, 2006.
"I would rather dive here than anywhere in the Cortez. The Midriff Islands are full of rarely or never dived sites that are 5 star Cortez. Generally, closer to Bahia de los Angeles is lower quality though there are standouts. Plenty of easier diving that is good. Dived some of best of the W. Pacific and Carribean and though the diversity can't compare the unique species mix and undiscovered feel make it a favorite.":Janique Esrey 2007.
La Vida Alta
The Dive
Sloping seamount just offshore up to 80 plus feet (best under 50). Generally intermediate unless strong current. " Schooling fish like yellowtail seen regularly. Excellent tropicals during warmer water. Always interesting- large morays, lobster, seahorses, and frogfish. Reported up to size of small dinnerplate. Seen them as big as sandwhich plate but no bigger.":Janique Esrey 2007.
Extensive dropoffs, interspersed with NUMEROUS caves, arches, swimthroughs-all plastered with lots of intervetebrate life. Remote and expert site not advisable during height of tide cycle or when winds unstable. " Most spectacular dive I have done in Cortez - Loreto, La Paz, C Pulmo " :Janique Esrey 2007.
Deep pinncales 30 to 130plus. " Great life. Just offshore but 30 minutes down coast. Boat fast and seaworthy but basic, a superpanga.":Janique Esrey 2007.
This archipelago in the Pacific Ocean is approximately 300 miles (500 km) south-southwest off the tip of the Baja peninsula
The boiler at San Benedicto
The Dive
"Whale sharks, dolphins, giant mantas, hammerheads, silkies, silvtertips, galapagos sharks, tuna, mahi mahi, plus thousands of jacks, chubs, and other tropicals. Its a cleaning station." Socorro, 2009.
by Ewald Lieske and Robert Myers, Harper Collins, 400 Pages, Paperback (February 1999)
An excellent, comprehensive guide to reef fishes, which is small and light enough to pack regardless of amount of diving equipment. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to identify the fish they see whilst diving the tropics. Read the full review... Buy from Amazon.co.uk, 20% off Buy from Amazon.com, 20% off
Reef Fishes of the Sea of Cortez: The Rocky-Shore Fishes of the Gulf of California
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This guide seeks to be a standard resource for divers and snorkellers - popular and scientific coverage of regional fish fauna. Buy from Amazon.co.uk Buy from Amazon.com
Guide to Marine Invertebrates; Alaska to Baja California
by John Steinbeck, Paperback, Penguin
In 1940, Steinbeck and his friend, biologist Ed Ricketts, ventured into the Gulf of California to search for marine invertebrates along the beaches. This exciting, day-by-day account of their trip, is a wonderful combination of science, philosophy and high-speed adventure
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Diving The Seamount
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La Paz, Mexico serves as the backdrop for a sweeping tale that questions the wisdom of pursuing a material life at the expense of freedom. Buy from Amazon.com Buy from Amazon.co.uk
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