Just back from a great week in La Paz, here's my report.
After reading recommendations on the board and various travel websites and debating the driving/boat time from the different dive shops and hotels. We decided to dive with Cantamar but stay in town so we could have a variety of places to eat and do after diving.
The trip. Cleveland to SJD with AA, through Dallas. We chose SJD because of cost and travel times, it was actually faster to fly to Cabo and drive up to La Paz than to fly directly into La Paz. The trip was happily uneventful. Arriving on time with perfect weather the whole way.
We chose to use Cantamar's shuttle from Cabo to La Paz, a choice we later decided was a good one. About 2 hours after arriving in Cabo, Esteban our driver dropped us off in front of the Hotel Los Arcos on the Malceon in La Paz. Before leaving, he said he pick up a 7:00am the next morning.
The hotel was pretty much what we were expecting, we chose a room with a Bay view, and prepaid through expedia to get the 7th night free. The bay view we later learned was the one mistake we felt we made. Being on the street the road noise was pretty bad. During the week it wasn't horrible late in the evening, but on Saturday night the street becomes a show place for cars with loud stereos and horns. It reminded me of Virginia beach when I was there many years ago. It went on pretty late, so unless you plan on partying with them, I'd suggest either a garden room, or one of the cabanas the hotel has down a half a block.
The hotel was very pleasant, beds were a bit hard but not terrible, everything worked as it should, a/c, water, etc. The food was priced at Hilton rates, but was of motel 8 quality. When we go back, we will either choose one of the cabanas, or find a small condo to rent somewhere.
The driver picked us at exactly 7:00am the next morning to begin our week of diving. The shuttle was on time most of the week, depending on the specific driver. Esteban was always on time. Checking in at Cantamar was pretty easy, the emails I had with Pedro were documented and everything went pretty smooth. Cantamar has quite a few boats, the routine in the morning is to check the whiteboard to determine which boat you were on, get your gear out of the locker area, set it up on your assigned boat. The boats go out around 8:30am. We chose to eat breakfast at the Cantamar resort, as it was cheaper and better food than our hotel.
Diving Day 1. We were expecting water around 80 degrees, our divemaster Marco said the water hadn't warmed up yet averaging around 75 degrees. However, our first dive site turned out to be around 70 degrees, which was just a bit too cold for the 3mm wetsuit I brought. However, in the 20 minutes i was in the water I saw 6 mobula manta, and one small pacific manta. A pretty good start to the week even with poor conditions. The viz was pretty poor as well, around 15 feet or so. The second dive was just as cold, and viz was actually worse, so we cut it short deciding to make a fresh start the next day with a rented wetsuits. On the trip between the first and second dives I noticed a disturbance in the water quite aways away, pointing it out the captain turned in that direction and we found a pod of dolphin. About 200 or so, incredibly cool. We stayed with them for about 30 minutes watching them play in our wake. Even though we didn't get much diving in, we got home pretty happy.
Day 2. A 3mm shorty, over my 3mm suit, and a 2mm rash guard had me a bit more prepared for our day. Our first stop for the day, El Bajo, the once famous spot for hammerheads. Our divemaster said he hadn't seen any since may, but you never know.
As they were setting anchor, someone in our group spotted a small hammerhead on the surface, which raised our hopes quite a bit. The water was a bit warmer, with a lot of thermoclines, there was a lot of current on the surface which required using the anchor line for decent, otherwise you'd end up pretty far away.
The vis was a little better at 30 feet or so. A couple of very nice french ladies who had been there before were going to dive without the guide and we decided to follow them. I couldn't believe the number of eels here, they were everywhere, and I mean everywhere. But i wasn't too interested in anything except hammerheads, so I spent pretty much the whole dive staring up. And it paid off, 3/4 of the way through the dive, 2 small hammerheads swam by. The trip was a success at that point for me, anything else was going to be a plus.
We had a little excitment on our return to the boat. I'm not sure exactly of the details, but in the strong current, either a diver was swept away, or the boat broke anchor and was drifting and some of the divers tried to swim after it. When we surfaced, there was a life preserver floating where the boat was and the boat was away chasing down another diver, who started to panic. No one was hurt, but it was very exciting anyway. Because of the exciment, i think the divemasters decided we needed a more novice dive. Our second dive was to the Sea Lion colony. The water was a bit warmer here, but sea lions weren't being playful, just a couple of swim bys. The third dive was a wreck, we did a swim around, but didn't spend a lot of time on it. We're cold water wimps and didn't feel the need to waste the enegry for a few grouper and jacks.
Day 3. We were headed to a site about 2 hours away. On the way a Fin Whale made a brief appearance which was an unexpected bonus for the week. Water about 75, vis about 30 feet. Electric rays, lots of eels. Second dive to a shallow seamount. Vis here was very poor and there was a strong current, the dive was a bit too much work to be considered fun.
Day 4. Back to the Sea Lions. The water was much warmer and the vis was much better. And best yet the sea lion were out and about. We went into a small cave with a 3 pups, and they played with us for about 30 minutes. It was a blast. We did the second dive there as well, this time we spent the time investigating small stuff. Lots of nudibranchs small crabs and such. Leaving there for the third dive, we found a pod of pilot whales, about 10 of them. The boat rides are just as exciting as the diving here. The third dive was to see the giant jaw fish, my gf spent the whole dive watching them. It was her favorite dive. The vis and tempature was much better.
Day 5. Warm water and great viz. La Rena (not sure of the spelling) tons of fish life, huge schools of different kinds of fish. We did 2 dives here, it was sort of like caribbean diving, except for the huge schools of fish.
Day 6. A lot of new people on the boat, they took us back to the sea lion colony. The vis and current were bad so we cut the dive short. The 2nd dive was to Whale island, lots of nudibranchs a cave swim through.
Overall the conditions were just OK, but I still really enjoyed the diving in La Paz. The chance for big animal encouters is worth the effort. I'd recommend going in Sept or October, when the vis and tempatures are supposedly quite a bit better.
Cantamar was a good choice, the boat rides are long and the big boats were a benefit, the most we had on one trip was 15 on a boat that holds 30. However, I was told they go out full during the high season, so it could be a bit crowded. They serve a hot lunch on board, which was surprisingly good. Capi (Jose), makes the best lunch so we were always happy to be on his boat.
La Paz was nice, no timeshare salespeople. Nice place to walk around and cabs were easy to get if you didn't want to stay near the boardwalk. La Flounda was the restaruant that stood out the most, 2 blocks up from applebees. Great food at good prices. There was another place on the beach we enjoyed, but I didn't notice the name. It was just to the right of Kiwi (facing the bay), on the beach, great spot for a sunset dinner.
After reading recommendations on the board and various travel websites and debating the driving/boat time from the different dive shops and hotels. We decided to dive with Cantamar but stay in town so we could have a variety of places to eat and do after diving.
The trip. Cleveland to SJD with AA, through Dallas. We chose SJD because of cost and travel times, it was actually faster to fly to Cabo and drive up to La Paz than to fly directly into La Paz. The trip was happily uneventful. Arriving on time with perfect weather the whole way.
We chose to use Cantamar's shuttle from Cabo to La Paz, a choice we later decided was a good one. About 2 hours after arriving in Cabo, Esteban our driver dropped us off in front of the Hotel Los Arcos on the Malceon in La Paz. Before leaving, he said he pick up a 7:00am the next morning.
The hotel was pretty much what we were expecting, we chose a room with a Bay view, and prepaid through expedia to get the 7th night free. The bay view we later learned was the one mistake we felt we made. Being on the street the road noise was pretty bad. During the week it wasn't horrible late in the evening, but on Saturday night the street becomes a show place for cars with loud stereos and horns. It reminded me of Virginia beach when I was there many years ago. It went on pretty late, so unless you plan on partying with them, I'd suggest either a garden room, or one of the cabanas the hotel has down a half a block.
The hotel was very pleasant, beds were a bit hard but not terrible, everything worked as it should, a/c, water, etc. The food was priced at Hilton rates, but was of motel 8 quality. When we go back, we will either choose one of the cabanas, or find a small condo to rent somewhere.
The driver picked us at exactly 7:00am the next morning to begin our week of diving. The shuttle was on time most of the week, depending on the specific driver. Esteban was always on time. Checking in at Cantamar was pretty easy, the emails I had with Pedro were documented and everything went pretty smooth. Cantamar has quite a few boats, the routine in the morning is to check the whiteboard to determine which boat you were on, get your gear out of the locker area, set it up on your assigned boat. The boats go out around 8:30am. We chose to eat breakfast at the Cantamar resort, as it was cheaper and better food than our hotel.
Diving Day 1. We were expecting water around 80 degrees, our divemaster Marco said the water hadn't warmed up yet averaging around 75 degrees. However, our first dive site turned out to be around 70 degrees, which was just a bit too cold for the 3mm wetsuit I brought. However, in the 20 minutes i was in the water I saw 6 mobula manta, and one small pacific manta. A pretty good start to the week even with poor conditions. The viz was pretty poor as well, around 15 feet or so. The second dive was just as cold, and viz was actually worse, so we cut it short deciding to make a fresh start the next day with a rented wetsuits. On the trip between the first and second dives I noticed a disturbance in the water quite aways away, pointing it out the captain turned in that direction and we found a pod of dolphin. About 200 or so, incredibly cool. We stayed with them for about 30 minutes watching them play in our wake. Even though we didn't get much diving in, we got home pretty happy.
Day 2. A 3mm shorty, over my 3mm suit, and a 2mm rash guard had me a bit more prepared for our day. Our first stop for the day, El Bajo, the once famous spot for hammerheads. Our divemaster said he hadn't seen any since may, but you never know.
As they were setting anchor, someone in our group spotted a small hammerhead on the surface, which raised our hopes quite a bit. The water was a bit warmer, with a lot of thermoclines, there was a lot of current on the surface which required using the anchor line for decent, otherwise you'd end up pretty far away.
The vis was a little better at 30 feet or so. A couple of very nice french ladies who had been there before were going to dive without the guide and we decided to follow them. I couldn't believe the number of eels here, they were everywhere, and I mean everywhere. But i wasn't too interested in anything except hammerheads, so I spent pretty much the whole dive staring up. And it paid off, 3/4 of the way through the dive, 2 small hammerheads swam by. The trip was a success at that point for me, anything else was going to be a plus.
We had a little excitment on our return to the boat. I'm not sure exactly of the details, but in the strong current, either a diver was swept away, or the boat broke anchor and was drifting and some of the divers tried to swim after it. When we surfaced, there was a life preserver floating where the boat was and the boat was away chasing down another diver, who started to panic. No one was hurt, but it was very exciting anyway. Because of the exciment, i think the divemasters decided we needed a more novice dive. Our second dive was to the Sea Lion colony. The water was a bit warmer here, but sea lions weren't being playful, just a couple of swim bys. The third dive was a wreck, we did a swim around, but didn't spend a lot of time on it. We're cold water wimps and didn't feel the need to waste the enegry for a few grouper and jacks.
Day 3. We were headed to a site about 2 hours away. On the way a Fin Whale made a brief appearance which was an unexpected bonus for the week. Water about 75, vis about 30 feet. Electric rays, lots of eels. Second dive to a shallow seamount. Vis here was very poor and there was a strong current, the dive was a bit too much work to be considered fun.
Day 4. Back to the Sea Lions. The water was much warmer and the vis was much better. And best yet the sea lion were out and about. We went into a small cave with a 3 pups, and they played with us for about 30 minutes. It was a blast. We did the second dive there as well, this time we spent the time investigating small stuff. Lots of nudibranchs small crabs and such. Leaving there for the third dive, we found a pod of pilot whales, about 10 of them. The boat rides are just as exciting as the diving here. The third dive was to see the giant jaw fish, my gf spent the whole dive watching them. It was her favorite dive. The vis and tempature was much better.
Day 5. Warm water and great viz. La Rena (not sure of the spelling) tons of fish life, huge schools of different kinds of fish. We did 2 dives here, it was sort of like caribbean diving, except for the huge schools of fish.
Day 6. A lot of new people on the boat, they took us back to the sea lion colony. The vis and current were bad so we cut the dive short. The 2nd dive was to Whale island, lots of nudibranchs a cave swim through.
Overall the conditions were just OK, but I still really enjoyed the diving in La Paz. The chance for big animal encouters is worth the effort. I'd recommend going in Sept or October, when the vis and tempatures are supposedly quite a bit better.
Cantamar was a good choice, the boat rides are long and the big boats were a benefit, the most we had on one trip was 15 on a boat that holds 30. However, I was told they go out full during the high season, so it could be a bit crowded. They serve a hot lunch on board, which was surprisingly good. Capi (Jose), makes the best lunch so we were always happy to be on his boat.
La Paz was nice, no timeshare salespeople. Nice place to walk around and cabs were easy to get if you didn't want to stay near the boardwalk. La Flounda was the restaruant that stood out the most, 2 blocks up from applebees. Great food at good prices. There was another place on the beach we enjoyed, but I didn't notice the name. It was just to the right of Kiwi (facing the bay), on the beach, great spot for a sunset dinner.
