Anybody have info on Loreto and LaPaz?

[SLB]

Planning to visit Loreto in September and want to hear from anyone who has stayed at Baja Outpost. Any other recommendations for dive ops? Restaurants? Anything else you can tell us? Haven't been there before. Also going to LaPaz and staying at LaConcha. Same questions - dive ops?

 

[PlanetMarz]

I drive down to Loreto every year from SoCal - not a bad drive and I absolutely love the town. Stayed in most of the hotels there and not to mention any names but most of the large ones on the beach are dumps... If you like a small boutique hotel where the owner takes care of you like you are a relative, try the La Damiana Inn... Try to get down to Las Animas Island if you can - I think it's closer to LaPaz - saw some hammerheads there this past October. I would definitely avoid going earlier than September because it can be unbearably HOT.
PM me for more details if you want...

 

[SciFiDiver]

You'll find LOTS of info about both LaPaz and Loreto at the new BajaDivers.com site. Our goal is to become the best source of information about diving anywhere along the Baja Peninsula's 2,000 miles of coastline. While we still have a ways to go, we currently have detailed info on 11 major sites in LaPaz and a lot of information about the 800-square-mile Loreto National Marine Park.

After your trip, please visit our site again and upload your experiences using our Virtual Dive Log - this information will then be available for others planning trips to the same area.

BajaDivers.com - by divers, for divers!

P.S. I stayed at La Concha (the condos, not the "hotel") for a week and absolutely loved it. I did the sea lion dive with Coretz Club, who is onsite. If you have time and transportation, you can make a great day trip to Cabo by going down the Pacific side through Todos Santos and coming back up the Sea of Cortez side through Los Barrilles.

 

[dpbishop]

I dove with Cantamar out of La Paz last October. My report is here : http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mexico/208463-la-paz-report.html

I enjoyed it so much I'm planning on making it an annual trip.

 

[Noboundaries]

I drive down to Loreto every year from SoCal - not a bad drive and I absolutely love the town.

I have questions about driving to Loreto. Do you take your own car/truck or rent a vehicle in Mexico? Any safety concerns while driving? Please share your driving experiences.

Thanks.

 

[PlanetMarz]

The first thing I recommend is a good GPS unit - I have a Garmin ETrex Vista and found this company ( GPS4Baja.com ) who sells updated road and contour maps of Baja. I recommend it because they took the time to plug all the gas station locations which can be important in a few spots. I drove my own truck - I recommend Mexico insurance from AAA (Mexico required Liability insurance). Made the entire trip in one shot - I think it was about a 14 hour drive from the border, but I drove pretty fast )
For the most part, the roads were in fantastic shape - just extremely narrrow. I do NOT recommend driving there at night because there are NO lights and it is DARK - combine that with the narrow roads and the random cows that seem to hang out in the middle of the road for no particular reason and you are asking for an accident.
The gas stations were nice - Pemex is the national gas station of Mexico and they are ALL (supposed to be) open 24 hours/7 days a week. Bring cash, pesos if possible as the attendants math can be questionable. There were about (6) military checkpoints, nothing to worry about unless you are planning to smuggle in a truckoad of ganja.
Thats all I can think of - I think next year I will plan a stop in Guerrero Negro (the last town you drive through on the "outside" of the peninsula) just to make things a little less baja 1000 if you know what I mean.
You are from Sacramento - thats about 7-8 hours from the border... you may want to get an early start and try to get across the border on day one - about an hour and a half south of the border is a nice little golf resort you can stay at... ( Bajamar ).
Good luck - let me know if you need any other info.
Marz

 

[Noboundaries]

Thanks Marz. Good info.

 

[iggy23]

Dive in Loreto....Its easy diving with some great sea life.

Package deals can be had from dolphin dive shop that includes hotel on the beach for pretty cheap.