Cabo - Gordo Banks Question

[SFScuba]

Hi all,

We're going down to Cabo in November (yup starting to plan early). We've been to CSL before and loved diving with Underwater Diversions. However, we're going down with a lot of family this time and they wanted to stay at the Intercontinental/Presidente in San Jose del Cabo.

The main dive we want to do this time around is Gordo Banks. My understanding is that it is closer to the San Jose del Cabo side. Are there any shops that leave from there? or are we stuck driving the 20 miles down to CSL?

Also, any chance of seeing sharks in November?

We are also staying a few days in Cabo Pulmo. We've heard mixed reviews of the different operators. Are there any that limit to 8-10 per boat and offer pretty good service?

Thanks!

 

[JustinW]

Call Dustin at Underwater Diversions and ask him what he recommends over there. I've heard him mention one before but don't remember.

 

[hdtran]

Re: Cabo Pulmo:

Prob. the two best shops (anecdotally) are the ones closest to the beach. The green two-story bldg, and the one on the beach itself. We used the one on the beach itself (Mario & his son; forget the name). Cash/trav. checks, no credit cards.

The boats at Cabo Pulmo are 6-packs. And if you're plus-sized, it's a 5-pack Seriously, no way will you be in a cattle boat. Once you demonstrate to the DM that you have reasonable skills, he (most likely he; could be she) will let you dive with minimal supervision. The only thing is that none of the boats that I saw at Cabo Pulmo had a ladder for reentry, so you need a bit of upper body strength (hand weights up to boat captain; remove BC & hand BC/tank up; grab gunwale; rock boat; fin like mad; do a pullup into the boat; flop like a beached flounder).

I actually liked Land's End better than Cabo Pulmo in May/June 05 in terms of fish diversity & seascape; but I may have hit Pulmo on a bad day.

Re: San Jose Del Cabo: Tio Sports (used to) outfit for several hotels in the corridor region, and may have departures from San Jose. The Westin Regina (on the corridor), the Palmilla (just past the Southern border of SJDC), & the Hilton (on the corridor, a couple of km's S of the Westin) have concierge/activity services where they will book scuba trips for you. So, I would not be surprised if the Presidente/Intercontinental had a concierge service too. A watersports outfitter (either Tio or JT) has a booth set up pretty much daily on the beach between the Hilton & Melia, near the Ventanas.

If you haven't already booked at the Presidente, I'd reconsider & look at the Palmilla; the Hilton/Melia/Ventanas complex; the Twin Dolphins area; (the old Hotel CSL next to the Twin Dolphins if it has reopened); & rental houses on Playa Santa Maria. There are either artificial jetties or natural rock formations there that keep the surf down, so you can actually swim/snorkel from the beaches there. Last time I was in the area, swimming off of the Presidente was never recommended because of the prevailing surf/wind. I also did not like the proliferation of flies (might have been seasonal) in San Jose, probably due to the fresh water in the estuary.

You should also consider a trip up to La Paz. We haven't done that yet, but it's on my list of "trips to do." The Lonely Planet diving Baja guide has a great review of dive sites in the La Paz area.

Have a great time!!!

 

[SFScuba]

Thanks for the info so far. Also, one more question about Gordo Banks. The top sounds like it is at 110 feet. Not worried about the depth, but more whether the trip is worth it. The bottom time at 110 is not that much, especially on dive 2. We've never done a blue water dive before, how does this work? Are you mostly drifting at higher depths and still seeing a lot of sea life?

Thanks again!

 

[WaterWayne]

...The top sounds like it is at 110 feet. Not worried about the depth, but more whether the trip is worth it...We've never done a blue water dive before, how does this work? Are you mostly drifting at higher depths and still seeing a lot of sea life?

Thanks again!

EDIT--I just checked your profile, and it looks like you have plenty of ocean diving. Therefore, maybe you were referring to others in your party? If so, the below advice is still sound. If not, if I managed to misread your post and/or your profile, pardon me.--END EDIT

Although you and I are about equal in number of dives, more than half of mine are blue water, and therefore in my opinion, Gordo Banks is not a good, first, blue water dive, or even a fifth one. You will be enjoying yourself so very much in your first blue water that you don't need to try all the rides in the amusement park on your first visit, anyway.

Diving the San Lucas bay means mainly Pelican Rock and Land's End. The latter has interesting surges as the Pacific waltzes with the Sea of Cortez. If I were your DM, I would want to evaluate your skills around Pelican Rock (inside the harbor) before leading you around Land's End.

Cabo Pulmo is usually a bit of a drift dive. When it's not perfect, it can feel overrated and even primitive; hdtran provided an excellent description of the pangas. Bear in mind that it's an arduous two-hour drive from Los Cabos to Cabo Pulmo, too. That's the bad news.

The good news is that on the right day, this is better than the San Lucas harbor. It's not that deep (50' max, hd?). Therefore, on that right day, you'll get the most pure feeling of safe, effortless, three-dimensional wonder as you're propelled slowly by placid, fat critters. Since you've never been in blue water, it will be the best dive of your career, on that right day.

I hope you have that truly magical feeling on the right day in Cabo Pulmo. I also hope you don't try Gordo Banks on this trip.

--Wayne

 

[SFScuba]

Wayne, thanks for the info. To clarify what I meant by blue water diving - dives that are a couple of miles from shore, no land in site, which sounds like Gordo.

All our dives have been ocean dives, but within site of land. Also, there has been structure, whether a reef of wall. We dove Land's End, Pelican Rock, and all the areas around Cabo last Fall. Also did the Blow Hole on a day with large swells and a big current (nothing like doing a backroll off a panga in 3-5 foot swells). We probably won't dive local CSL dives this time around because of time, but are considering Gordo for a day.

We are hoping for good days in Cabo Pulmo. We're staying three nights up there before meeting up with the rest of our family in San Jose Del Cabo.

 

[Barry Goode]

Hi,

This is my first time going to Cabo (mid-April). I'm staying at the Hotel Finisterra (on the Pacific but close to marina & town).
I'm interested in visibility and which dive sites (& operators) are best.
What should I watch out for that could be problematic with dives, conditions, operators, etc.?

Any recommendations on what to see/do on land (restaurants, bars, etc.)?

Thanks a million!

Barry

 

[SFScuba]

Barry,
We dove with Underwater Diversions last year and they were great - I would highly recommend them. Manta divers left from near our hotel. Their boat and equipemnt looked pretty good and I've heard good things about them. Everything is pretty close in CSL.

Most of the local dives are 5 minutes from the marina: Pelican Rock, Neptunes Finger, Sand Falls, etc... Vis varied depending on the day. Check out the other trip reports on this board for more info.

Gordo Banks is the dive I've been trying to get some information from - hoping someone that has done it before can describe it for me. We're also headed to Cabo Pulmo this time around which is about 2-3 hours outside of CSL.

If you like sushi, Nick San in town is pretty good. Sit at the sushi bar and ask the guys behind the counter about what's fresh. Sometimes they'll have fish not listed o the menu. "The Office" on Medano beach is a popular place to hang out for a drink or grab breakfast.

 

[hdtran]

Responding to various posts, so won't quote... You know who you are

Cabo Pulmo can get as deep as 70 ft if you work really hard at it. CSL near Neptune's Finger/Pelican Rock can get as deep as 3000 ft if you don't pay attention (just follow that grouper a little further down ) The DM's won't take you to Land's End (just on the other side of the sea lions) until they're sure of your skills, as the surge can get interesting.

I think dlndavid did do Gordo Banks on a Cabo trip report. He loved it.

The scenery & landscape on the drive to Cabo Pulmo, on the East Cape, in my opinion, is worth the drive. And the beach/sand/etc. is finer than the usual Cabo sand. If I had $$$$, I'd own a house on the East Cape.

For Sushi, as of May/June 2005, Solomon's Landing had a new sushi bar w/ sushi chef. He beats everybody else hands down.

For Huachinango Entero (whole fried snapper with garlic salsa on the side), the "Fish House" (upstairs at the ballerina sculpture, can't miss it) does the best one. Their side of garlic sauce (Mojo de Ajo, I think) is out of this world. (But also a touch spicy). I wouldn't bother with any 'lobsters' anywhere in Baja.

There's a Chinese restaurant in Plaza Bonita mall upstairs. Avoid it like the plague, even if the waitress is cute and blonde. (Or, if I may, avoid it as if the cute blonde waitress had the plague!) It was *SO* bad that I've scrubbed its name from my memory.

The Sea Queen restaurant at the corner of Ave Cabo San Lucas & Marina Blvd has an attached coffeehouse. By all means, stop by the coffeehouse and have some coffee and pastries. The pastry chef there makes the best pastries that my wife has ever remembered (she lived for 13+ years in Paris, and my mother-in-law has taken Cordon Bleu classes, for your reference). We especially love his chocolate cake (mmmm) and his apple tarte (yummmm).

I personally don't think that you can go too wrong with any of the dive ops in town, but then, I'm pretty easygoing. I've used Baja Dive & Land's End personally; and I've heard good things about Deep Blue. If someone is at the Finisterra, Amigos Del Mar's shop is the closest to Finisterra; just walk down the road from Finisterra towards the marina. Amigos Del Mar is right there near the new Dolphin stadium on Marina Blvd.

Most of the dive ops are in the building which was formerly the Plaza Las Glorias.

There are at least two ops on Medano Beach (Cabo Acuadeportes & Manta). Manta is near the Mango Deck restaurant on Medano Beach; Cabo Acuadeportes is near the Hacienda hotel.

Water temps in April will be cool. The locals will all be wearing 7mm. You might get by in a 5mm.

For non-diving things, it depends on what you like to do. If you're into outdoorsy activities, lots of stuff going on (golf, parasail, kayak, etc.) If you're more into sightseeing, I think Todos Santos is worth an excursion, as is San Jose. My wife & oldest daughter love the guided horseback rides. I think they may do a Corrida (bullfight) weekly at the edge of town in Cabo, but the Mexican bullfights are different that the Spanish ones. No bulls are killed in Mexican bullfights.

Have a great trip!

 

[Jcsgt]

Manta will pick up Finnesterra folks from the nearby pier, then take you to their shop to catch the dive boat. This is good, since I understand the taxis can be quite expensive.