Trip Report Cabo Pulmo - (again & again & again...) or Growing Pains.

[horn34]

Sorry you got stuff taken, but theft is definitely up in CP. We always stay at Reinhards and leave gear drying overnight on the patio, never had a problem. Then we stayed with him last March and woke up to find someone had taken:

• and old dirty empty OXXO styrofoam cooler with stains and chunks missing from it
• and old generic BIC type lighter with 10% of the fluid left
• a pair of dirty wet socks

We had to ask Reinhard if he had seen them, since we couldn't believe someone would risk getting stabbed or beaten up sneaking onto a dark patio in the middle of the night and stealing maybe $1.50 worth of stuff.

 

[kumimonster]

Sorry you got stuff taken, but theft is definitely up in CP. We always stay at Reinhards and leave gear drying overnight on the patio, never had a problem. Then we stayed with him last March and woke up to find someone had taken:

• and old dirty empty OXXO styrofoam cooler with stains and chunks missing from it
• and old generic BIC type lighter with 10% of the fluid left
• a pair of dirty wet socks

We had to ask Reinhard if he had seen them, since we couldn't believe someone would risk getting stabbed or beaten up sneaking onto a dark patio in the middle of the night and stealing maybe $1.50 worth of stuff.

GAH.
Really?
amazing. Definitely going to change my gear drying/rinsing habits in the future when I return.

I'm usually letting my camera things dry and charge outside after rinsing in our outdoor kitchen at baja bunglows. Unwanted guests are normally the furry four-legged kind that try try to steal food by going through the cupboards and even the fridge. They never went for the electronics!

 

[wnissen]

FYI, Southwest used to have direct flights out of OAK. Not sure right now. One of my buddies came in from the east bay and she met me in SNA for the bounce to SJD. If you do fly out of there with a cnx, make sure it's not LAX. SNA is best, SAN (diego) is good, PHX (um. if you have to), and LAX (I'd rather go via Arizona). :-D

Oh, yeah, I went to school in SoCal and had a long-distance relationship for two years. BUR and LGB are my favorites, SNA and ONT are good, but LAX is just an unmitigated hellscape. It doesn't matter if you're connecting or originating. There is no way to get from terminal to terminal, let alone without going through security again. The shuttles are so irregular that they have a status page so you can try to figure out whether you need to carjack someone to make your flight. Joke's on you, even if you did carjack someone, you'd never make it through the traffic. There are still people at LAX who arrived when it opened that are trying to get out of the loop. Having driven all the LA and Bay Area freeways (but not San Diego), the 405 is the worst single road in existence. There is no time of day at which it flows, and the view is endless billboards and tract homes.

So SJC-SNA-SJD it is!

 

[kumimonster]

So SJC-SNA-SJD it is!

When heading home, I landed at SNA. The flight attendant said, "Welcome home to Orange County! If you're just passing through, you're welcome as well; this is not LAX!"

 

[Jake 10]

Interesting experience, thank you for the report.

 

[greta-inbaja]

HI Kumi, Thanks for the great report.. We dove with you once a few yrs back with Pilu.. We have a house about 5 miles south of CP.. We are down but have not been diving yet..It has definitely gotten busier.. we have been diving CP since 1995.. only 2 shops then.. Cabo PUlmo Divers and Pepe.. no locks on the doors then either.. we stayed at Reinhard’s.. even down here now, we occasionally lock the doors when we leave for the day.. we have had. Dumb little things taken.. didnt lock the truck once and caught a guy stealing an old hair clip and pair of sunglasses.. Interesting to hear about the SI onshore,, We havent done that in yrs here.. Did you dive with Pilu at all? Manuela is also great..sounds like some interesting new sites.. needed since it really is getting much busier.. Can’t imagine what it would be like if they didnt regulate the traffic on each site..your pictures were very nice.. Sorry about your stuff getting taken.. we had our regulators taken in Thailand, luckily it was out of trailer being unloaded AFTER a liveaboard.. still…. Irksome! Nice to see some whales around.. seems a bit early. Did you sign up with Manuela? We have only gone diving with her through Pilu when she was super busy or taking a rare day off. Who else have you been diving with recently? We drive down 2x per yr.. its a very nice drive if you go Mex 5.. we recommend it. Just don’t drive at night… its open range, no road lighting.

 

[Roadee]

Thanks for this report, Kumi. I'm planning to dive there in two weeks, so your timing was perfect. (Thanks to COVID, I don't think I can be bold enough to say "I'm going" even though everything's booked.) It's our first time there and we're really looking forward to it. I still have shark anxiety sometimes but I would love the ball-of-jacks experience! Sorry for your property losses. I'll keep a close eye on my stuff after hearing that.

 

[kumimonster]

Thanks for this report, Kumi. I'm planning to dive there in two weeks, so your timing was perfect. (Thanks to COVID, I don't think I can be bold enough to say "I'm going" even though everything's booked.) It's our first time there and we're really looking forward to it. I still have shark anxiety sometimes but I would love the ball-of-jacks experience! Sorry for your property losses. I'll keep a close eye on my stuff after hearing that.

HEADS UP for COVID -
Pick up the testing kits that you can do at "home" - your airline website should have information. (i got mine via SouthWest).

you take the test in front of your phone camera in front of an agent who watches you. It'll take about 20 minutes. This will allow you to NOT have to drive into town or go to the airport a few hours earlier to take the test!

 

[wnissen]

HEADS UP for COVID -
Pick up the testing kits that you can do at "home" - your airline website should have information. (i got mine via SouthWest).

you take the test in front of your phone camera in front of an agent who watches you. It'll take about 20 minutes. This will allow you to NOT have to drive into town or go to the airport a few hours earlier to take the test!

That is handy. I saw there are self-test kits at eMed that supposedly are good for travel, but they don't have specifics about which countries and airlines will accept them. Presumably the ones from the airline are going to be accepted!

eMed

www.emed.com

 

[lm17]

Don't go in August, September, October, or November. ;-)
If it's an option.
If not, then October and November have less hurricanes which are probably more detrimental to diving than crowds.

I'm in La Paz now. Hoping to get there soon. What would you say is the best month to dive?