Nov 7
We had a delicious filling breakfast of eggs & tortillas at Senor Greenburgs (rating 7/10) and headed over to Lands End Divers to meet our friends who had arrived the night before, who were to dive 2 days with us. The shop is on the marina behind Solomons Landing, right on the marina. This turned out to be a bad choice. During our two days of diving with them, we dove with some normal divers but more cruise ship divers, who tended not be very experienced. I didnt think it through before I booked with them go out three times a day to dive sites, you pick up three rounds of cruise ship passengers.
We met up with our friends and also chatted with an outspoken staff person named Carlos. He proceeded to bash the people & the shop we dove with in CP. Ill mention him later.
We had three good dives with a competent DM and boat captain. The first was at Lands End, starting on the Pacific side of the Sea Lion colony. We entered the area between the rocks and were greeted by several sea lions that were very curious. We also saw a large school of jacks that were being herded by another sea lion on the other side of the big rock. Our second dive was at Pelican Rock. Here we saw a huge school of surgeonfish and the usual critters. After a quick snack, we went back to Lands End and saw an enormous, black-out-the-sun baitball with a sea lion hunting in it.
At this point, my wife & I were really missing CP. We just werent in the mood on this trip to deal with hustle & bustle, which is what you find in Cabo outside of your hotel. We made arrangements with Siesta Suites to check out the next day.
For dinner, we all went to the Office. The consensus was that the food is OK , but a bit overpriced and lot overrated. Go to the Office to stick your toes in the sand and have a nice dinner, but know that most of your bill is for the ambiance. Rating 6/10.
Nov 8
We got up early on Tuesday to pack, put our stuff in the office and email CP to book a bungalow. Our first dive was Neptunes Finger. This was a great dive and our deepest 103 ft. We went to the wall to see the sand falls and saw several rays, lobsters, a nudibranch and several moray eels. As we were coming back in (the rest of the group had left us behind), we saw 7-8 baby coronetfish, about the size of pencils.
On the next dive, everything went to hell. A rather obese cruise ship couple joined us on the dive. We went to the west side of the sea lion rock and the DM muttered something about the current. Funny, there wasnt any current, but there was surge. The waves that day were calm. Anyway, we went around to the east side of the rock and anchored. All of us got in the water except for the new couple and the DM. The DM told us to descend. We waited on the sand at 30 ft for about 7 minutes while the DM struggled with the obese wifes weights. Since we were at the entrance to the sea lion passage, I went in about 10 ft and started taking pictures of the very active sea lions that day. About that time, the DM descended and motioned for me to join the other divers, about 10 ft away. As I swam out, a very large group of divers entered the passage. I figured that we would swim around Lands End, go through the passage from the east, and surface back at the boat.
We went the other way around Lands End. That day there were both moray & jewel eels and the large bait ball that was being fished by a sea lion. The DM & group watched that thing for at least 15 minutes. About this time, I realized we were not going back to the passage. I was really pissed. As I was getting back on the boat, I asked the DM why we didnt go in the passage. He said that the currents were too strong. I pointed out to him that there were no currents and another large group went in the passage just as we were leaving the area. He had no response.
As we were going back to the dock, my wife & I were discussing the last dive & my frustration with the DMs dive plan. Even though we were on the stern of the boat and the DM was on the bow, the DM decided to start an argument with me in the midst of the other divers on the boat. I told him I had the right to express my opinion wherever I felt like it. Turns out he was the owners brother. As you can probably guess, I would not recommend Lands End Divers.
We then picked up our luggage and headed back to CP. In San Jose, we stopped by a huge supermarket with a walk-in humidor (theres a pic of Brad Pitt & the owners in there) and picked out a couple of Cubans. As we were driving through the north part of SJ, we noticed a pollo and a carnita place on the west side of the road. We pulled into the carnita place La Mochocao. The carnita tortas there are to die for. An 8 out of 10. They bring you this large tray of garnishments to go with your pork sandwich. Mmm
We arrived at CP at around 6PM. There were a few cows on the road going from Hwy 1 to La Riberia, but no big deal. We checked in and the hotel had assigned us a bigger bungalow behind the dive shop for the same price. It encompassed the entire second story.
We unpacked and had dinner at Los Caballeros, our favorite place at CP. Our entrees were a combination plate of a chile relleno, carne asada & a fish taco and quesadillas. Rating 8/10. The food was great and you will not go away hungry from this place.
After dinner, we took a long walk out on the beach barefoot. You could see no lights from the beach. The stars were incredible and the waves crashing in were so peaceful.
Nov 9
We had breakfast and then headed to the dive shop. We told our DMs about Carlos with the CSL shop bashing them. Turns out, Mr. Carlos used to work at a competing dive shop at CP. Imagine that.
We dove with Jackie that morning and four other divers. The dives were at El Bajo and El Cantil. Each dive was good, but the currents on both dives were really ripping, so we ran out of reef before the dives were over.
That afternoon, we dove again with Jackie and went to the Sea Lion Colony and back to El Bajo. At the Colony, we had 7-8 sea lions in the water with us. After about 20 minutes of watching them, we swam south along some large boulders, watching tiny crabs scurry around. At El Bajo, the water got pretty murky with sand about ½ way into the dive. We saw at least 10 green & jewel morays and a huge school of pomponos.
We had dinner with Carlos, Jackie & Cilla at Los Caballeros. Our entrees were fish tacos and carne asada. It was great, the same as the night before.
Nov 10
We headed back to the airport at around 10AM. As we were driving down the dirt road, we passed a road grader in the opposite lane. I dont know how long it takes the dirt to go washboard, but hopefully all CP fans will have a smooth road there for some time to come. We stopped in La Riberia for a cheap bottle of Damiana and proceeded to the airport.
Since our flight wasnt until 2PM, we went back to La Mochoacano for those delicious carnita tortas. They also have a bottled sangria no alcohol, but a really good drink.
Other tidbits
1) The water temp on all CP dives was 81-82F. We were comfy in 3-2s.
2) On our dives at Cabo Pulmo, we averaged 45-50 minutes and came up with about 1000 PSI. Average depth was 60 ft. The only limitation we had was nitrogen - we were always fairly saturated once we were up.
We had a delicious filling breakfast of eggs & tortillas at Senor Greenburgs (rating 7/10) and headed over to Lands End Divers to meet our friends who had arrived the night before, who were to dive 2 days with us. The shop is on the marina behind Solomons Landing, right on the marina. This turned out to be a bad choice. During our two days of diving with them, we dove with some normal divers but more cruise ship divers, who tended not be very experienced. I didnt think it through before I booked with them go out three times a day to dive sites, you pick up three rounds of cruise ship passengers.
We met up with our friends and also chatted with an outspoken staff person named Carlos. He proceeded to bash the people & the shop we dove with in CP. Ill mention him later.
We had three good dives with a competent DM and boat captain. The first was at Lands End, starting on the Pacific side of the Sea Lion colony. We entered the area between the rocks and were greeted by several sea lions that were very curious. We also saw a large school of jacks that were being herded by another sea lion on the other side of the big rock. Our second dive was at Pelican Rock. Here we saw a huge school of surgeonfish and the usual critters. After a quick snack, we went back to Lands End and saw an enormous, black-out-the-sun baitball with a sea lion hunting in it.
At this point, my wife & I were really missing CP. We just werent in the mood on this trip to deal with hustle & bustle, which is what you find in Cabo outside of your hotel. We made arrangements with Siesta Suites to check out the next day.
For dinner, we all went to the Office. The consensus was that the food is OK , but a bit overpriced and lot overrated. Go to the Office to stick your toes in the sand and have a nice dinner, but know that most of your bill is for the ambiance. Rating 6/10.
Nov 8
We got up early on Tuesday to pack, put our stuff in the office and email CP to book a bungalow. Our first dive was Neptunes Finger. This was a great dive and our deepest 103 ft. We went to the wall to see the sand falls and saw several rays, lobsters, a nudibranch and several moray eels. As we were coming back in (the rest of the group had left us behind), we saw 7-8 baby coronetfish, about the size of pencils.
On the next dive, everything went to hell. A rather obese cruise ship couple joined us on the dive. We went to the west side of the sea lion rock and the DM muttered something about the current. Funny, there wasnt any current, but there was surge. The waves that day were calm. Anyway, we went around to the east side of the rock and anchored. All of us got in the water except for the new couple and the DM. The DM told us to descend. We waited on the sand at 30 ft for about 7 minutes while the DM struggled with the obese wifes weights. Since we were at the entrance to the sea lion passage, I went in about 10 ft and started taking pictures of the very active sea lions that day. About that time, the DM descended and motioned for me to join the other divers, about 10 ft away. As I swam out, a very large group of divers entered the passage. I figured that we would swim around Lands End, go through the passage from the east, and surface back at the boat.
We went the other way around Lands End. That day there were both moray & jewel eels and the large bait ball that was being fished by a sea lion. The DM & group watched that thing for at least 15 minutes. About this time, I realized we were not going back to the passage. I was really pissed. As I was getting back on the boat, I asked the DM why we didnt go in the passage. He said that the currents were too strong. I pointed out to him that there were no currents and another large group went in the passage just as we were leaving the area. He had no response.
As we were going back to the dock, my wife & I were discussing the last dive & my frustration with the DMs dive plan. Even though we were on the stern of the boat and the DM was on the bow, the DM decided to start an argument with me in the midst of the other divers on the boat. I told him I had the right to express my opinion wherever I felt like it. Turns out he was the owners brother. As you can probably guess, I would not recommend Lands End Divers.
We then picked up our luggage and headed back to CP. In San Jose, we stopped by a huge supermarket with a walk-in humidor (theres a pic of Brad Pitt & the owners in there) and picked out a couple of Cubans. As we were driving through the north part of SJ, we noticed a pollo and a carnita place on the west side of the road. We pulled into the carnita place La Mochocao. The carnita tortas there are to die for. An 8 out of 10. They bring you this large tray of garnishments to go with your pork sandwich. Mmm
We arrived at CP at around 6PM. There were a few cows on the road going from Hwy 1 to La Riberia, but no big deal. We checked in and the hotel had assigned us a bigger bungalow behind the dive shop for the same price. It encompassed the entire second story.
We unpacked and had dinner at Los Caballeros, our favorite place at CP. Our entrees were a combination plate of a chile relleno, carne asada & a fish taco and quesadillas. Rating 8/10. The food was great and you will not go away hungry from this place.
After dinner, we took a long walk out on the beach barefoot. You could see no lights from the beach. The stars were incredible and the waves crashing in were so peaceful.
Nov 9
We had breakfast and then headed to the dive shop. We told our DMs about Carlos with the CSL shop bashing them. Turns out, Mr. Carlos used to work at a competing dive shop at CP. Imagine that.
We dove with Jackie that morning and four other divers. The dives were at El Bajo and El Cantil. Each dive was good, but the currents on both dives were really ripping, so we ran out of reef before the dives were over.
That afternoon, we dove again with Jackie and went to the Sea Lion Colony and back to El Bajo. At the Colony, we had 7-8 sea lions in the water with us. After about 20 minutes of watching them, we swam south along some large boulders, watching tiny crabs scurry around. At El Bajo, the water got pretty murky with sand about ½ way into the dive. We saw at least 10 green & jewel morays and a huge school of pomponos.
We had dinner with Carlos, Jackie & Cilla at Los Caballeros. Our entrees were fish tacos and carne asada. It was great, the same as the night before.
Nov 10
We headed back to the airport at around 10AM. As we were driving down the dirt road, we passed a road grader in the opposite lane. I dont know how long it takes the dirt to go washboard, but hopefully all CP fans will have a smooth road there for some time to come. We stopped in La Riberia for a cheap bottle of Damiana and proceeded to the airport.
Since our flight wasnt until 2PM, we went back to La Mochoacano for those delicious carnita tortas. They also have a bottled sangria no alcohol, but a really good drink.
Other tidbits
1) The water temp on all CP dives was 81-82F. We were comfy in 3-2s.
2) On our dives at Cabo Pulmo, we averaged 45-50 minutes and came up with about 1000 PSI. Average depth was 60 ft. The only limitation we had was nitrogen - we were always fairly saturated once we were up.
