Cabo Pulmo/La Paz vs. Socorro liveaboard

[dlofting]

We saw humpbacks at a distance. We were on the boat at the time. A whale shark went under our panga as we were retrieving divers. I wouldn't count on seeing either, but you might get lucky. Mantas, sharks (Silvertips, Whitetips, Silkies and Galapagos sharks in abundance plus Hammerheads and possibly Tigers) and dolphins are worth going on the trip to see....have fun.

 

[Disco King]

We saw humpbacks at a distance. We were on the boat at the time. A whale shark went under our panga as we were retrieving divers. I wouldn't count on seeing either, but you might get lucky. Mantas, sharks (Silvertips, Whitetips, Silkies and Galapagos sharks in abundance plus Hammerheads and possibly Tigers) and dolphins are worth going on the trip to see....have fun.

Thank you for sharing your experience and setting my exceptions.

 

[kumimonster]

whale shark sightings by divers last week in cabo pulmo.
chances are when i get there, they'll all disappear

 

[Disco King]

whale shark sightings by divers last week in cabo pulmo.
chances are when i get there, they'll all disappear

 

[ibj40]

We just got back from Cabo San Lucas, and dove Cabo Pulmo one day. We did three days of diving with Manta Scuba out of CSL, and they took us (2 divers) and two other couples up there. We went in a van, and I have to tell you, the last five or six miles was brutal. The pavement just stops, and then you are on what is basically a widened cart path.

Boat launching system was a site to see, the ingenuity is amazing.

We were rewarded with two extraordinary dives. The first one, on a wreck, was hosted by about six or eight Bull Sharks, who were not bashful at all. The second dive was out in the middle of nowhere, but we got to witness a ball of hundreds of Jacks, which just swirled above us in an endless stream of fish.

Packaged together with our other two dive days, I think the cost of the Pulmo dive was about $250 (more or less) per diver, which included lunch.

Plan to post a full report with pictures as soon as we download our camera.

 

[Bruce_Partridge]

I'm in Cabo Pulmo after just having finished a week here. We did the Socorros a few years ago.

Roca Partida in the Socorros is one of my favorite dives in the world. I could do it for many days. On the other hand, it is a liveaboard so it comes with the expense and travel time. Everyone who can should do it once in their lives.

Since they created the National Park at Cabo Pulmo, the diving has improved immensely. I came here about 20 years ago, and for that diving I would never come again. But the National Park has changed the game. We saw bull sharks on several dives and regularly saw BIG schools of jacks. We also did a few very nice reef dives.

My advice is to do them both. We were on rebreathers on Socorros so the currents and depths weren't a problem. If you do Socorros on open circuit, you need to be good on air to really get your money's worth.

 

[Disco King]

We just got back from Cabo San Lucas, and dove Cabo Pulmo one day. We did three days of diving with Manta Scuba out of CSL, and they took us (2 divers) and two other couples up there.

Thank you for sharing your experience. How did you like the operator?

 

[ibj40]

Thank you for sharing your experience. How did you like the operator?

We dove with them last year based on reviews we found online; we dove with them this year based on our personal experience last year.

They will be our go-to operator when we go back.

 

[Disco King]

Since they created the National Park at Cabo Pulmo, the diving has improved immensely. I came here about 20 years ago, and for that diving I would never come again. But the National Park has changed the game. We saw bull sharks on several dives and regularly saw BIG schools of jacks. We also did a few very nice reef dives.

My advice is to do them both. We were on rebreathers on Socorros so the currents and depths weren't a problem. If you do Socorros on open circuit, you need to be good on air to really get your money's worth.

How diving different in Cabo Pulmo (Jacks, bull sharks) from Socorros?

I am booked for Socorro liveaboard. Have a few days in Cabo San Lucas before liveaboard departure. I can do a day trip to Cabo Pulmo if it provides much different experience from Socorros.

 

[kumimonster]

How diving different in Cabo Pulmo (Jacks, bull sharks) from Socorros?

I am booked for Socorro liveaboard. Have a few days in Cabo San Lucas before liveaboard departure. I can do a day trip to Cabo Pulmo if it provides much different experience from Socorros.

I don't know Socorros well. Only from friend's travel stories. I plan on that liveaboard trip some day though!

I know Cabo Pulmo , and it's relaxed and pretty slow paced as far as diving goes. Most all of the sites are do-able by PADI open water divers - advanced isn't needed. Once in a while there's some current that gives a nice n easy drift dive but other than that, it's all chill. There's a lot of fish, nice reefs, bulls and jacks and more!

The problem with the day trip is you need some advance planning. Cabo Pulmo runs on a cycle where the dive sites "fill up" on a daily/weekly basis. Say the cycle starts on a Tuesday, for example. If you arrive to dive on Saturday, you might not have access to the most popular dive sites. On the other hand, if you've arrived on Wed, then those sites are likely to still be open.