jonhall
Contributor
Had a new experience on this trip. On the day before we were supposed to leave, our traveling friends received their results from a Covid test taken 1 week earlier and 1 was positive. Long story short, my wife and I cancelled and received refunds for our airfare, insurance, and excursions - the next day when our friends received negative results on rapid tests, we rebooked airfare/insurance and only missed one day of our trip.
End of Jan., first of Feb. diving is probably not the best time (but still probably not the worst) for diving in Cabo. Have been twice, both about the same time frame. The water had low visibility, likely exacerbated from the effects of the Tonga volcanic eruption - lowest in the CSL Bay about 10-15 ft. and better along the Corridor at 25-40 ft. Water temps were similar in both areas with 70º F (hit 69º F in a couple places) being pretty normal in the Corridor and a few degrees warmer in the bay. I rented a 5mm wetsuit and wore a Lavaskin top underneath - to the CSL DMs/instructors and you out there in the SB community who dive these temps all of the time - way to go!!
I dove with Dive Cabo which is located in the Tesoro Hotel on the marina. There are a few other ops located in the same building as well as around the marina. Dive Cabo had cheaper rates/multi day discounts some of the other ops didn't have. The staff was nice and multi-national - had not only DM's from MX, but Scotland and France, as well. The routine was to arrive at the shop by 8 am, but we never left the bay until about 9 - the only thing I didn't really like - waiting. M,W,F morning dives were in the bay and T,Th in the Corridor. The Corridor definitely has less diver and boat traffic. They have several boats available - six was the maximum we had on a boat, split into 2 groups of 3. On my last day of diving, 4 of us went out on one boat and a family of 3 new divers on another. Dive times were 40 - 45 minutes, which was okay due to the temps. The water was pretty calm - a little current in the corridor and around Land's End, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific. Boat traffic (dive boats, tour/sightseeing boats) in the bay causes a lot of waves. We saw whales on every dive trip we went out on.
Although the water temp was on the cool side, Cabo weather is great. We had highs of 75º F, lows of 65ºF and sunshine everyday. Chances of rain are very low as they average less than 10"/year (mostly in Sept.) There are a lot of topside activities available. On the water: catamaran cruises, snorkeling, evening dinner cruises, whale watching, parasailing, jet skis, fishing, whale sharks in La Paz. On land: atv's (and similar rides), horseback/camel riding, ziplines. We did a couple of excursions through Cabo Adventures and enjoyed them. They pick up and drop off at the resorts/hotels. Dove a day in the bay and a day at Cabo Pulmo 4 years ago with Cabo Adventures and thought, according to their website, that they only dove those 2 places - saw a smaller Cabo Adventures boat with divers in the Corridor, so they must do more than they advertise. They are cheaper than the other regular dive ops and might be worth a look.
Stayed at Los Cabos Golf resort which was about a 8-10 minute ride (50 minute walk) to the marina. A taxi was $14 one way for 4 of us (or 2 of us who were diving.) Uber can be used in Cabo and is a lot cheaper - $4-6 one way depending on the time of day. The resort offered the Covid rapid test for $30/person - results in an hour.
Only ate at 1 restaurant on the marina, but had a lot of recommendations for others. WTF Burgers uses Wagyu beef from the U.S. - it is good. Ate there last trip and our friends wanted to eat there again. We ate out mainly at our resort restaurant, the country club rr, and at the food court at Walmart. Also ate a lot that we fixed in our room.
Flew with Delta - from Indy, 1 stop in Salt Lake City. Used the immigration and customs forms printed from online to enter MX. Coming home, 1 stop in Detroit. Delayed in Cabo, but still made it to Detroit in time to catch flight home. Delta must have thought we wouldn't make the connection as the Delta app showed our flight had changed - it would have had us getting home the next day - scared us a little but we still had our seats on the original flight home. Used the app and Delta Fly Ready to have our vaccination/Covid test results verified and complete the attestation form - never showed anything to anyone other than my boarding pass in the app that showed I was "Fly Ready" - no paper copies needed.
The only bad part of the trip was getting home and having to walk from the taxi at the end of my driveway to the garage through 8 inches of snow, carrying my luggage.
Here's a few pics: puffer, scorpion, breaching whale, diamondback stingray, spotted boxfish
,
End of Jan., first of Feb. diving is probably not the best time (but still probably not the worst) for diving in Cabo. Have been twice, both about the same time frame. The water had low visibility, likely exacerbated from the effects of the Tonga volcanic eruption - lowest in the CSL Bay about 10-15 ft. and better along the Corridor at 25-40 ft. Water temps were similar in both areas with 70º F (hit 69º F in a couple places) being pretty normal in the Corridor and a few degrees warmer in the bay. I rented a 5mm wetsuit and wore a Lavaskin top underneath - to the CSL DMs/instructors and you out there in the SB community who dive these temps all of the time - way to go!!
I dove with Dive Cabo which is located in the Tesoro Hotel on the marina. There are a few other ops located in the same building as well as around the marina. Dive Cabo had cheaper rates/multi day discounts some of the other ops didn't have. The staff was nice and multi-national - had not only DM's from MX, but Scotland and France, as well. The routine was to arrive at the shop by 8 am, but we never left the bay until about 9 - the only thing I didn't really like - waiting. M,W,F morning dives were in the bay and T,Th in the Corridor. The Corridor definitely has less diver and boat traffic. They have several boats available - six was the maximum we had on a boat, split into 2 groups of 3. On my last day of diving, 4 of us went out on one boat and a family of 3 new divers on another. Dive times were 40 - 45 minutes, which was okay due to the temps. The water was pretty calm - a little current in the corridor and around Land's End, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific. Boat traffic (dive boats, tour/sightseeing boats) in the bay causes a lot of waves. We saw whales on every dive trip we went out on.
Although the water temp was on the cool side, Cabo weather is great. We had highs of 75º F, lows of 65ºF and sunshine everyday. Chances of rain are very low as they average less than 10"/year (mostly in Sept.) There are a lot of topside activities available. On the water: catamaran cruises, snorkeling, evening dinner cruises, whale watching, parasailing, jet skis, fishing, whale sharks in La Paz. On land: atv's (and similar rides), horseback/camel riding, ziplines. We did a couple of excursions through Cabo Adventures and enjoyed them. They pick up and drop off at the resorts/hotels. Dove a day in the bay and a day at Cabo Pulmo 4 years ago with Cabo Adventures and thought, according to their website, that they only dove those 2 places - saw a smaller Cabo Adventures boat with divers in the Corridor, so they must do more than they advertise. They are cheaper than the other regular dive ops and might be worth a look.
Stayed at Los Cabos Golf resort which was about a 8-10 minute ride (50 minute walk) to the marina. A taxi was $14 one way for 4 of us (or 2 of us who were diving.) Uber can be used in Cabo and is a lot cheaper - $4-6 one way depending on the time of day. The resort offered the Covid rapid test for $30/person - results in an hour.
Only ate at 1 restaurant on the marina, but had a lot of recommendations for others. WTF Burgers uses Wagyu beef from the U.S. - it is good. Ate there last trip and our friends wanted to eat there again. We ate out mainly at our resort restaurant, the country club rr, and at the food court at Walmart. Also ate a lot that we fixed in our room.
Flew with Delta - from Indy, 1 stop in Salt Lake City. Used the immigration and customs forms printed from online to enter MX. Coming home, 1 stop in Detroit. Delayed in Cabo, but still made it to Detroit in time to catch flight home. Delta must have thought we wouldn't make the connection as the Delta app showed our flight had changed - it would have had us getting home the next day - scared us a little but we still had our seats on the original flight home. Used the app and Delta Fly Ready to have our vaccination/Covid test results verified and complete the attestation form - never showed anything to anyone other than my boarding pass in the app that showed I was "Fly Ready" - no paper copies needed.
The only bad part of the trip was getting home and having to walk from the taxi at the end of my driveway to the garage through 8 inches of snow, carrying my luggage.
Here's a few pics: puffer, scorpion, breaching whale, diamondback stingray, spotted boxfish
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