jahhaas
Registered
I was in Cabo San Lucas two weeks ago and thought maybe I should post my thoughts on the three days of diving I did while there. I dove one day a year ago with Amigos Del Mar and decided to use them again for this trip. With one concern I will mention later, I would recommend them and will certainly dive with them again when I next visit. The first day of diving was a very cloudy day with some surge. The first dive was at Pellican Rock and the second at Lands End. The water temperature was 68 degrees on the surface and only a few degrees colder at depth. There was plenty of sea life around though the colors were very muted due to the cloudy conditions and the level of plankton in the water. My max depth on the first dive was 103 feet though most of the dive was spent at about 45 feet where there was more sea life. The dive included sightings of the normal fish in the area plus a morey eel, an electric ray and a couple of scorpion fish. The second dive off Lands End offered the opportunity to dive with the sea lions. Unfortunately the surge through the channel was pretty pronounced and we had to backtrack out after getting about half way through. We had one curious sea lion but his curiosity didn't last long. By having to back track we had to round the point into the Pacific surge.
I dove the next day on basically the same two dives. The sun had come out and while the visibility was still reduced because of the plankton the colors of the sealife were much brighter. We maxed our Pellican Rock dive at about 75 feet and again spent most of the dive at about 45 feet. My dive buddy who I had just met that day was having a lot of problems with his bouancy. As a result, he used his air pretty quickly. We were at about 45 feet when he signalled the dive master that he was at 1000 psi. I was surprised that we didn't start moving toward the boat. We were at about 25-30 feet when my buddy signalled the dive master that he was at 500 psi. At that point, my buddy was getting pretty positively bouyant and the dive master started to hold him on the bottom by holding his bc strap and a coral outcropping. One of the other divers, a very experienced diver, came over to help hold my buddy down. After this went on for a few minutes, the dive master signalled to us to start returning to the anchor rope. That left my buddy and the very experienced diver behind. We didn't reach the anchor rope and surfaced without making a real safety stop. My buddy and his new buddy surfaced behind us. When I got on board I found out that my buddy had run out of air while he and his new buddy were still at 25-30 feet. So, that is my concern. I realize that we are all responsible for our air but I thought that the dive master should have started us back much earlier than he did.
The second dive was again off Lands End. The surge was less pronounced than the day before and we were able to clear the channel into the Pacific. We had more sea lions that day; five were active in the channel as we swam through. Because we cleared into the Pacific we were able to swim with the flow back around the point and back to our dive boat. With the exception of having my dive buddy run out of air, the dives that day were more satisfying than the day before. In addition to the sea life seen the day before, the group observed a 5 ft white tipped reef shark. I missed it.
I took a day off then dove again. This time we "went accross the bay." Those dives were at "Twin Dolphins" and "Whale's Head." The surface temperature was a few degrees warmer; about 71 degrees. The Twin Dolphins dive maxed at 45 feet and included a number of rays one of which was about 3 feet in length. While this was a nice dive, we were disspointed because the week before there had been a number of much larger rays in the area. The second dive at Whale's Head maxed at 54 feet with most of the dive spent at about 35 feet. The area is very pretty but didn't have many fish that day. On the way back to the dock, we saw a pod of whales breaching about a half mile away which made for a great ending to the day.
I dove with a 7mm farmer john with a hood. That was more than I really needed. There were a variety of wetsuit configurations in the dive groups. The only people who seemed to get cold were the two who dove with 3mm jumpsuits and 3mm jackets without hoods or booties.
I dove the next day on basically the same two dives. The sun had come out and while the visibility was still reduced because of the plankton the colors of the sealife were much brighter. We maxed our Pellican Rock dive at about 75 feet and again spent most of the dive at about 45 feet. My dive buddy who I had just met that day was having a lot of problems with his bouancy. As a result, he used his air pretty quickly. We were at about 45 feet when he signalled the dive master that he was at 1000 psi. I was surprised that we didn't start moving toward the boat. We were at about 25-30 feet when my buddy signalled the dive master that he was at 500 psi. At that point, my buddy was getting pretty positively bouyant and the dive master started to hold him on the bottom by holding his bc strap and a coral outcropping. One of the other divers, a very experienced diver, came over to help hold my buddy down. After this went on for a few minutes, the dive master signalled to us to start returning to the anchor rope. That left my buddy and the very experienced diver behind. We didn't reach the anchor rope and surfaced without making a real safety stop. My buddy and his new buddy surfaced behind us. When I got on board I found out that my buddy had run out of air while he and his new buddy were still at 25-30 feet. So, that is my concern. I realize that we are all responsible for our air but I thought that the dive master should have started us back much earlier than he did.
The second dive was again off Lands End. The surge was less pronounced than the day before and we were able to clear the channel into the Pacific. We had more sea lions that day; five were active in the channel as we swam through. Because we cleared into the Pacific we were able to swim with the flow back around the point and back to our dive boat. With the exception of having my dive buddy run out of air, the dives that day were more satisfying than the day before. In addition to the sea life seen the day before, the group observed a 5 ft white tipped reef shark. I missed it.
I took a day off then dove again. This time we "went accross the bay." Those dives were at "Twin Dolphins" and "Whale's Head." The surface temperature was a few degrees warmer; about 71 degrees. The Twin Dolphins dive maxed at 45 feet and included a number of rays one of which was about 3 feet in length. While this was a nice dive, we were disspointed because the week before there had been a number of much larger rays in the area. The second dive at Whale's Head maxed at 54 feet with most of the dive spent at about 35 feet. The area is very pretty but didn't have many fish that day. On the way back to the dock, we saw a pod of whales breaching about a half mile away which made for a great ending to the day.
I dove with a 7mm farmer john with a hood. That was more than I really needed. There were a variety of wetsuit configurations in the dive groups. The only people who seemed to get cold were the two who dove with 3mm jumpsuits and 3mm jackets without hoods or booties.
