I touched base with some other folks who dove the Marietta's off of Puerta Vallarta the same day we dove Los Arcos. They weren't too impressed with the diving there either. I figure it's one of two things...diving ain't that great there or we just caught it on a bad day. Either way the diving in the Sea of Cortez near Cabo was much, much better...the diving and the dive charter.
Dive Site: Neptune's Finger
Dive Shop: Underwater Diversions
Divemaster: Gerrardo
Seas: 1'-2'
Vis: 100'
Current: Mild with ocassional surge near the surface
Avg Water Temp: 65 degrees F
Max Depth: 105'
This dive shop was much better prepared than Chico's in Puerta Vallarta. There was plenty of gear. The rental equipment appeared to be fairly new and kept up. No problem finding weight on this trip and the divemasters did a good job of estimating how much weight each diver needed.
This was all around better diving. Much more marine life...octopus, sea lions, grouper, morays, and all the usual suspects. Saw a couple of grouper...one was huge. No other big fish other than that though.
The divemasters were knowledgable and experienced. First thing they did was separate the main group into two smaller groups. Basically by who wanted to go deep and who didn't. Of course, some of the divers thought 60' was deep so we cleared that up quickly. Gerrardo (our group's DM) didn't want to take us past 90', but we fudged on that a little and hit 105' on the first dive.
Visability and water temps were pretty consistent at different depths. Fresh water to rinse gear was available on the boat and back at the shop.
After the dives I hauled my gear back to the ship and headed back into town. I took a stroll well off the main tourist sections and found an upscale tequila store where I sampled a bunch of different tequilas. After that I wandered back toward the beach and ran across the Cabo Wabo. I took a seat outside and listened to the live band they had there...great lead guitarist BTW. After one too many margaritas I worked my way back to the ship, getting back on just before the deadline to reboard.
Angie and Jack went ATVing somewhere while I was diving. They had a great time too. We're looking into a return trip (just to Cabo) at Thanksgiving. In fact, Angie already found a house on the beach with a pool for $525 a night...sleeps 8 comfortably. Once we get some more of the details worked out we'll see if we can get 6 more folks to join us. I'll post the info on Scubaboard when we do, so if you're looking for something to do next Thanksgiving keep it in mind!
Dive Site: Neptune's Finger
Dive Shop: Underwater Diversions
Divemaster: Gerrardo
Seas: 1'-2'
Vis: 100'
Current: Mild with ocassional surge near the surface
Avg Water Temp: 65 degrees F
Max Depth: 105'
This dive shop was much better prepared than Chico's in Puerta Vallarta. There was plenty of gear. The rental equipment appeared to be fairly new and kept up. No problem finding weight on this trip and the divemasters did a good job of estimating how much weight each diver needed.
This was all around better diving. Much more marine life...octopus, sea lions, grouper, morays, and all the usual suspects. Saw a couple of grouper...one was huge. No other big fish other than that though.
The divemasters were knowledgable and experienced. First thing they did was separate the main group into two smaller groups. Basically by who wanted to go deep and who didn't. Of course, some of the divers thought 60' was deep so we cleared that up quickly. Gerrardo (our group's DM) didn't want to take us past 90', but we fudged on that a little and hit 105' on the first dive.
Visability and water temps were pretty consistent at different depths. Fresh water to rinse gear was available on the boat and back at the shop.
After the dives I hauled my gear back to the ship and headed back into town. I took a stroll well off the main tourist sections and found an upscale tequila store where I sampled a bunch of different tequilas. After that I wandered back toward the beach and ran across the Cabo Wabo. I took a seat outside and listened to the live band they had there...great lead guitarist BTW. After one too many margaritas I worked my way back to the ship, getting back on just before the deadline to reboard.
Angie and Jack went ATVing somewhere while I was diving. They had a great time too. We're looking into a return trip (just to Cabo) at Thanksgiving. In fact, Angie already found a house on the beach with a pool for $525 a night...sleeps 8 comfortably. Once we get some more of the details worked out we'll see if we can get 6 more folks to join us. I'll post the info on Scubaboard when we do, so if you're looking for something to do next Thanksgiving keep it in mind!
