cabo vs La paz

[coral99]

My husband and I are relatively new divers, just about 16-18 dives logged each. We're looking into doing some diving in the Sea of Cortez in early September and having a hard time deciding which area (CSL or La Paz) is a better dive for our level and also getting the most (seeing the most) out of our dive trip. We've heard a lot about La Paz and leaning towards it, but wanted to see if what other experienced divers thought. Any tips? and/ or dive shop suggestions?

Looking at available flights, if we were to goto La Paz, it seemed easier to fly into Los Cabos and possible rent a car and drive to La Paz. Any comments on that? Is there other ways to do this easier? Thanks for your feedback!

 

[Shepman]

I've dove Cabo twice and La paz once.

Cabo (& there is a small diving area north of Cabo) is a smaller dive area. You can really see all of Cabo in a couple - 3 days. There are some neat geological formations and good sea life, but it's hardly a major dive spot. I dove there because I was going there.

La Paz is a big time area, but it's like deep sea fishing. You go out in small boats (panga, pongo's?) and basically float in the deep water at 60 - 80 feet. The time I went I didn't see much. Just like fishing, the people the day before saw huge schools of hammerheads.

For newer divers, I'd do Cabo, it's a no stress dive location.

When I go back, I'm going to La Paz. I was SO envious of those other divers and their great sea stories.

As far as connections and flights, others will have better data than I do.

 

[cowjazz]

I have not been diving in Cabo, but I have dived La Paz in early September. There are some great sites around Los Islotes which is very close to La Paz. This is a large island that is inhabited by a sea colony. I experienced abundant marine life on my dives. There should be some sea lion pups in September. There is also a decent and easy wreck dive (Fang Ming) off of Los Islotes.

Here is a link to Club Cantamar's descriptions of some of the dive sites around La Paz:

http://www.clubcantamar.com/english/diving/divesites.html

Here is a link to Cortez Club for their desciptions of La Paz dive sites:

http://www.cortezclub.com/scubadivesitesbaja.html

As far as Cabo San Lucas goes, I have not dived there. When I go to Cabo I either make a day trip to La Paz or Cabo Pulmo for diving. Cabo has better night life, top side activities and adult entertainment if that is a concern for you.

I have not flown into La Paz. Flying into La Paz will probably require a chnage of planes somewhere in Mexico. I fly into Cabo direct from Dallas/Fort Worth. I make transfer arrangements through my resort if I'm staying in La Paz, or utilize a shuttle or taxi if going to Cabo. Either way is runs about $50 per person.

I hope this helped.

 

[metaldector]

At your level of diving Cobo would be just fine. Nice sea life, sand falls, fairly shallow, and protected from strong surges. Also, depending on the time of the year sea lions to enjoy underwater. Suggest that you just go there and find one of many scuba shops along the bay or in the hotels. If you have your own fins, mask, and regs, I'd take them but everything else can be rented. Don't spend a lot of time in Senor Froggies the night before you dive!

 

[Amy WJ]

Try both! We're going in November and plan to spend half the time in San Jose del Cabo (diving Cabo Pulmo) and the other half in LaPaz, although I'm wondering whether we should spend more time in LaPaz after reading through these posts. In any event, plan on having a rental car if you do this and then you can check out Todos Santos as well (topside).

I've flown into LaPaz before and on the way out back to CA (LAX) had to stop in Loreto to go through customs since the LaPaz airport doesn't have that capability yet. Not a big deal though. Nice, small, easy to navigate airports. I think that was on Aerocalifornia which is no longer in business so you'll have to check around. LaPaz is a nice city. Never been to Cabo.

 

[widebody50]

We dove La Paz 2 years ago and had a very good time. In fact, we are returning to La Paz in a couple of weeks. We stayed at Cantamar and will be staying there again. Cantamar is well outside of the city and rather isolated, but it is easily an hour closer to the dive sites. If you want some night life rent a car and drive into town. It's a fairly easy drive. A close friend is a dive master at Cantamar and he always has great reports of hammerheads, giant mantas, and whale sharks. Of course, they aren't sighted on every trip out, but the sightings are apparently very frequent.

Travel-wise, we are flying into Cabo. This was much cheaper than flying into La Paz this time due to the closure of the one airline that flew non-stop from LAX to La Paz, Aerocalifornia. We will be renting a car, an intermediate size for $12.50 a day. You can get cars as cheap as $9.00 a day, but we weren't sure dive gear for 2 would fit. Don't forget to get Mexican auto insurance. It's required and they will absolutely screw you if have an accident and you have no insurance, no matter whose fault it is. It's not all that expensive, and NO!, your US insurance will NOT cover you in Mexico.

We have no experience diving Cabo, so I am not much help there.

Best of luck, and I'll try to get back here to give a fresh dive report as soon as we return.

If you are in SoCal, especially OC, send me a PM and maybe we can all hook up for some local diving. We just started diving 2 years ago, so our experience levels are similar.

Oh yeah, check out my gallery for some photos of our last trip.

 

[Jcsgt]

We're going to be down in Cabo, Sept. 12-19th. If you go the Cabo route, during that time, let me know.

 

[Amy WJ]

Widebody50: Where do you rent a car for $12.50/day? Sounds like a great deal.

 

[widebody50]

Travelocity. They list quite a few agencies, and many of them are US companies. And, they have their travel guarantee too.

 

[Amy WJ]

Sounds good. Thanks!