Da Troof at La Bouff!

[Mo2vation]

Nudi City!

After hearing so many great things about this paradise, La Bufadora, I finally went!

We headed down the first week of August. No wind, very mild temperatures, amazing diving.

We went with Dales La Bufadora dive. I hadn't been to La Bouff for about 30 years, so it was great to see the town again - but the real star is the diving. Claudette and I did 6 dives over 3 days. The camping was great, the hang was mellow, the food was excellent. The water was cold, very clear below about 80 FSW. I can honestly say, this was the most beautiful cold water diving I've ever done. Just stellar - I am so in love with the place.

I had the best time. I can't wait to go back in a few weeks.

Here are a few shots. The rugged topography is amazing - pinnacles, canyons, valleys. But the Nudis are the reason to go. Oh baby... the Nudis.

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Ken


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Full gallery here: Dive Matrix - La Bufadora
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[Doc Intrepid]

Ken, those are awesome shots.

Seriously, dude, whatever you're working with, keep working with it.

Really nice...

 

[Mo2vation]

Thanks man.

Lots of great subjects in La Bufadora. A Nudi Hunters paradise (20 or 21 species the first day...)

It was beautiful there.


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Ken

 

[ShakaZulu]

Geezuz, silly good pics.....in fact, I think I'm never diving again. I'll just wait for your pics Ken, Let me know when you guys go down again, would love to join.

 

[Mo2vation]

Geezuz, silly good pics.....in fact, I think I'm never diving again. I'll just wait for your pics Ken, Let me know when you guys go down again, would love to join.

Jaye and I are going down Thursday afternoon. Gonna dive on Friday AM, Sat Am and Sunday AM. We'll be taking the scooters for some free-diving fun and we'll most likely bring the Kayaks for some afternoon rompage.

The dives are in the Am - 9:00 ish to about 1:00 - leaves the rest of the day open for Siesta, Cerveza and all manner of goofing off.

You should come. $5 a day to camp doesn't suck.

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Ken

 

[Codyjp]

I think i am going to give up with underwater pics. You frustrate me!

Could you tell us a bit more of the logstics of da Buff? did you drive? how long did it take etc?

 

[Mo2vation]

Hi Cody

Drove down from where I live (near LAX) - the drive wasn't bad. To say La Bouff is in "Ensanada" is misleading, as its a bit south of there.

Dales is walking distance of "the city" / La Bufadora ("Buffalo Snort", not "blow hole"... who knew?!) There is an excellent, large, flat campsite there, facing the protected bay. We set tents right near the edge of the cliff and had a beautiful view.

It can get quite windy, I hear - but hen we were there, it was very mellow and nice.

There is no AC - so we brought inverters for my truck to charge camera, Can Light, Scooter batteries.

There are proper restrooms - which is nice. There is a "shower" which I won't use again. No offense, but the pressure is worthless, it doesn't drain well and, well, I'd just rather use a car shower this time.

The launch ramp is a semi-steep concrete affair which we drove the gear down each morning, and staged on the cobble stone beach. One of the guides would bring over a boat, we'd load up and take a 25 to 35 minute ride to the dive sites.

We called the boats "Piffs" - they're smaller than Pangas, but larger than Skiffs. They are wood, very solid, very heavy but a little underpowered - with either a 15 or 20 HP outboard. So they putt along.

You do two dives, leaving at 9:00 AM. The Boat guys ("Piffgueros") know the area very well, know the sites very well, but each one was off on the depth by anywhere from 10 to 30 feet!

The sites ranged from beautiful to OMG-are-you-kidding gorgeous. ScottFiji nailed it for me: Macro in the north, wide angle in the south. Boat guys, shop guy - everyone speaks enough English so communication is not a concern.

The fill station / shop is walking distance from the campsite - we'd just leave our tanks on the boat and they'd come back the next morning filled to 3000.

You get back from your dive morning just about 1:00 or 1:30. You could do three dives in a day if you asked (for a little more) but we saw plenty on two. The plan was to come back and return in the afternoon for a shore/scooter dive - but we never seemed to get to it, what with the Siesta, the walk through town or just kicking back in the sun.

Its the ultimate mellow hang. I've never dived and camped before - pretty cool. I'm truly embarrassed, living so close (less than 300 miles) that I've never done this before. The drive down, not too bad. The drive back on a sunday afternoon - hellish. It took HOURS to get home. Maybe 9 or so. It was unreal. I need to leave immediately after the dive on Sunday this time... we dickered around and it cost us.

I didn't get to the Wide Angle stuff, and I should have. For this upcoming trip I'll be shooting W/A in the south, for sure!



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Ken

 

[Rainer]

Diving and camping is fun. We did it twice this summer, once in AZ (Lake Pleasant) and once in ME (Acadia National Park). Look forward to doing La Buffadora on one of my future trips to CA (girlfriend in LA, family in SD; it's bound to happen sooner than later!). Thanks for the report and photos, Ken.

 

[D_B]

Wow .. just wow .. those are beautiful pics

 

[ShakaZulu]

Hmm, not going to make that one, too soon. May go down some time in October, have fun. Can't wait for the pics...