jonhall
Contributor
Let me start by saying the weather in Cabo San Lucas in mid to late January is fantastic if you like high 70's during the day and low 60's at night, sunshine during the day and clear night skies, and no precipitation (practically) guaranteed, although there were a couple of slightly cloudy days.
I wound up only diving 2 days (4 dives) out of the 13 we were there. We used Cabo Adventures as our dive op although they are really an excursion company. Booked the dives at half price on Black Friday. Also liked the fact that they included pickup/dropoff from our resort. We took our own gear except for wetsuits. We used CA's 5mm suits which had a little wear to them, but worked fine. The staff for the actual scuba diving (captain, dm, support crew) were all helpful and assisted divers exiting the water and in changing tanks.
First dives were at Cabo Pulmo about a 2 hour drive from CSL which included stops at Cabo Adventures in San Jose to check in and a photo op stop at a marker located on the Tropic of Cancer. The last 6 miles of the trip are on a bumpy dirt road. Cabo Adv. contracts with one of the small ops in Pulmo and on the day we went, there were only a few (all panga style) boats out in the protected marine park in the Sea of Cortez. On the first dive we were hoping to see bull sharks but struck out. The visibility was no better than 20 ft. and the water 77º F (computer) and calm. Mainly saw some large grouper, puffer fish, tropical fish, and a guitar fish. The second dive, conditions were the same except for showing a cooler water temp of 75º F. This dive was about seeing the large schools, thousands, of Jacks swirling around us. Great to see, but at 54 ft depth in those temps, not moving around too much, it started to get cold. I need to learn the, "I'm bored, let's move to the reef" sign as 40 minutes of the same thing is too long. After the dive, a meal was included back on shore before the trip back to CSL. There were only 4 of us diving. Also on the shuttle to Pulmo were people who were snorkeling. They were separate from us and we never saw them again until we had our meal. They said the snorkeling there was great as I had heard it was.
The last dives we did were in the CSL bay. After a stop to check in at Cabo Adventures on the marina (in CSL) it was a short walk to the boat (they do have a fleet of very nice boats.) The sites we dove were Pelican Rock (by the Arch) and Land's End, probably the most dived and frequented area in the bay. I don't think I'd be wrong in stating that if you dive multiple days in CSL, you'll dive there. We had 2 groups of divers on the boat; ours had 6 divers in it, the other the same. Water conditions were similar to Pulmo: calm water at surface, 20-25 ft. viz, no current except for the surge when swimming through the channel from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific at the Land's End site, but cooler temps at 72º and 74º. Saw a couple of nurse sharks on the bottom, a few flounder, and some tropical fish. Was hoping to see sea lions but only saw them at the surface on the rocks and a few swimming at surface. The sites in this area have all kinds of site seeing boat traffic that the DM will use a SMB when surfacing.
I would say overall that the diving was so-so (in January), but in speaking to some people who dove a few days later in CSL bay, they saw sea lions, rays, and enjoyed the diving. Unfortunately they went to Cabo Pulmo one day and boats weren't going out due to rough waters. I would like to go back in mid November, when I understand the visibility is much better and the water is warmer. Would have done more diving this trip, but my buddy wasn't excited by the previous ones and couldn't see spending the money on low viz dives, so I made the sacrifice to stay at the resort and take advantage of the pool and swim up bar.
There is plenty to do in Cabo San Lucas (a port city) and even more if you stretch out to other cities. We went to La Paz to snorkel with the whale sharks and hit on a great day as we saw about 20. Plenty of water activities day and night are available. Did a 4 hour day sail that wound up including a 10 minute whale watching tour as we rode along parallel to a couple of whales, close up! Site-seeing excursions by way of atv, bike, hike, zipline, horse, and camel are available. Also plenty of shopping is available around the marina and in town. Of course there are an abundance of places to eat at reasonable prices.
Look forward to going back sooner rather than later!
I wound up only diving 2 days (4 dives) out of the 13 we were there. We used Cabo Adventures as our dive op although they are really an excursion company. Booked the dives at half price on Black Friday. Also liked the fact that they included pickup/dropoff from our resort. We took our own gear except for wetsuits. We used CA's 5mm suits which had a little wear to them, but worked fine. The staff for the actual scuba diving (captain, dm, support crew) were all helpful and assisted divers exiting the water and in changing tanks.
First dives were at Cabo Pulmo about a 2 hour drive from CSL which included stops at Cabo Adventures in San Jose to check in and a photo op stop at a marker located on the Tropic of Cancer. The last 6 miles of the trip are on a bumpy dirt road. Cabo Adv. contracts with one of the small ops in Pulmo and on the day we went, there were only a few (all panga style) boats out in the protected marine park in the Sea of Cortez. On the first dive we were hoping to see bull sharks but struck out. The visibility was no better than 20 ft. and the water 77º F (computer) and calm. Mainly saw some large grouper, puffer fish, tropical fish, and a guitar fish. The second dive, conditions were the same except for showing a cooler water temp of 75º F. This dive was about seeing the large schools, thousands, of Jacks swirling around us. Great to see, but at 54 ft depth in those temps, not moving around too much, it started to get cold. I need to learn the, "I'm bored, let's move to the reef" sign as 40 minutes of the same thing is too long. After the dive, a meal was included back on shore before the trip back to CSL. There were only 4 of us diving. Also on the shuttle to Pulmo were people who were snorkeling. They were separate from us and we never saw them again until we had our meal. They said the snorkeling there was great as I had heard it was.
The last dives we did were in the CSL bay. After a stop to check in at Cabo Adventures on the marina (in CSL) it was a short walk to the boat (they do have a fleet of very nice boats.) The sites we dove were Pelican Rock (by the Arch) and Land's End, probably the most dived and frequented area in the bay. I don't think I'd be wrong in stating that if you dive multiple days in CSL, you'll dive there. We had 2 groups of divers on the boat; ours had 6 divers in it, the other the same. Water conditions were similar to Pulmo: calm water at surface, 20-25 ft. viz, no current except for the surge when swimming through the channel from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific at the Land's End site, but cooler temps at 72º and 74º. Saw a couple of nurse sharks on the bottom, a few flounder, and some tropical fish. Was hoping to see sea lions but only saw them at the surface on the rocks and a few swimming at surface. The sites in this area have all kinds of site seeing boat traffic that the DM will use a SMB when surfacing.
I would say overall that the diving was so-so (in January), but in speaking to some people who dove a few days later in CSL bay, they saw sea lions, rays, and enjoyed the diving. Unfortunately they went to Cabo Pulmo one day and boats weren't going out due to rough waters. I would like to go back in mid November, when I understand the visibility is much better and the water is warmer. Would have done more diving this trip, but my buddy wasn't excited by the previous ones and couldn't see spending the money on low viz dives, so I made the sacrifice to stay at the resort and take advantage of the pool and swim up bar.
There is plenty to do in Cabo San Lucas (a port city) and even more if you stretch out to other cities. We went to La Paz to snorkel with the whale sharks and hit on a great day as we saw about 20. Plenty of water activities day and night are available. Did a 4 hour day sail that wound up including a 10 minute whale watching tour as we rode along parallel to a couple of whales, close up! Site-seeing excursions by way of atv, bike, hike, zipline, horse, and camel are available. Also plenty of shopping is available around the marina and in town. Of course there are an abundance of places to eat at reasonable prices.
Look forward to going back sooner rather than later!
