general Q about diving in Baja
- Thread starter tulereed
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
squarepants
Guest
This should get you there, but if not, just do a search on this board and enter Baja into the search field. Look for a post titled "does anyone dive Baja?". Good luck!
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31608&highlight=baja
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31608&highlight=baja
saltyoceangirl
Guest
If you get up to the La Paz area (about an hour and a hlf/ two hours North of Cabo) some must dive spota are: Los Islotes, a sea lion colony great for both diving and snorkelling. Playful sea lion pups in the fall! Also check out El Bajo- look for hammerheads! And another fav spot is La Reina- an amazing dive with giant mantas! All of these spots are going to be best for vis and water temp in the late summer/ early fall. Later on in the winter expect colder greener water. Closer to Cabo, check out Cabo Pulmo, the biggest coral reef in the area. Good luck!
SeaFlea
Contributor
Take note, if you are used to Caribbean diving you might be disappointed in Baja diving. We did La Paz last year and I found: the boat rides very long, the water cold, no living reef, and nearly twice as expensive per dive as Cozumel. I won't be hauling my gear that way again.
my 2cents.
my 2cents.
deepdiver55
New
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
I did 2 dives in Cabo this last June it was about 69 degrees with little to see. I also did 2 dives at Cabo Pulmo (about an hour north of Cabo) and it was ok not great, but I would go again.
Kat
Contributor
If your going to Cabo for a diving vacation, there are much better choices. If you are going to Cabo f/ topside activities & plan on getting in a couple of dives, pack the dive bag.
I was there last month & had a great time. I have dove much worse than Cabo. I did my homework (just like your doing) & it was pretty much as I expected.
Would I go there again? Maybe...but there's so many places I haven't been to yet. I wouldn't go back right away.
I was there last month & had a great time. I have dove much worse than Cabo. I did my homework (just like your doing) & it was pretty much as I expected.
Would I go there again? Maybe...but there's so many places I haven't been to yet. I wouldn't go back right away.
I work in the winters as a marine biologist, UW videographer, and lecturer for Lindblad Expeditions in the Gulf of California (Cortez is a bad word in Mexico) as well as Belize and Honduras.
Diving there is different from the Caribbean or the kelp forests of my own home. One must learn to take a region for what it is. Personally, I find "differences" interesting. Since there are not reef-building corals throughout most of the Gulf or macroalgae, I spent my first week of diving trying to understand the nature of the food webs there.
Since water temperature and species composition changes seasonally in the Gulf, you will find differences between winter and summer. As a temperate water diver, I found the "warm" winter waters (3mm shortie) welcome compared to the lower 50's of Catalina at that time.
Loreto may be better than La Paz since boat trips to the islands are shorter. However, much of my diving was in the islands between those two towns. I enjoyed Cabo since most species there were more tolerant of human presence and I got good video of normally reclusive ones.
As mentioned, Los Islotes is an interesting dive... both for the sea lions and the diversity of invertebrates (I saw more species of starfish there than any other site I dove). Each site was inttriguing with site-specific differences I found interesting to reflect on.
Approach any new dive environment with an open mind. Don't try to compare it with the others you have dived. Look for what is unique and different in each, try to reflect on how the ecosystem works. I think you can find any new location interesting if you take that view.
Dr. Bill
Diving there is different from the Caribbean or the kelp forests of my own home. One must learn to take a region for what it is. Personally, I find "differences" interesting. Since there are not reef-building corals throughout most of the Gulf or macroalgae, I spent my first week of diving trying to understand the nature of the food webs there.
Since water temperature and species composition changes seasonally in the Gulf, you will find differences between winter and summer. As a temperate water diver, I found the "warm" winter waters (3mm shortie) welcome compared to the lower 50's of Catalina at that time.
Loreto may be better than La Paz since boat trips to the islands are shorter. However, much of my diving was in the islands between those two towns. I enjoyed Cabo since most species there were more tolerant of human presence and I got good video of normally reclusive ones.
As mentioned, Los Islotes is an interesting dive... both for the sea lions and the diversity of invertebrates (I saw more species of starfish there than any other site I dove). Each site was inttriguing with site-specific differences I found interesting to reflect on.
Approach any new dive environment with an open mind. Don't try to compare it with the others you have dived. Look for what is unique and different in each, try to reflect on how the ecosystem works. I think you can find any new location interesting if you take that view.
Dr. Bill
saltyoceangirl
Guest
Very well said, Dr Bill.
Similar threads
