La Paz after Hurricane Odile?

[chavala]

AZ, We were actually looking at staying out at The Hyatt Place, which I believe is by the ferry docks, (The Ferry to Mazatlan, right?).. AND same dock where the boat leaves from?
Not the sort of place we'd normally stay in La Paz, but I have some free night coupons expiring, not to mention a secure, clean, entire suite with free parking to not worry about expensive camera gear when we're out for dinner. (Although I know we'll get ripped off taking a taxi back from the town center late at night).
But if it is next to where the boats leave you have made our decision much easier!
Thanks for the advice!

 

[AZTinman]

Okay, the Hyatt isn't at the Ferry Terminal. It's actually in between downtown and the Terminal. I can't give you exact mileage, but it's a tad closer to the Terminal than downtown rather than being located at the halfway point. This said, it's close to the halfway point.

You might want to check with the dive op you're using to see if they'll do shuttle you for diving. The taxi stuff shouldn't kill you if the hotel doesn't have a shuttle service to get you to town.

If you're diving from the Club Cantamar docks, there are gear rinse stations and dive lockers (chain link cages w. gear hangers) right beside the docks. You have to supply your own padlock.

-AZTinman

 

[Brandon]

Hyatt Place is at the Costa Baja complex - some of the dive ops will pick up at the Costa Baja dock; but it's not exactly easy to get to from Hyatt Place as it's on the other side of the harbor. There may be a shuttle. I'm not sure.

For dive ops, I'd heartily recommend the Cortez Club - they're about a mile south at the La Concha resort and I dove with them for three weeks in November. Had a blast - they're great at catering to experienced divers; will split the groups/boats based on experience, and they're good at taking requests for specific dive sites, especially if you've been diving with them for a couple of days already. Dove with plenty of divers who were staying at Costa Baja, and the Cortez Club was great about making arrangements for pickup/dropoff. Get the smoked marlin burritos for lunch. MmMmMMmmmm. They'll also store/rinse your gear for you, and there's a pretty damn good bar right at their dock.

Buceo Carey also looks like they put on a good show and I've been next to their boats/crew at dive sites, but I haven't dove with them personally.

The Club Cantamar cattle boats? Ugh. No.

 

[AZTinman]

Club Cantamar cattle boats? We only had the divers in our group plus a couple of add-on guys... one from Germany and another from Portugal. I've no doubt that experiences vary and our experience must have been different from yours (Brandon).

Cantamar boats are old, but the boats are big. Personally, given the rough sea conditions we had for a couple of our dive days, I'm glad we had a big boat. Also, there was no shortage of space to spread out and work on photo gear.

The DM did a nice job of grouping divers by ability level. I usually end up doing the solo thing because I'm shooting pics; they were okay with that.

I've heard good things about the Cortez Club. The La Concha Resort is a much nicer place than Club Cantamar.

Free night's at the Hyatt Place... hard to beat that kind of deal... definitely worth a shuttle ride.

La Paz was really fun. I did well on photos ( www.cortezbluephotography.com ). Regardless of the dive op you choose, you'll probably have a great experience. I really was consumed with diving and photography work; my wife would've liked to spend a little more time in town than we did.

-AZTinman

 

[chavala]

I am fairly consumed with diving and photography stuff too ; )
I think I finally figured out where everything is, except I'm confused about the ferry. Google maps shows 2 locations; one way up north (where I now see Club Cantamar's Condo location) and another right behind The Hyatt Place. Is one for cars and one passengers or something?
Thanks both of you for the advice. Looks like both shops have their advantages. I'm all for a big boat, but not if its filled with newbie divers who demand we go to easy shallow sites.
Last time I was there I had no idea where I was and left the choice of dive sites to others. This time I think I'll be much more aggressive and demanding. I certainly do NOT want to have to follow a dive guide and a "group" around, and having to come up when the first person gets low on air....

We're not going until December so plenty of time to decide. I know, so early to plan! But we just booked The Nautilus Explorer and airline tickets, so wanted to firm up where we're staying before-hand. I was looking at a couple days in Cabo Pulmo, but don't like all the restrictions I'm reading about. (snorkellers have to wear life vests, dive time limited to 45 minutes???).
I will probably have lots more questions before we leave!

 

[Brandon]

The ferry is at Pichilingue, about 15km north of Hyatt Place and almost next door to Club Cantamar.

What you're seeing on the map by the Hyatt Place is mislabeled - that's the Costa Baja harbormaster's office and fuel dock.