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Liveaboard trip report
07/15/2023 - 7/22/2023 Sea of Cortez with Nautilus Belle Amie
Overall, this was a 6/10 trip for me and my wife as our first liveaboard trip. We had some great snorkeling/diving during the week and met many cool people during the trip. However, some passengers on the boat may have relatively negative experience.
Day 1 (07/15):
Arrive in San Jose del Cabo (SJD). Th original plan was to gather at the dive shop (SeaCreatures) and the company will shuttle us to board Nautilus Belle Amie. However, there was some issue and the company couldn’t get the permit to leave from La Paz, so we end up departing from Cabo marina. This was convenient for us but for some fellow passengers they planned their trips from/to LaPaz and it caused some trouble for them.
Day 2 (07/16):
First day of diving with morning dive as a shake out dive, shallow, close to shore and no current. We had two more dives on the same day (3 dives in total) and they were great, we saw a couple of seals and sea lions, viz was amazing.
Day 3 (07/17):
Since we left from Cabo instead of La Paz, the third day became to be the travel day (we probably missed one day of diving due to this). The crew scheduled some snorkeling, however, we only spotted common dolphins and they are not interested in human interaction. Jumped into water from Zodiac a few times but didn’t get any luck with snorkeling.
Day 4 (07/18):
Whale shark snorkeling day. This is a snorkeling day with whale sharks, epic day, this is our first time seeing whale sharks and it was a lot of fun. The event was well organized and we had a lot of time hanging out with whale sharks.
Day 5 (07/19):
4 dives on the fourth day, tons of sea lions and seals, also big green jack ball and schools of fish. The usual lobster, eel, sea turtle etc. Some corals, but nothing eye-opening. The sunset dive was amazing. The only negative was I didn’t like the DM for our first dive (bad choice of route and we had to swim against current for 20 minutes, he planned the dive to be max 70 ft but we went to 95 ft, so bad planning as well) but we changed to another DM led group afterwards and everything was smooth.
Day 6 (07/20):
3 dives, OK viz, had fun.
Day 7 (07/21):
Last day of diving (three dives). Probably the best viz during the whole trip. My wife and I did two dives and skipped last dive as we were flying back to Texas the next day. I heard the last dive was not worth it either, lots of current and nothing big spotted.
Day 7 (07/22):
Returned back to Marina in the early morning and flew back home in the afternoon.
Positives:
Super friendly and welcoming crew. We had great experience with them and fellow divers on board. Food was great, the standard state room is spacious and our stay was comfortable. My wife is not very experienced, the sea condition was mostly calm and it was a nice playground for her to build confidence and enjoy diving.
Negative:
We stayed in lower deck state rooms so we were not affected, however, the upper deck staterooms’ AC units broke down and many passengers had to suffer the Mexico heat for most of their trip. The crew tried to fix the problem and did get it working by last two days of the trip however, it wasn’t good experience for the passengers who were impacted. The dining room AC unit also broke down, besides some minor issues (coffee machine, ice maker, DVD player). Nothing big for us personally, however, it can be annoying when everything adds up. The company offered each passenger $425 credit as a compensation for the bad experience, which is a nice gesture (we bought two Nautilus lifeline and some wine with the credit, which is score for us two)
The company markets that they have a spotter plane to help find wild animals and is over-marketing the experience in my opinion. (They mentioned large school of modular rays, Orca, sperm Whale etc), however, besides the almost guaranteed whale sharks and sea lions/seals, we didn’t catch any surprises.
Overall:
Water temperature was mostly in low 80s with occasional cold currents (we brought 5mms but 3mm probably is enough) All dives were done in and out of Panga (Zodiac).
I think both of us fell in love with the liveaboard way of travel and is planning to do a Red Sea liveaboard for next summer. However, for more experienced liveaboard travelers, this trip probably is a meh and there are better options. It’s also a new route from the company and from what I Heard the current route design just doesn’t offer as much as build-up classics like Socorro/Golapagas etc.
07/15/2023 - 7/22/2023 Sea of Cortez with Nautilus Belle Amie
Overall, this was a 6/10 trip for me and my wife as our first liveaboard trip. We had some great snorkeling/diving during the week and met many cool people during the trip. However, some passengers on the boat may have relatively negative experience.
Day 1 (07/15):
Arrive in San Jose del Cabo (SJD). Th original plan was to gather at the dive shop (SeaCreatures) and the company will shuttle us to board Nautilus Belle Amie. However, there was some issue and the company couldn’t get the permit to leave from La Paz, so we end up departing from Cabo marina. This was convenient for us but for some fellow passengers they planned their trips from/to LaPaz and it caused some trouble for them.
Day 2 (07/16):
First day of diving with morning dive as a shake out dive, shallow, close to shore and no current. We had two more dives on the same day (3 dives in total) and they were great, we saw a couple of seals and sea lions, viz was amazing.
Day 3 (07/17):
Since we left from Cabo instead of La Paz, the third day became to be the travel day (we probably missed one day of diving due to this). The crew scheduled some snorkeling, however, we only spotted common dolphins and they are not interested in human interaction. Jumped into water from Zodiac a few times but didn’t get any luck with snorkeling.
Day 4 (07/18):
Whale shark snorkeling day. This is a snorkeling day with whale sharks, epic day, this is our first time seeing whale sharks and it was a lot of fun. The event was well organized and we had a lot of time hanging out with whale sharks.
Day 5 (07/19):
4 dives on the fourth day, tons of sea lions and seals, also big green jack ball and schools of fish. The usual lobster, eel, sea turtle etc. Some corals, but nothing eye-opening. The sunset dive was amazing. The only negative was I didn’t like the DM for our first dive (bad choice of route and we had to swim against current for 20 minutes, he planned the dive to be max 70 ft but we went to 95 ft, so bad planning as well) but we changed to another DM led group afterwards and everything was smooth.
Day 6 (07/20):
3 dives, OK viz, had fun.
Day 7 (07/21):
Last day of diving (three dives). Probably the best viz during the whole trip. My wife and I did two dives and skipped last dive as we were flying back to Texas the next day. I heard the last dive was not worth it either, lots of current and nothing big spotted.
Day 7 (07/22):
Returned back to Marina in the early morning and flew back home in the afternoon.
Positives:
Super friendly and welcoming crew. We had great experience with them and fellow divers on board. Food was great, the standard state room is spacious and our stay was comfortable. My wife is not very experienced, the sea condition was mostly calm and it was a nice playground for her to build confidence and enjoy diving.
Negative:
We stayed in lower deck state rooms so we were not affected, however, the upper deck staterooms’ AC units broke down and many passengers had to suffer the Mexico heat for most of their trip. The crew tried to fix the problem and did get it working by last two days of the trip however, it wasn’t good experience for the passengers who were impacted. The dining room AC unit also broke down, besides some minor issues (coffee machine, ice maker, DVD player). Nothing big for us personally, however, it can be annoying when everything adds up. The company offered each passenger $425 credit as a compensation for the bad experience, which is a nice gesture (we bought two Nautilus lifeline and some wine with the credit, which is score for us two)
The company markets that they have a spotter plane to help find wild animals and is over-marketing the experience in my opinion. (They mentioned large school of modular rays, Orca, sperm Whale etc), however, besides the almost guaranteed whale sharks and sea lions/seals, we didn’t catch any surprises.
Overall:
Water temperature was mostly in low 80s with occasional cold currents (we brought 5mms but 3mm probably is enough) All dives were done in and out of Panga (Zodiac).
I think both of us fell in love with the liveaboard way of travel and is planning to do a Red Sea liveaboard for next summer. However, for more experienced liveaboard travelers, this trip probably is a meh and there are better options. It’s also a new route from the company and from what I Heard the current route design just doesn’t offer as much as build-up classics like Socorro/Golapagas etc.
