lookig for cabo dive operator recommendation
- Thread starter seamason
- 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
Welcome to the board.
- Messages
- 54,116
- Reaction score
- 8,263
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
Howdy and welcome to SB!
Is that in Mexico? If so, please check that forum and try our Search feature. Complete your Dive Info for better responses.
Good to have you here. Click here to PM me if I can help you get started in our various forums.
:cowboy2: don
Is that in Mexico? If so, please check that forum and try our Search feature. Complete your Dive Info for better responses.
Good to have you here. Click here to PM me if I can help you get started in our various forums.
:cowboy2: don
Moved from Introductions & Greets forum.
Boat Chick
Contributor
We used Amigos Del Mar twice. It was about 5 years ago when Kevin was the manager. Very friendly operation and we had some great dives with them. Most of the diving is deeper as everything starts around 60'. Make sure you go to sand falls and the blow hole if conditions are good. Hope you have a great trip!
bikefox
Guest
I dove with Blue Adventures in Nov. and would give them high marks. Good DM's and a great location.
manitou diver
Contributor
I've been diving with Underwater Diversions the past couple of summers and would recommend them. Usually the operators will take you to Pelican Rock for your first dives as a checkout before going to the other local sites. Not particularly overwhelming as a dive site but you might get lucky and see some yellow sea horses. If you dive out at Neptune's Finger you might get to dive with the sea lions. Very fun but the surge can be strong. If you have the time, I would go to Cabo Pulmo, a two hour drive to the East Cape. Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort and Dive Center does a good job. The themoclines can be pretty exhilerating! So be prepared!!
- Messages
- 5,721
- Reaction score
- 474
Hi Seamason,
Here's an update of a piece it did for my "Dive Workshop" column in "Rodale's Scuba Diving":
Los Cabos is at the far southern tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico, and consists of Cabo San Lucas, the more developed, touristy city commonly referred to as just Cabo, and nearby, the much quieter, colonial San Jose del Cabo. Los Cabos is not dedicated to diving in the way that destinations such as Cozumel and Grand Cayman are. Rather, it attracts visitors who are looking for nice beaches (La Playita to La Ribera), excellent fishing (good chance to hook a marlin), golf (a Jack Nicklaus-designed 27-hole golf course), or heavy partying (dont miss Squid Roe and Latitude 22).
The Diving
This is not Caribbean diving, so dont expect bathtub-warm water, great vis and dense sponges or coral. Do expect diverse fish life, including a broader variety of butterflyfish and surgeonfish than in the Caribbean.
For a shallow and easy warm up dive, try Chileno Beach. Sites include Chileno Reef, a protected finger reef that starts at the beach and extends out about a half mile, and Santa Maria Cove. Somewhat deeper but easy and still close by are Sand Falls and The Abyss, where you can expect to see sea lions. At times, these sites can be crowded, and are popular with novice divers.
The big draws are Cabo Pulmo Marine Park and Gordo Banks, which are for at least moderately experienced divers due to depth and current. Boat rides to these sites are long, and dive operators charge a premium and require advance booking. You can drive to Cabo Pulmo in about two hours, or fly in on Aero California if youve got the bucks. Theres a dive operator thatll pick you at the landing strip and whisk you off for a day of diving. Cabo Pulmo is a national marine park, and is the only true living coral reef in the area. Sites include El Cantil, The Rock, El Bajo and the more advanced abyssal Los Frailes Trench to the south. Theres a chance youll encounter whale sharks and mantas in this region in season. Plan on diving in the 90- to 100-foot range. At Gordo Banks, well off San Jose del Cabo, hammerheads hang out in season, and bull sharks and dolphin can occasionally be sighted. You can easily go to recreational limits and below.
Dive Conditions
January to May is the winter season. Look for air temps ranging between 70F and 80F, water temps between 65F and 75F, and vis between 30 and 60 feet. June to December is summer season, with air temps between 80F and 95F degrees, water temps between 80F and 85F, and vis between 50 and 100 feet.
Dive Operators
Dive ops in Cabo San Lucas include Amigos del Mar (generally my recommendation), Cabo Diving Services, Cabo Acuadeportes and Lands End. You may stay at or dive Cabo Pulmo from the Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort, or go with an independent shop such as Pepe's Dive Center.
Where to Stay
There are plenty of accommodations in a variety of price ranges. Plaza Las Glorias is a nice resort right in town on the marina in Cabo San Lucas. The resort has a ferry to Playa Medano, where it has a hotel beach club. Those preferring to avoid the noise, bustle and incessant time-share sales pitches of downtown Cabo San Lucas will want to stay outside of town at places like the mega-resort Westin, all-suites Solmar, or a personal favorite, the small, intimate and not inexpensive Twin Dolphins."
Have fun.
DocVikingo
Here's an update of a piece it did for my "Dive Workshop" column in "Rodale's Scuba Diving":
Los Cabos is at the far southern tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico, and consists of Cabo San Lucas, the more developed, touristy city commonly referred to as just Cabo, and nearby, the much quieter, colonial San Jose del Cabo. Los Cabos is not dedicated to diving in the way that destinations such as Cozumel and Grand Cayman are. Rather, it attracts visitors who are looking for nice beaches (La Playita to La Ribera), excellent fishing (good chance to hook a marlin), golf (a Jack Nicklaus-designed 27-hole golf course), or heavy partying (dont miss Squid Roe and Latitude 22).
The Diving
This is not Caribbean diving, so dont expect bathtub-warm water, great vis and dense sponges or coral. Do expect diverse fish life, including a broader variety of butterflyfish and surgeonfish than in the Caribbean.
For a shallow and easy warm up dive, try Chileno Beach. Sites include Chileno Reef, a protected finger reef that starts at the beach and extends out about a half mile, and Santa Maria Cove. Somewhat deeper but easy and still close by are Sand Falls and The Abyss, where you can expect to see sea lions. At times, these sites can be crowded, and are popular with novice divers.
The big draws are Cabo Pulmo Marine Park and Gordo Banks, which are for at least moderately experienced divers due to depth and current. Boat rides to these sites are long, and dive operators charge a premium and require advance booking. You can drive to Cabo Pulmo in about two hours, or fly in on Aero California if youve got the bucks. Theres a dive operator thatll pick you at the landing strip and whisk you off for a day of diving. Cabo Pulmo is a national marine park, and is the only true living coral reef in the area. Sites include El Cantil, The Rock, El Bajo and the more advanced abyssal Los Frailes Trench to the south. Theres a chance youll encounter whale sharks and mantas in this region in season. Plan on diving in the 90- to 100-foot range. At Gordo Banks, well off San Jose del Cabo, hammerheads hang out in season, and bull sharks and dolphin can occasionally be sighted. You can easily go to recreational limits and below.
Dive Conditions
January to May is the winter season. Look for air temps ranging between 70F and 80F, water temps between 65F and 75F, and vis between 30 and 60 feet. June to December is summer season, with air temps between 80F and 95F degrees, water temps between 80F and 85F, and vis between 50 and 100 feet.
Dive Operators
Dive ops in Cabo San Lucas include Amigos del Mar (generally my recommendation), Cabo Diving Services, Cabo Acuadeportes and Lands End. You may stay at or dive Cabo Pulmo from the Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort, or go with an independent shop such as Pepe's Dive Center.
Where to Stay
There are plenty of accommodations in a variety of price ranges. Plaza Las Glorias is a nice resort right in town on the marina in Cabo San Lucas. The resort has a ferry to Playa Medano, where it has a hotel beach club. Those preferring to avoid the noise, bustle and incessant time-share sales pitches of downtown Cabo San Lucas will want to stay outside of town at places like the mega-resort Westin, all-suites Solmar, or a personal favorite, the small, intimate and not inexpensive Twin Dolphins."
Have fun.
DocVikingo
JustinW
Contributor
I will also reccomend Underwater Diversions. Groups are small, if you are an experienced diver you will get an experienced dive. Only dive op on Cabo that i've seen that has DM's that are fit and don't smoke. On special arrangements with Underwater Diversions I did a more advanced dive than the rest of the divers on the boat, just myself and a local guy that happened to come for some fun diving of his own. We dove from lands end to neptunes finger. One of the most fun dives I've done. Saw life that I wouldn't have seen otherwise on a more typical dive format. Underwater Diversions is American owned and managed. Dustin is a gringo and he runs the shop. IMO, the most professional dive op in CSL. Two thumbs up!
Similar threads
