Possible short trip to Cabo San Lucas 7th Nov - 11 Nov

[FreeFlyFreak]

Kinda rambling post, thinking out loud.

So I just found out my Dive Buddy GF will going to Cabo San Lucas, arriving afternoon 7th Nov, leaving early 11th Nov.
So I am thinking about going down there to get a few dives in with her.
That would leave only Fri 8th and or Sat 9th to dive, Sun SI before flying out Mon.

Sounds like most people like Manta Dive as an op, but also open to other suggestions.
Being that we'll only be able to dive 2 days max, I might just rent gear down there rather than lugging everything with me for such a short duration.

I don't want to do Gordo due to depth.
I'd love to do Cabo Pulmo, but a) not much notice it may be unavailable, plus we don't have transportation and I'm not sure I would like the 4 hr round trip van ride....

So that leaves:
Cabo reserve.
Local.
The corridor.
Maybe a night dive?

We have never been diving there so looking for any advice/suggestions.

 

[scubadada]

I dived there May 22-23 before going out with Nautilus. The Cabo Dive Center at the Tesoro Hotel was a fine operation. The diving in the reserve was mediocre, conditions did not allow us to get out to the corridor or to Gordo Banks.

 

[horn34]

Kinda rambling post, thinking out loud.

So I just found out my Dive Buddy GF will going to Cabo San Lucas, arriving afternoon 7th Nov, leaving early 11th Nov.
So I am thinking about going down there to get a few dives in with her.
That would leave only Fri 8th and or Sat 9th to dive, Sun SI before flying out Mon.

Sounds like most people like Manta Dive as an op, but also open to other suggestions.
Being that we'll only be able to dive 2 days max, I might just rent gear down there rather than lugging everything with me for such a short duration.

I don't want to do Gordo due to depth.
I'd love to do Cabo Pulmo, but a) not much notice it may be unavailable, plus we don't have transportation and I'm not sure I would like the 4 hr round trip van ride....

So that leaves:
Cabo reserve.
Local.
The corridor.
Maybe a night dive?

We have never been diving there so looking for any advice/suggestions.

I just spent a couple of weeks putting together our Cabo Pulmo trip for Nov.20. Your dates are still somewhat low season, so it's really doable.

The drive is 90 minutes one way and you can get a VW Gol from Cactus for around $40/day.

There are a ton of airbnbs open for your dates and I've got several dive rec contacts if you're interested. Our dive op said the site reservals reset on Fridays, so you'd be coming in at the right time too.

Cheers

 

[FreeFlyFreak]

I just spent a couple of weeks putting together our Cabo Pulmo trip for Nov.20. Your dates are still somewhat low season, so it's really doable.

The drive is 90 minutes one way and you can get a VW Gol from Cactus for around $40/day.

There are a ton of airbnbs open for your dates and I've got several dive rec contacts if you're interested. Our dive op said the site reservals reset on Fridays, so you'd be coming in at the right time too.

Cheers

My GF is there through work and will have an all inclusive hotel provided, so we intend to stay there, wherever there is. Likely close to Cabo San Lucas.

 

[UTscuba]

I've dove there a few times, I'm a big fan of Manta, not so much of Dive Cabo (aka East Cape Explorers in San Jose)

I went into a little more detail on a prior post:

Washington doctor and son drown - Cabo, Mexico

but I'll second the proposal to rent a car and drive up to Cabo Pulmo. It's 90 mins if you push it from Cabo, and there's a bunch of rental places both in Cabo and at the airport. Usually slower getting back because you'll hit traffic at San Jose. Not worth spending the time/money on either a van ride, or a boat from Cabo. If you have a rental car it's also possible to go up to La Paz to snorkel with Whale Sharks.

In Cabo Pulmo I dove with Cabo Pulmo Divers, but they're all fine up there and I wouldn't have a problem diving with any of the companies. You can call ahead and book, but usually able to show up and dive that day too.

edit: just saw your schedule, you could do Sun snorkeling in La Paz with the whale sharks for your SI day

 

[ibj40]

We've been to Cabo San Lucas twice, diving both times with Manta, both times in November due to the more favorable water temperatures at that time of year (you picked the right time of year).

On our last trip we went with Manta to Cabo Pulmo. They had a van that hauled all our gear, I think there were six divers.

Not sure what day we went, but our dive guide told us that for the next day some of the sites had met their quota and would not be dived.

Would highly recommend Manta, and you should also look into diving either the Corridor or Land's End. We did La Paz on our first trip, but it is an all day, come home late kind of a trip (and you should be able to see Sea Lions at Land's End).

 

[FreeFlyFreak]

I emailed Manta, they currently have availability both days we plan to dive 8th and 9th.
Either 3 tank combo, park and corridor.
Or 2 tank Local Marine Park or Corridor.
As I am traveling Airline Employee Standby, I don't want to book any diving in advance, in case I don't make it in time and lose the $$
They offer booking online, so I'm just going to see what is available when I get there and book it online.

Hoping for the best.

 

[UTscuba]

I emailed Manta, they currently have availability both days we plan to dive 8th and 9th.
Either 3 tank combo, park and corridor.
Or 2 tank Local Marine Park or Corridor.
As I am traveling Airline Employee Standby, I don't want to book any diving in advance, in case I don't make it in time and lose the $$
They offer booking online, so I'm just going to see what is available when I get there and book it online.

Hoping for the best.

they're pretty laid back, the morning boats leave at 8:30ish in the morning and the shop doesn't open much before that, but if you show up with a cert and they have the space then you can usually get on for an afternoon dive.

It's worth just going into the shop when you get to Cabo and making a plan with them directly. They have staff (hola Becky) who stay in the shop all day from 8-4pm dealing with clients and bookings so there's always someone there to talk to. To find it, go to the marina, walk around the right hand (when you're looking at the water) side past almost to the end, past the aquarium, and they're a block away from the main marina stores. You can see the red and white dive flag as you get close. If you can't find it, ask anyone and they should be able to point you towards it. (There is another smaller dive company directly in front of them that's often closed - not dove with them, but they were v helpful and seem nice and have a good rep around town.)

The schedule can change from what's posted online, if they have more bookings they'll put on another boat, if they have none then they'll cancel.