I finally got the gumption to cross an item off my bucket list by learning scuba diving. Took my academic and pool training from Aquatic Sports in my city (Portland OR). I started off with my wife but she ended up dropping out (nothing bad, she just wasn't into it). We had been planning to do our certification dives in Hoods Canal in Washington, but since it was just me I thought I'd start out somewhere fun and warm, and given the limited number of such places with direct flights from Portland, Cabo won out almost by default! I asked Jeff from Aquatic Sports if he could recommend a dive shop there and he mentioned See Creatures.
Planning and Travel
See Creatures was very responsive and helpful in getting everything arranged. Because there were storms/hurricanes to contend with, Armando helped me choose travel dates to maximize my changes of a good experience. I had to reschedule twice due to weather conditions, so I'm very glad I chose refunable tickets. The direct flight from Portland is about 3.5 hours, it probably would have been doable to fly in the morning and dive in the afternoon but I wanted to be sure that I was well rested/hydrated etc. for my first ocean dive so I scheduled four days.
Hotel - Casa Bella
Casa Bella is a beautiful villa style accommodation, and Barbara was an excellent host (she put up with my terrible Spanish). She helped me with some local directions and food recommendations, in particular where I could get breakfast before my 8 AM dives - very few places in town are open that early! In addition to the rooms there is a very nice secluded courtyard with a garden and pool (which I did not use). As a bonus, they let me check out quite late (2 PM) on my fly-home day. I'd stay there again and would recommend it to anyone, particularly for the convenience to See Creatures two doors away on the same block.
Cabo San Lucas
I didn't really know what to expect. I knew the Kardashians vacationed there (don't ask me how) so I figured it was safe enough and there'd be things to do, but I was not expecting the level of "Spring Breakers" vibe...I think there were three strip clubs, half a dozen massage parlors, and an uncountable number of watering holes within four blocks of my hotel. Discount pharmacies every half block or so. Maybe that's par for the course in tourisy parts of Mexico, I really have no idea. I was glad to have my hotel to relax in. On Friday night there was an awesome art fair in the park across the street from my hotel.
See Creatures
Shortly after I arrived I went next door to see the shop. I met Armando in person, and found he speaks English with near-native fluency. He explained their process to me, that most of their students do a one-day pool class prior to their dives but since I was a referral we'd just do four dives at a site called Pellican Rock. He collected my referral paperwork and I chose some equipment and paid for the dives. I found the shop to be clean and well run, with new-looking equipment that was obviously well maintained. It was clear that Armando was proud of his business and wanted to make sure I had a good and also safe experience.
Diving - Day 1
For my first day of diving I was in the care of dive instructor Adrianna. I was joined by a couple from Maryland, one of whom was completing the second day of her certification. the other was already certified and just coming along. We took a boat to Pelican Rock. Both dives started in a relatively shallow sandy area where Adrianna had me repeat a lot of the same water skills that I did in your pool, then we went around the rock. I felt very well prepared, thank you Aquatic Sports!
Pelican Rock is right next to a very popular beach and is also the main snorkeling location near the marina, so it was very crowded and there was a lot of noise from boats. I still enjoyed the dives very much and saw a lot of sea life, but I gather it has something of a mixed reputation among divers. See Creatures apparently always insists on Pelican Rock as the first dive with people they haven't hosted before (it's considered the least challenging location), which some divers have complained about on TripAdvisor and elsewhere. It didn't lessen my experience, just FYI. In terms of conditions, the water was fairly warm at 27C/79F and I could see what was going on around me but not super-clear like some of the videos I've seen from Cozumel or Isla Mujeres. Lots of colorful fish - Angelfish, Flounder, Damselfish and Moray Eels that I recognized, lots of others. Floor was granite and sand. I was very comfortable in my 3mm wetsuit and dive boots (no hood). Dives were both 30-40 minutes. I did not get cold or tired and could have stayed in the water longer.
Diving - Day 2
Friday's dives were delayed because Adrianna called in sick and Armando had to scramble to find a replacement. It was Mexican Independence Day (which I had not realized ahead of time), which I'm sure made it harder but he really wanted to honor my reservation which I appreciated. Eventually he located one, and about two hours after the scheduled departure I set off again to Pelican Rock, this time just me in the company of Brandon, an expat dive instructor from Florida. I was a little bit unsure about the last minute replacement but during our conversation, and especially the dive briefing and equipment check it became quite clear that Brandon knew exactly what he was doing. Once we got in the water his expertise was even more clear; I had no trouble staying with him and following his instructions as we completed the remaining skill test drills.
This time we had Pelican Rock almost to ourselves due to the holiday. After completing the remaining water skills we took another pass around Pelican rock and went a bit further into an underwater canyon this time, saw a large "sand waterfall". After we completed this dive, Brandon suggested we try another spot for the second dive. I told him I'd try whatever he recommended, and after some discussion with the captain we headed out a bit further to a rock called Land's End.
Land's End is a rock at the very end of the bay and again we were the only divers there, which Brandon said is very rare. During the dive we saw a lot of the same fish as on the earlier dives, plus a few sea lions and several large sea turtles. We swam about 30 feet south of the rock to a shipwreck, which I believe is the Lundenberg. Brandon took some video, here's a bit of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPRlCwAQ2VI. Compared to Pelican Rock the water was a bit cooler and the current was quite a bit stronger; this time I felt a bit tired when we got back to the boat. But hey, I got my OW Cert!
Summary
Obviously I don't have any real basis for comparison, but I had a great time diving in Cabo San Lucas. Late summer is best for water temperature but it's also a time of year when a lot of storm systems hit the area so either have flexible travel plans or stay for a few extra days if you want to give yourself the best chance of good conditions. And I have no hesitation about recommending Casa Bella for accommodation, See Creatures to dive with, or Aquatic Sports in Portland for the pool/academic part.
Most of all, thanks to my wife for letting me do something kind of self-indulgent while she took care of the kids
Planning and Travel
See Creatures was very responsive and helpful in getting everything arranged. Because there were storms/hurricanes to contend with, Armando helped me choose travel dates to maximize my changes of a good experience. I had to reschedule twice due to weather conditions, so I'm very glad I chose refunable tickets. The direct flight from Portland is about 3.5 hours, it probably would have been doable to fly in the morning and dive in the afternoon but I wanted to be sure that I was well rested/hydrated etc. for my first ocean dive so I scheduled four days.
Hotel - Casa Bella
Casa Bella is a beautiful villa style accommodation, and Barbara was an excellent host (she put up with my terrible Spanish). She helped me with some local directions and food recommendations, in particular where I could get breakfast before my 8 AM dives - very few places in town are open that early! In addition to the rooms there is a very nice secluded courtyard with a garden and pool (which I did not use). As a bonus, they let me check out quite late (2 PM) on my fly-home day. I'd stay there again and would recommend it to anyone, particularly for the convenience to See Creatures two doors away on the same block.
Cabo San Lucas
I didn't really know what to expect. I knew the Kardashians vacationed there (don't ask me how) so I figured it was safe enough and there'd be things to do, but I was not expecting the level of "Spring Breakers" vibe...I think there were three strip clubs, half a dozen massage parlors, and an uncountable number of watering holes within four blocks of my hotel. Discount pharmacies every half block or so. Maybe that's par for the course in tourisy parts of Mexico, I really have no idea. I was glad to have my hotel to relax in. On Friday night there was an awesome art fair in the park across the street from my hotel.
See Creatures
Shortly after I arrived I went next door to see the shop. I met Armando in person, and found he speaks English with near-native fluency. He explained their process to me, that most of their students do a one-day pool class prior to their dives but since I was a referral we'd just do four dives at a site called Pellican Rock. He collected my referral paperwork and I chose some equipment and paid for the dives. I found the shop to be clean and well run, with new-looking equipment that was obviously well maintained. It was clear that Armando was proud of his business and wanted to make sure I had a good and also safe experience.
Diving - Day 1
For my first day of diving I was in the care of dive instructor Adrianna. I was joined by a couple from Maryland, one of whom was completing the second day of her certification. the other was already certified and just coming along. We took a boat to Pelican Rock. Both dives started in a relatively shallow sandy area where Adrianna had me repeat a lot of the same water skills that I did in your pool, then we went around the rock. I felt very well prepared, thank you Aquatic Sports!
Pelican Rock is right next to a very popular beach and is also the main snorkeling location near the marina, so it was very crowded and there was a lot of noise from boats. I still enjoyed the dives very much and saw a lot of sea life, but I gather it has something of a mixed reputation among divers. See Creatures apparently always insists on Pelican Rock as the first dive with people they haven't hosted before (it's considered the least challenging location), which some divers have complained about on TripAdvisor and elsewhere. It didn't lessen my experience, just FYI. In terms of conditions, the water was fairly warm at 27C/79F and I could see what was going on around me but not super-clear like some of the videos I've seen from Cozumel or Isla Mujeres. Lots of colorful fish - Angelfish, Flounder, Damselfish and Moray Eels that I recognized, lots of others. Floor was granite and sand. I was very comfortable in my 3mm wetsuit and dive boots (no hood). Dives were both 30-40 minutes. I did not get cold or tired and could have stayed in the water longer.
Diving - Day 2
Friday's dives were delayed because Adrianna called in sick and Armando had to scramble to find a replacement. It was Mexican Independence Day (which I had not realized ahead of time), which I'm sure made it harder but he really wanted to honor my reservation which I appreciated. Eventually he located one, and about two hours after the scheduled departure I set off again to Pelican Rock, this time just me in the company of Brandon, an expat dive instructor from Florida. I was a little bit unsure about the last minute replacement but during our conversation, and especially the dive briefing and equipment check it became quite clear that Brandon knew exactly what he was doing. Once we got in the water his expertise was even more clear; I had no trouble staying with him and following his instructions as we completed the remaining skill test drills.
This time we had Pelican Rock almost to ourselves due to the holiday. After completing the remaining water skills we took another pass around Pelican rock and went a bit further into an underwater canyon this time, saw a large "sand waterfall". After we completed this dive, Brandon suggested we try another spot for the second dive. I told him I'd try whatever he recommended, and after some discussion with the captain we headed out a bit further to a rock called Land's End.
Land's End is a rock at the very end of the bay and again we were the only divers there, which Brandon said is very rare. During the dive we saw a lot of the same fish as on the earlier dives, plus a few sea lions and several large sea turtles. We swam about 30 feet south of the rock to a shipwreck, which I believe is the Lundenberg. Brandon took some video, here's a bit of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPRlCwAQ2VI. Compared to Pelican Rock the water was a bit cooler and the current was quite a bit stronger; this time I felt a bit tired when we got back to the boat. But hey, I got my OW Cert!
Summary
Obviously I don't have any real basis for comparison, but I had a great time diving in Cabo San Lucas. Late summer is best for water temperature but it's also a time of year when a lot of storm systems hit the area so either have flexible travel plans or stay for a few extra days if you want to give yourself the best chance of good conditions. And I have no hesitation about recommending Casa Bella for accommodation, See Creatures to dive with, or Aquatic Sports in Portland for the pool/academic part.
Most of all, thanks to my wife for letting me do something kind of self-indulgent while she took care of the kids
