Rocky Point

[wgw04024]

Hi, My brother lives in PHoenix and goes to Rocky Point once a year or so. I'm thinking of renting a large house down there, and birnging some other family members. Three of us dive here in Maine and the Florida. My question is.... 1. What kind of diving is around Rocky Point? 2. What is there to see? 3. Is there a better time of year to go? I'm not a huge heat fan, so we would like to go when the weather is mild but not HOT. I don't know how my bro lives in phoenix all these years..... :cool2:

Thanks for any suggestions,
Bill-Maine

 

[diversteve]

It really depends on when. Rocky Point is just about the furthest point north in the Sea of Cortez and there's a large tidal exchange. It's very shallow and very flat. Also a lot of flat sandy beaches. So visibility right off the beach can be pretty bad. Spring/Summer algal blooms can reduce that significantly. There's a big temperature swing also - from the high 50's in winter to mid-80's in late summer/fall.

The better diving there is off Bird Island - a short ride out. They do it as a day trip or there's at least one weekend liveaboard also IIRC. There's a seal colony there also. Interesting things you typically see in that area are nudibranchs, octos, Cortez Angelfish, puffers, very occasionally dolphins. It's a rocky substrate so most of the coral is pretty flat.

We dive at San Carlos slightly farther south. The Sea of Cortez stays warm later - I've been diving mid-October in a t-shirt. But was cold in the shadows.

This I believe is the only full service shop there: Rocky Point Dive - Puerto Penasco Dive: Sun N Fun Dive Center in Rocky Point - Puerto Penasco Dive Center There's also a couple of private guides with boats that can provide tanks. Here's one: Rocky Point Scuba Dive - Diving in Puerto Penasco

Also - if it's of interest - Rocio Del Mar leaves from there July-Sept. It's as nice as it looks. Rocio Del Mar Liveaboard - Midriff Islands

Places like LaPaz and Loreto are much better diving. Not exactly a drive from Phoenix if that's your plan.

 

[wgw04024]

Wow now that looks like a Boat!

 

[diversteve]

Rocio is a nice boat. My buddy was on it a year ago - the Midriff trip. They saw a bunch of sea lions. Missed the Humpbacks though by about a week. It was built about 6-8 years ago purposely as a dive liveaboard - not converted from something else. I know the owner in passing. One nice thing about that trip is you fly into Phoenix and get on their private shuttle to Rocky Point which drops you right at the boat.

 

[AZTinman]

Hi Bill,

Steve gave you a pretty good summary of diving at Rocky Point. Tidal flows are significant so current can pose a major challenge.

Isla San Jorge (Bird Island) is usually where most of the diving is done in the area. The ride out on the Sun N Fun dive boat typically takes an hour to an hour and a half depending on conditions. Sea lions are the major draw to diving the island. There are literally hundreds of them. Of course, one of the drawbacks to that many sea lions is an absence of any fish of any size. This said, diving with that many sea lions can be pretty cool.

Ownership of the Sun N Fun Dive Shop operation changed sometime this spring. Dave, the former owner ran a great operation. I've not met the new owner yet. When I was down there a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't diving, but dropped by the shop in an effort to catch the new owner. The owner was actually out at the island with a group of divers on the day I dropped by.

For about a month every spring, large numbers of Spanish Shawl Nudibranchs appear in the waters around Isla San Jorge.

Last year, a 16' Great White (named Kimel by the researchers who tagged her) summered in the warm waters just off the coast of Rocky Point. Other than watching her via satellite tracking, I've not ran into anyone who actually saw her. I assume she spent her time incubating a pup and munching a few sea lions from time to time.

While it's a longer drive from Phoenix than Rocky Point, you might want to consider driving to San Carlos, Sonora. The diving in San Carlos provides much more diversity than you'll find in Rocky Point. Vacation rental properties are abundant. There are a couple of excellent dive ops which run very good boats. In the fall, I've had days of 100'+ visibility in 85 degree water. The drive down there is easy and the toll road is pretty nice.

-AZTinman

 

[diversteve]

+1 for San Carlos - there's a sea lion colony on San Pedro there also. Most of the boats go there.

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico lists most of what you need.

El Mar is one option from Phoenix. (Mesa) A couple times a year they charter a bus for the trip - usually it's just a car caravan. El Mar Diving Center, Your San Carlos Mexico Scuba Diving Center The drive is around 7+hrs. depending on the border crossing.

 

[AZTinman]

I just rented a nice condo in San Carlos for a family trip we're doing in July. We'll be using El Mar's boat op for a couple of days during the trip.

San Carlos isn't 'resorty' (is that really a word?) like Rocky Point. The main draws to San Carlos are sport fishing and diving. As stated in my earlier post, much greater sea life diversity is present at San Carlos than Rocky Point. The town also has a nice selection of decent restaurants.

The ride down to San Carlos from my house takes about six hours. Of course, that requires rather liberal interpretation of Mexican speed limit signs. Crossing into Mexico is usually pretty quick. Returning to the US takes longer because of US Customs. Just remember to remove your sunglasses if any of the Mexican military, federal or local police guys decide to visit with you at check points.

-AZTinman

 

[Bubbles below]

I haven't had the pleasure of diving w Sun and Fun in Rocky Point. Everytime I'm there they don't have enough divers to go on the boat, so you have to check on them daily.

Desert Divers out of Tucson also does caravan trip to San Carlos. There's several instructors that will guide a dive if you want to follow them. They usually stay at Marinaterra and their boat is Ocean Spirits. Also, No Limits Scuba in Chandler does a trip to San Carlos and transportation/some meals are included in their package. They stay in a house w unlimited shore dives. They used Ocean Spirits boat. Their instructors leads the dive if you want to follow them. Gary's Dive Shop is in San Carlos. Their boat is old, but their crew are good. You can request for a guide $ or not and includes lunch.

El Mar in Mesa does caravan and bus trips to San Carlos and stay at Best Western motel . They also have a shop in San Carlos. I usually stay at Sea of Cortez and booked my dive w El Mar San Carlos on the Piesquieta. You can ask to have a guide or not. I usually don't go on their caravan trip w El Mar from Mesa. On several occasions they told us to venture on our own. We're new to diving and even got certified by them. Maybe, it would be different if my instructors did the caravan trip. MOST of the San Carlos dive boats will take you out w only 2 divers for local dives, except for Gary's.

Next time I'm in Rocky Point, I will post my dates and maybe we will have enough divers to go out to the Island.
Happy diving!

 

[AZTinman]

FYI... Desert Divers out of Tucson often uses the Best Western as their base hotel accommodations for the San Carlos Dive Trips they organize. The shop will upgrade accommodations to the Marinatierra for additional cost.

Another option in Rocky Point and San Carlos is to book accommodations via HomeAway: Vacation Rentals, Beach Houses, Cabins & More . I booked an extremely nice condo in San Carlos back in July through Home Away.

I've had good experiences with both El Mar Dive Center and Ocean Sports in San Carlos. Both shops run good boats and good ops. One advantage of using El Mar Dive Center is that they require fewer minimum numbers of divers to make the trip out to Isla San Pedro. El Mar will make the trip with a minimum of six divers. Ocean Sports requires more divers to make the trip.

Desert Divers usually does San Carlos trips a couple of times a month. They usually staff their trips with several instructors and/dive cons who are extremely familiar with area dive sites.

-AZTinman

 

[jake11]

We live in Arizona and have been to San Carlos many times! Pretty good diving and a fairly short drive from Phoenix. Lots of good places to eat! Have fun!