Question Sea of Cortez, Magdalena Bay suggestions prior to Socorro Islands liveaboard JAN 26

[Mooseanator]

Hey fellow boardies.

I am privileged enough to do a Soccoro Islands liveaboard in end of January however, I do have some time (anywhere from a couples of days to a week) to land early in Cabo San Lucas and get back in my scubadiving shape before! From what I'm reading these areas have the potential to be good spots to hit before my trip:

- La Paz (sea lions in Los Islotes seem fun but don't know if January is a good time to dive)

- Cabo Pulmo (bullsharks, schools of fish)

- Mag Bay (don't know if its just to do whalewatching, seems to be the grey whale season or you can actually dive this area without being on a liveaboard. Also, season might be wrong)

Any input or suggestions if you had some time before a liveaboard trip, which spot or spots would you hit? Thank you for the information. Thinking about renting a car out from the aiport go on a little road trip!

Live and let liveaboard!

 

[profmason]

Options:
0. Mag Bay 5+ hour drive. wrong season for bait ball. No.
1. CSL Local diving. Local diving is meh. If you haven't been in the water in a while, the local cabo diving is comfortable. Depending on what boat you are doing you will go out of either east cape or Cabo San Lucas. East cape is less crowded, unremarkable divesites with 35ft of vis. CSL has an easy day arranged with your liveaboard op to neptune's finger and the sand falls. Vis is 35ft and there are a lot of tourist boats humming around taking folks out to see the arch. You can arrange a trip out to gordo banks, but I don't think this is worth it given you are headed out to Socorro. It is a single pinnacle which you will drop down to for a few minutes before hitting your NDL.
2. Cabo Pulmo. If you want to get in a 3-5 days early, Cabo pulmo is a 2 hour trip to much better diving. I enjoy getting a driver there and staying for 3-4 nights for 2-3 days of diving. Conditions improve dramatically. Visibility 60ft ++ Big bait ball, sharks, the marine preserve and local preservation efforts are MARKEDLY different then the extract maximum money vibe of Cabo. There are no resorts and no air conditioning (fine in January) it is a laid back diving town with old toyota trucks pulling boats out of the water. Very chill diving in the bay and a nice contrast to the socorro trip.
3. La Paz. Better diving then Cabo. Sea lion pups will be about 6 months and January is a good time to visit. La Paz has hotels and more non diving options. Conditions will be less sporty / warmer then capo pulmo. My preference is to do a sea of cortez live aboard that leaves from east cape and hits all the non cabo pulmo sites up the sea of cortez. La Paz has not had the conservation efforts that have been focused on Cabo Pulmo. La Paz is in the middle with pretty good diving and a pretty nice town.


My top picks.
1. fly in the morning of your trip and get on the boat to Socorro. Socorro is amazing!
2. Arrive 5 days early and go to cabo pulmo.


Renting a car: Driving in mexico is no problem. For going to Cabo Pulmo, I just arrange a driver through the dive shop at Cabo Pulmo, and Cabo Pulmo is to small a town for driving.