hypersonic
Contributor
Had intended to re-visit Cozumel but American Airlines had suspended its mid-week flights from DFW. As an alternate, American had 3 daily flights to Cabo San Lucas and in fact Cabo was 30 miles closer than Coz. Had read some good reports about diving Cabo Pulmo and that Sept was a slow month due to the heat. So we took a chance.
Arrived around noon on the 9th, rented a car from Budget and headed for a supermarket for our supplies. From the airport, would suggest taking the toll road towards Cabo San Lucas to shop at the Mega Store at the end of the toll road. It is a 10 minute drive and cost $2.80 one way. The toll takers accept American money.
We bought only breakfast items, bottled water, beer and snacks, should have bought more. Then back to the toll road, past the airport and North on Hiway #1. With the exception of the last 15 miles or so, the roads are good and there was not much traffic. We did see several cops and think it wise to avoid the temptation to speed.
The last 15 miles or so are rough gravel and it makes for some slow going. I would allow 2 hours from the Mega store and you would not be disappointed.
Our accommodations were with Baja Paradise. They appear to have the nicest rentals on the beach and their beach front is quite nice.
We dove with Cabo Pulmo Dive Center, they are the ones with the two story green building. They beach their boats right next to the Baja Paradise property. There are no docks in CP, the boats are launched using a pickup to push them into the water (with you in the boat) and pulled on shore with a tow rope (though the divers exit while the boat is still in the water). Primitive but it works.
One negative, the boarding ladders on the CPDC's boats are terrible. My wife and I are both in our late 60's and we managed, but....
CPDC normally dives at 10 and 2. Because of the heat, we requested a 7 am departure which they were happy to provide. We visited 6 different sites, all were within a 10-12 minutes boat ride. One site was 66 ft, most were 50 ft or less. This made for a short surface interval which was welcome since the boats did not have any shade protection.
Visibility was very good and thanks to a white sandy bottom, everything was very bright underwater. There were lots of fish, a huge school of jacks and large gatherings of balloon and porcupine fish, a few turtles and lobster, one scorpion fish, large groupers plus the usual assortment of butterfly and parrot fish.
The diving was very good. Dining at the restaurants was very good but frankly two Mexican meals per day was a bit too much for my palate. We should have bought food for our lunch at Mega and just did the Mexican thing at night. The restaurant on the second floor of the dive shop was good...Nancy's was good...Cabellereos was good. All were open air and all had an abundance of flies to keep the diners company.
CP does not have that many dive sites and again everything is relatively shallow. If one wanted a short trip, it would be possible to do four dives per day and see most everything in a couple of diving days.
Also for anyone staying overnite at CP, light pollution is non-existent and it is a great place to see the stars. Had just forgotten how many could be seen and even what the milky way looks like.
All-in-all, I would give it a two thumbs up for a leave home Wednesday and return home Sunday dive trip.
Arrived around noon on the 9th, rented a car from Budget and headed for a supermarket for our supplies. From the airport, would suggest taking the toll road towards Cabo San Lucas to shop at the Mega Store at the end of the toll road. It is a 10 minute drive and cost $2.80 one way. The toll takers accept American money.
We bought only breakfast items, bottled water, beer and snacks, should have bought more. Then back to the toll road, past the airport and North on Hiway #1. With the exception of the last 15 miles or so, the roads are good and there was not much traffic. We did see several cops and think it wise to avoid the temptation to speed.
The last 15 miles or so are rough gravel and it makes for some slow going. I would allow 2 hours from the Mega store and you would not be disappointed.
Our accommodations were with Baja Paradise. They appear to have the nicest rentals on the beach and their beach front is quite nice.
We dove with Cabo Pulmo Dive Center, they are the ones with the two story green building. They beach their boats right next to the Baja Paradise property. There are no docks in CP, the boats are launched using a pickup to push them into the water (with you in the boat) and pulled on shore with a tow rope (though the divers exit while the boat is still in the water). Primitive but it works.
One negative, the boarding ladders on the CPDC's boats are terrible. My wife and I are both in our late 60's and we managed, but....
CPDC normally dives at 10 and 2. Because of the heat, we requested a 7 am departure which they were happy to provide. We visited 6 different sites, all were within a 10-12 minutes boat ride. One site was 66 ft, most were 50 ft or less. This made for a short surface interval which was welcome since the boats did not have any shade protection.
Visibility was very good and thanks to a white sandy bottom, everything was very bright underwater. There were lots of fish, a huge school of jacks and large gatherings of balloon and porcupine fish, a few turtles and lobster, one scorpion fish, large groupers plus the usual assortment of butterfly and parrot fish.
The diving was very good. Dining at the restaurants was very good but frankly two Mexican meals per day was a bit too much for my palate. We should have bought food for our lunch at Mega and just did the Mexican thing at night. The restaurant on the second floor of the dive shop was good...Nancy's was good...Cabellereos was good. All were open air and all had an abundance of flies to keep the diners company.
CP does not have that many dive sites and again everything is relatively shallow. If one wanted a short trip, it would be possible to do four dives per day and see most everything in a couple of diving days.
Also for anyone staying overnite at CP, light pollution is non-existent and it is a great place to see the stars. Had just forgotten how many could be seen and even what the milky way looks like.
All-in-all, I would give it a two thumbs up for a leave home Wednesday and return home Sunday dive trip.
