Hi Seth,
I went on a trip with my LDS a couple years ago. One of the most beautiful parts of Mexico that I have seen.
Couple of comments, first I have never seen a more perfect place for classes. The temp is very good, the vis is tremendous, you have enough depth, lots to look at, and it's tough to get lost. One thing that I noticed, and it shows in your photos, is that it seems like God snapped a chalk line and said, 'No plants deeper than this'. The other is that the whole area is still an active caldera.
thanks for the report and hopefully I will get to go back in the future.
I also think it is a fabulous place for learning to dive. Especially for the fact that maintaining proper buoyancy at all times is so crucial lest you sink into the silt on the bottom and destroy visibility working your way out. I think if all OWC students trained in Media Luna, we'd have far fewer divers sitting on reefs or kicking through corals.
Interesting thought about the caldera, I'll have to look into that some.
---------- Post added March 7th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ----------
My 1st thought early in your report was 'Lake? Who flies to Mexico to dive in freshwater, aside from the cenotes?' And far inland, so you wouldn't be doing a reef trip & taking a side day for this?
Looking at your description and photos (some really nice ones; love those cichlid shots), I can see where that's something special.
Some follow up thoughts:
1.) 3 Hour drive after your plane lands? Something to be aware of.
2.) Advised it's not safe enough to justify traveling at night? That would be off-putting to some, not all.
3.) What's the comfort level for people who speak only English, no Spanish, for the trip & places you went? I would imagine it's not as tourist-sized as Cozumel.
Richard.
---------- Post added March 6th, 2015 at 11:37 PM ----------
One more tidbit; there are a number of types of slider; not all are red-eared sliders.
Richard.
1.) As Reefhound said, there are two routes. One is a shorter pass straight down the mountain, dropping from 9,000 ft to 8,000 ft whereas the other is a longer toll-road to the east and then south, bypassing the mountain ridge and dropping more gradually off the central plateau. I probably exaggerated the time a little, it's closer to 2-2:30 hours depending on the speed you drive. Especially on the toll-road, as it is a large open road. The mountain pass is a very narrow two line highway that cuts back and forth up the mountain and, if stuck behind other vehicles, can be extremely slow. On our way to Rioverde we took the tollroad, on our way back we took the mountain pass. I'm glad we did, the changing of habitat and views through the mountains were beautiful and we took our time, stopping and taking pictures, so we didn't mind the slow pace of vehicles. The trip back probably took us 4-5 hours because of the leisure pass we were traveling. Flying into the city of San Luis Potosi is the closest international airport to get to Media Luna, otherwise it's an 8 hour drive from Laredo, Texas.
2.) As a general rule, all of Mexico is unsafe to drive at night and it has been for as long as I've been traveling down there (20+ years). Chances are you'd be fine, but it's a risk better left unchallenged. By all accounts San Luis Potosi is quite safe right now. The locals are going out and about at night again and living their lives without fear of violence. Two years ago this was not the case and after dark no one was on the streets. We went in knowing that North-eastern Mexico is a violence place right now and that there was a chance something might happen to us. That's the reality of the situation. I don't want to sugar coat it. Few people (Americans) are going to Media Luna right now for this very reason. The entire time we felt 100% safe and had absolutely no issues or confrontations at all nor moments of worry. We did drive around Rioverde quite a bit at night and on back country roads with ease. Certainly a consideration.
3.) I speak like 10 words of Spanish and felt perfectly fine the entire time. Ossiel and all the other dive personally spoke good english and the only other people we really communicated with were the kids and their wheelbarrows, which was pretty easy to ask what their rate was. I've traveled all over Mexico with no command of the language and have always managed to get by with poor translations and hand gestures. Especially touristy areas like Rioverde and Media Luna, they cater to Americans so they often speak the language.
4.) and you're right, it is actually a Mesoamerican Slider (Trachemys venusta), not a Red-eared Slider, thanks for pointing that out!
