BabyLitigator
Contributor
Just finished my first tec trip (and first dive trip involving an airplane in more than 20 years). Also first time tec diving outside of SoCal. Four days in San Jose del Cabo with San Jose Divers. Tom and the crew are incredibly professional and had a great time. Won't have that much kid-free time again for another year.
Day 1: Met up with Tom Heap at the shop and we got the doubles (AL80) ready for my plate (Scubapro plates have slightly different bolt placement to make things more difficult). We spent the day on local reefs making sure our NOTOX procedures aligned, and I spent some time getting my trim right, as it was my first time with much thinner undergarments. Once I got comfortable we headed back to the shop. I'm newish to tec diving and it was great to practice and work with slightly different exposure protection (my trim could have been better).
Day 2: Tec day, Gordo Bank. 169 feet (deep air AL80s), 50% and 100% deco gases (AL40s). Just incredible. We hit the top of the bank dead-on at 110 feet, and followed it down to about 50 meters, before ascending once I hit my turn pressure. Dive was about 45 minutes all-in. As soon as we began ascending we were surrounded by silky sharks who stayed with us the entire deco. Tom tested my recall of the deep part of the dives to determine how narced I had been (apparently not very). Visibility was at least 60 feet, maybe more, though a bit murkier at the bottom.
Note: San Jose divers does Gordo as live boat dives. The guide has a DSMB floating at all times at the surface for the boat to follow, though Tom also had a PLB. This led to increased safety but there was a ripping current so we were booking it along the bank.
Day 3: Recreational dives, local reefs. Switched to a wetsuit, and spent the day diving local reefs recreationally with Leroux, one of the dive guides. These were the type of chill reef dives that led me to go deeper into the sport.
Day 4: Last day at Gordo, recreational. The last day we headed out in rough-ish seas to Gordo bank (3-4 foot). Did one longer dive to minimize the number of exits. We dropped down to 102 feet, then worked our way up in blue water. 50 minute dive, maybe 3 minutes where there weren't sharks in view.
Would absolutely repeat with these guys, though probably during hammerhead season.
Also, the food in San Jose del Cabo is excellent.
Day 1: Met up with Tom Heap at the shop and we got the doubles (AL80) ready for my plate (Scubapro plates have slightly different bolt placement to make things more difficult). We spent the day on local reefs making sure our NOTOX procedures aligned, and I spent some time getting my trim right, as it was my first time with much thinner undergarments. Once I got comfortable we headed back to the shop. I'm newish to tec diving and it was great to practice and work with slightly different exposure protection (my trim could have been better).
Day 2: Tec day, Gordo Bank. 169 feet (deep air AL80s), 50% and 100% deco gases (AL40s). Just incredible. We hit the top of the bank dead-on at 110 feet, and followed it down to about 50 meters, before ascending once I hit my turn pressure. Dive was about 45 minutes all-in. As soon as we began ascending we were surrounded by silky sharks who stayed with us the entire deco. Tom tested my recall of the deep part of the dives to determine how narced I had been (apparently not very). Visibility was at least 60 feet, maybe more, though a bit murkier at the bottom.
Note: San Jose divers does Gordo as live boat dives. The guide has a DSMB floating at all times at the surface for the boat to follow, though Tom also had a PLB. This led to increased safety but there was a ripping current so we were booking it along the bank.
Day 3: Recreational dives, local reefs. Switched to a wetsuit, and spent the day diving local reefs recreationally with Leroux, one of the dive guides. These were the type of chill reef dives that led me to go deeper into the sport.
Day 4: Last day at Gordo, recreational. The last day we headed out in rough-ish seas to Gordo bank (3-4 foot). Did one longer dive to minimize the number of exits. We dropped down to 102 feet, then worked our way up in blue water. 50 minute dive, maybe 3 minutes where there weren't sharks in view.
Would absolutely repeat with these guys, though probably during hammerhead season.
Also, the food in San Jose del Cabo is excellent.
