What could we expect diving Cabo?

[Malpaso]

We're late getting our summer vacation plans this year, and our options are limited at this point. One of the places we're looking at is Cabo. My g/f's son and I dive, she and her daughter do not, so it's not a "dive vacation" for us. What we have done in the past is dive about three days of the week.

We dive New England mostly, where water temps are in the 40s and visibility is around 10'. So when we dive on vacation, everything is great! We have dove St Thomas, St Kitts and Provo. I have heard that Cabo area diving is not in the category of the Caribbean, for water temperature and visibility. Of course it will still be better than back home. So what can we expect?

 

[diversteve]

My buddy was there a couple years ago. Dove with Manta. Manta - scuba diving cabo san lucas | Dive tour cabo - watch the video.

Much of the really cool stuff goes by in the winter/spring months. That far south it should be fairly good vis and fairly warm (+80 in Aug). We dive about 400mi. north of there in the Sea of Cortez in t-shirts in late summer. Vis on a good day is up to 100' - 50-60' is typical.
We've dove St. Thomas in spring - it's at least as good as that - or better because there's usually more big stuff.

The seals/sea lions live there all year. That's a lot of fun...

 

[Badge353]

I dove with Manta in October and the water temp was 84 degrees. We stayed in the marine park since I was only there for a day doing a two tank dive. I was told the winter months are when alot of the marine life is in the park. Still saw lots of schools of jacks and a couple of moray's.

 

[decompression]

Very enjoyable, lots of schooling fish in the bay (close sites) as well as larger animals near "the end of the world" site. But best is Gordo banks and las pulmas. Very good indeed.


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[drbill]

I spent a little time diving Cabo back in the last decade when I worked winters on Lindblad eco-cruise ships that went from La Paz to Mag Bay to look at whales. I did a lot of diving in the Sea of Cortez in the islands near La Paz.

One thing I noticed about the critters in Cabo waters was that they seemed much more acclimated to the presence of divers and often allowed closer approaches than in the Gulf (SoC).

As for the diving itself... there is a lot of boat traffic along the stretch near Land's End and one needs to be very careful (because sometimes the boaters are not). The water was pretty crowded with divers which often confused people if they were not paying close attention. Once I stopped to film something (par of my job as the on-board marine biologist) and when I looked up, I started following what I thought was my guide-led group. It wasn't.

You might consider a day out at Cabo Pulmo... the northernmost coral reefs on the West Coast of North America.

 

[KevinG58]

I spent a little time diving Cabo back in the last decade when I worked winters on Lindblad eco-cruise ships that went from La Paz to Mag Bay to look at whales. I did a lot of diving in the Sea of Cortez in the islands near La Paz.

One thing I noticed about the critters in Cabo waters was that they seemed much more acclimated to the presence of divers and often allowed closer approaches than in the Gulf (SoC).

As for the diving itself... there is a lot of boat traffic along the stretch near Land's End and one needs to be very careful (because sometimes the boaters are not). The water was pretty crowded with divers which often confused people if they were not paying close attention. Once I stopped to film something (par of my job as the on-board marine biologist) and when I looked up, I started following what I thought was my guide-led group. It wasn't.

You might consider a day out at Cabo Pulmo... the northernmost coral reefs on the West Coast of North America.

At any of the lands end or sand fall sites, best consider it a virtual overhead environment with all the boat traffic and yes there will be multiple groups of divers with lots of potential for intermingling. On the other hand these are some really fun dives about five minutes from the pier (thus the popularity). Patronize one of the shops like Amigos del Mar that also goes across the bay, 35-45 minute boat rides to some great sites like the Blowhole and Santa Maria bay, in addition to the more remote locales and sites mentioned. There is really good diving to be had in Cabo, Sept-November. Off the top of my head I don't recall specific water temperatures but I've been warm in a 3/2mm suit in those months.