sea of cortez

any experiences here? what did you sea, water conditions?

Made two trips out of La Paz so far. Really like diving there. Wrecks, Hammerheads, Mantas, Sea Lions, tons of Morays. Plus the usual suspects. It's usually pretty hot there but the seas were calm for my trips. The diving is or can be what I call "advanced" as sometimes currents can get ripping and un-predictably so. Highly recommended.

Rand

I will be diving the Sea of Cortez in a couple of days. I prefer the live-aboard "Don Jose" out of La Paz, as it is a very relaxed way to get 20 some dives on a one week trip.

This link will take you to the trip reports from that boat for the year to date.

Incredible diving. I did this trip last year and could not wait to repeat it!

http://www.bajaex.com/DJ_dive_report/2002_...dj_reports.html

See my Baja reports and photos on my DeePics website (see sig). I liked the Cortez Club dive operation.

Jack

I am planning a trip for next year. Any recommendations on the best time of year to dive the Sea of Coetez? When is the best time to see whale sharks?

Sieg

I personally like the conditions there in October. The Sea Lion pups are normally just beginning to interact with divers, the water temp is up into the high 80's, and the vis is excellent.

There were many whale shark sightings while we were there this Oct, even if we did not actually see any! Many others did.

I've just returned from a week in the Sea of Cortez. I was on the Nautilus Explorer which works in conjunction with Baja Expeditions. The Nautilus is a first class Canadian dive boat that has just started to winter in La Paz. It easily handles weather that sends most boats back to port. The seas kicked up for a couple of days while there but the Nautilus was able to continue into areas the Don Jose could not. The weather was excellent every day, the water temp 80-82F every day. As I said, the first few days were a little choppy, but the end of the week was excellent.

Liveaboards are definitely the way to go here. The premium dive sites are 1-2 hours from land based operations, and some of the sites we went to none of the day boats go to.

You definitely want to go in the Sep/Oct/Nov timeframe. Spring time the water is "cold" and green and the summer temps are in the 100's most days.

Here's a link to a gallery of some pics I took last week.

Marty

BTW, the Don Jose is also a Baja Expeditions boat.

We did a week of La Paz land-based diving in early June of 2003. Our only gripes were 1) 2.5 hour boat ride each way to the dive sites (I'd recommend a livaboard). 2) Wrong time of year (too early to see hammerheads).

The water was still a bit chilly at Los Islotes. 63 degrees is cold in a 3 mil. La Rayna and La Ranita were 78 degrees though. The currents were quite strong at La Rayna. Once our dive guide misjudged the current direction. Four of us popped up and saw the boat quite a ways away from us on the other side of the small island. I was glad I had a safety sausage

On the plus side: huge schools of fish. Multiple tiers of schools of fish.

Here are a few shots:

http://www.montereydiving.com/Photos/Lapaz...apazphotos1.htm

-Brad

I've done 2, 1 week week livaboards Sept and Nov. The Sept one, 7 years ago was best. Despite other reports, I've yet to see ANY large fish, rays or other items worth the trip, the only exeption are the sea lions (really cool). The recent trip was on the Nautilus Explorer. Good boat, however, lacking in acceptable air conditioning. Although the crew was great the initial argument over the boat not provining sheets for the dorm rooms, resulted in the Captain threating to return me to the dock, so much for customer service. We did, however get the sheets. For the $$, if you want that type of diving I would suggest Southern CA. More fish, kelp, sea lions.....and more.