Going to Cabo Pulmo in October

I"m going to Cabo Pulmo last week of September for 5 days (Sept28-Oct2), staying at the Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort and diving with Cabo Pulmo Divers.

Does anybody have any experiece with these? Any advice? We're wondering whether to rent a car at the airport or have the resort transport us.

Thanks,

John

John,

I haven't dived at Pulmo or with that outfit (avoiding the "club scene" that seems associated with anything "cabo" even though pulmo is up the coast), but I have dived from LaPaz for 2 trips (clubcantamar.com) and figured I'd share some of my transport experiences there. They are about 15 miles from LaPaz airport, about 8 from LaPaz itself. They have an arrangement with a local shuttle company who will pick you up from the airport and get you back there for your flight. That ride is included in their package prices. They also have a daily shuttle into town, the catch being that the return shuttle misses dinner at the hotel - so if you catch the free ride to town you buy your own dinner. Seems fair. I would guess you can make similar arrangements from Cabo. We found that the very limited use of a car we would have liked was easily taken care of by these shuttles. At Cantamar we did 3-tank days, boats leaving at 8.30 and not getting back until 4.30 or later (some long rides) and we dived 7 days straight. This trip, after washing gear etc we really didn't have much interest in trekking into town to rubberneck or party, so a car would have been a waste. At New year I had driven down there, so we did head into town and a couple of people had subsequent bad hair days resulting from un poco mas tequila and late nights :-)

I have heard good things about the pulmo reef, but while I have been at Cantamar they have taken several groups of clients from Pulmo (complete with pulmo guide) on LaPaz-based trips - the "dogma" is that if you want to see "big animals" you need to get up to LaPaz. Last New year this was correct, we swam with very playful sealions and saw mantas and hammerheads (albeit at a distance). Oct is "peak" for this, with a good change of other big stuff like whale sharks. We tried to catch the very start of the season in July this year and got cold water and crappy vis! You get what you get. In any event, if you get a chance at a day trip to LaPaz from Cabo, I'd recommend it -- El Bajo is a 100' more advanced site for seeing hammerheads, LaReina and Punta Lobos seem to be the sites for Mantas, and Los Islotes is the sealion colony. (The Cantamar folks, Fernando and Benjamin in particular, speak good English, so a phone call for conditions and venues is easy). Some pics from my trip - my first with the digital rig - can be found on Yahoo at (and I'll probably mess up the link but the address is correct)

[url=http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/scubalien2001/]http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/scubalien2001/

Have a great trip and let us know how it goes.

Bob.

In addition to no typos :-o is putting it as the very last line in the post the only way to get the link to work?

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/scubalien2001/

Alien-bob,

Thanks for the info. I was really torn whether to book La Paz or Cabo Pulmo. I've already given up my credit card for Cabo Pulmo but hadn't decided on the transportation yet. It sounds like a rental car would not be worth it (wouldn't mix with the afternoon margaritas either!)

I've heard hit or miss (isn't it always though) reports about the big animals in La Paz. The longer boat rides was also a downside for this trip. We're going to have only three full days and wanted to get in some relaxation as well. We're doing the Tahiti Aggressor in May and then a special charter to Darwin Island on the Galapagos Aggressor the following October. I figure we'll be "guarranteed" some big animal fun with those two trips.

Going on the Peace to Santa Barbara Island on Labor Day.

I really appreciate all the info from this forum. I have a sony S75/ikelite housing/DS-125 now but am looking to upgrade to a cp5000 or digital SLR before may 2003.

Thanks again,

John

I haven't a lot of experience diving but I have been to Cabo Pulmo and Bonaire. Cabo Pulmo is .....shall I say quaint. Very few facilities....the resort may be better.I recommend you bring most if not all of your equipment as the rental gear I saw was poor at best. I came over from Cabo. 20 ft pangas are used as dive boats, no ladders, and no place to store gear. No shade or protection from the wind. Diving is slow drifting. Visibility about 50' when I was there in Oct of 2001. One group I was with saw a couple of Hammerheads and we saw a huge school (about 500) small 20lb tuna. the depth was about 60 ft max where we were. You will definitely be away from the party. Have fun!!

Steve Ransom

I (together with some friends from Mexico) are also putting together a trip to the La Paz/Cabo Pulmo area for early Oct. I'd appreciate a trip report with any recommendations. Thanks. Also, if you like Mexico/Baja diving you should check out the San Carlos area; its an easy half day drive from Tucson and has some nice diving during the warm water season.