La Paz - Sea of Cortez

A long time dive buddy and I are planning a trip to La Paz / Sea of
Cortez.

I've dont the web search, talked to people I know looking for
information about the dive sites, how the operators are organized and
all.

I was hoping to get some information from anyone who has been there
lately.

I'd appreciate any feed back on this that you'd care to offer.

Thanks.

>
>I was hoping to get some information from anyone who has been there
>lately.
>
>I'd appreciate any feed back on this that you'd care to offer.


>

I've dived out of La Paz three times (1 week each), most recently
at the end of May (Whale Shark trip--got to snorkle with a whale
Shark!!!!). There are essentially two operators-- Baja Expeditions
which operates the liveaboard Don Jose (do this twice) and the
day tripper Rio Rita (slow boat, but does 3 dives daily) and
the Agular brothers (whatever they call themselves today)--dove
with them one day. They operate exclusively on a day trip basis
usually in smallish boats, but they have quite a fleet. Most of the
prime dive sites (Los Isolotes, El Bajo, Las Animas, Cerralvo) are
a fair way from the city of La Paz, though there are a couple of
closer sites (primarily the sunken Silvaterra ferry). The Agulars
operate out of a marina several miles from the town, and pick you
up at your hotel (and deliver at the end of the day). Their location
cuts 7 to 10 miles off most trips to the dive site and so you get
there with less boat time, especially if you are in one of their hot
rods!--but they also operate some slowish bigger boats. There
may be some other operators, but these are the longest
established ones.

Personally I prefer Baja Exp. This is a safety matter, since their
boats tow pangas and none of the other operators do. Since
you can sometimes get strong currents (especially at El Bajo)
it isn't too hard to find yourself many hundred yards from the
boat facing a long (and sometimes impossible) swim back to
your boat--BE will send the pangas out for you--I've seen times
when they've rescued divers for other operators with their pangas,
but I've never seen the other operators up anchor and retrieve
their lost divers (though I suspect that if you were in a six pack
they would). All the operators I've dived with carry oxygen.

The main thing to keep in mind about Sea of Cortez diving is
that it is highly variable in terms of conditions--viz, temps,
sea life. There is a LOT of seasonal variation. Right now
the Sea of Cortez is warming up fast and there are normally
strong S. winds in the afternoon and evening. There is a
big change over in the water mass going on. In a bit, things
will be more stable with gradual warming until say early Oct,
at which point things start to reverse and the water cools off
a lot.


Hope this helps some,

Bill

On Sat, 28 Jun 2003 08:35:46 -0600, Larry Bejcar
<lbejcar@compusmart.ab.ca> wrote:

>A long time dive buddy and I are planning a trip to La Paz / Sea of
>Cortez.
>
>I've dont the web search, talked to people I know looking for
>information about the dive sites, how the operators are organized and
>all.
>
>I was hoping to get some information from anyone who has been there
>lately.
>
>I'd appreciate any feed back on this that you'd care to offer.
>
>Thanks.

Did a 100 of dives in the sea of Cortez. All with scuba baja joe, the
operation of Antonio Aguilar. The best company I ever had. Great
instructor and dive guides. Small groups. Interesting dives.
For more info email me

eddythys@skynet.be

another option is club cantomar. it is newly renovated, but a few miles outside of la paz itself. it is a dive resort&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; http://www.clubcantamar.com/english/index1.htm
they run their own operation and are pretty good. i dove with them the last couple of years and got to swim with sea lions and manta rays in august. i would love to see hammerheads or whale sharks as the last post mentioned.
elliott

Larry Bejcar wrote: A long time dive buddy and I are planning a trip to La Paz / Sea of
Cortez.

I've dont the web search, talked to people I know looking for
information about the dive sites, how the operators are organized and
all.

I was hoping to get some information from anyone who has been there
lately.

I'd appreciate any feed back on this that you'd care to offer.

Thanks.

--
Elliott S. Goldstein
School of Life Science
Cellular, Molecular and Bioscience Program
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-4501
phone: 480-965-7176
fax: 480-965-6899
e.goldstein@asu.edu
&nbsp;

Larry Bejcar <lbejcar@compusmart.ab.ca> wrote in message news:<lbejcar-98E436.08354528062003@corp.supernews.com>...

> A long time dive buddy and I are planning a trip to La Paz / Sea of
> Cortez.
> I've dont the web search, talked to people I know looking for
> information about the dive sites, how the operators are organized and
> all.
> I was hoping to get some information from anyone who has been there
> lately.
> I'd appreciate any feed back on this that you'd care to offer.

I don't know exactly what you mean when you say "been there lately",
but I was there this past Oct. and stayed on the Don Jose. If you have
done a web search, what other info are you looking for specifically ??

In article <e673a058.0307031547.2dd0778a@posting.google.com >,
babette7401@hotmail.com (Salty) wrote:

> Larry Bejcar <lbejcar@compusmart.ab.ca> wrote in message
> news:<lbejcar-98E436.08354528062003@corp.supernews.com>...
>
> > A long time dive buddy and I are planning a trip to La Paz / Sea of
> > Cortez.
> > I've dont the web search, talked to people I know looking for
> > information about the dive sites, how the operators are organized and
> > all.
> > I was hoping to get some information from anyone who has been there
> > lately.
> > I'd appreciate any feed back on this that you'd care to offer.
>
> I don't know exactly what you mean when you say "been there lately",
> but I was there this past Oct. and stayed on the Don Jose. If you have
> done a web search, what other info are you looking for specifically ??

So far the replys I've gotten, people who have dove the Sea of Cortez in
the last year or so, have fit the bill.

The web searches I've done has turned up mostly advertising type of
information, and first hand reports come from a different viewpoint.

So in your case, staying on the Don Jose, how many dives a day, how was
the food and accomodations and operation on the boat? How many days did
you dive, what conditions did you experience?

That you've dove in the area the same time I'm looking at going makes me
curious as to what you found as to weather and water conditions.

I guess if we met at a party, and we had a conversation, I'd pepper you
with the same kind of questions.

Thanks for any help you care to offer.

Larry Bejcar <lbejcar@compusmart.ab.ca> wrote in message news:<lbejcar-F00060.09094905072003@corp.supernews.com>...

> So far the replys I've gotten, people who have dove the Sea of Cortez in
> the last year or so, have fit the bill.
> The web searches I've done has turned up mostly advertising type of
> information, and first hand reports come from a different viewpoint.

If you do a Google search, you'll probably turn up more stuff.

> So in your case, staying on the Don Jose, how many dives a day, how was
> the food and accomodations and operation on the boat? How many days did
> you dive, what conditions did you experience?

I'll answer below.

> That you've dove in the area the same time I'm looking at going makes me
> curious as to what you found as to weather and water conditions.>
> I guess if we met at a party, and we had a conversation, I'd pepper you
> with the same kind of questions.

If you peppered me, I'd sneeze. :) And then I would tell you that area
has great diving in Oct.

> Thanks for any help you care to offer.

On Don Jose, I did 26 dives in 6 days. They ranged from 10 or 15ft to
130ft, with the average probably being about 60 ft or so. Some had no
current, others had a fairly good current. Some were drift dives, some
were anchorline dives. I saw hammerhead sharks, pilot whales, mantas,
seahorses, marlin, sea lions and schools of fish so thick that they
cast a cloud; just to name some of the marine life. We dove rocky
bottoms, a cavern, a wreck, the open water and protected coves. The
weather was glorious the entire week...no rain, very little in the way
of clouds, a nice breeze on the ocean, hot inland in the town of
LaPaz. The water was in the 80's and I dove with a skin and 2.5mm
wetsuit during the day (no hood or gloves) and used a 2.5mm shorty
added on top to dive at nite. Vis was 60 to 100ft.

The crew of Don Jose were absolutely wonderful. Good food and a
comfortable boat. It is not a luxury liveaboard but it is worth the
money, IMHO. If it's any indication of how much I enjoyed the diving
and the boat, I hope to go back again. You can read my trip report for
more details about the dives and marine life if you like.
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=sa... le.com&rnum=2

If you're looking to do a liveaboard, The Don Jose is a nice one. The
Solmar also operates in that area and is a bit more expensive. In
fact, Solmar was anchored near us at some of the dive sites. It's a
nice-looking boat. Feel free to post or email me with any other
questions that you may have. Starting this week, I'll be away for a
bit and so I might not be able to get back to you right away. Best of
luck to you with your plans. :)