Sea of Cortez
REVIEW OF DIVING LA PAZ, BAJA
The Sea of Cortez is one of my favorite dive destinations to date.
The whale shark snorkeling was phenomenal. Whale shark season I've been told is fall to winter. Both of my days snorkeling with them did not disappoint. Everyone is on the lookout on the boat for the whale sharks and when one is spotted, small groups get into the water one at a time to go swim with them. Encounters can be variable. Sometimes the whale shark will be just cruising and can be surprisingly hard to keep up with - being a fast swimmer will certainly behoove you in such cases. However, sometimes you will get lucky and the whale shark will stop to feed, assume a vertical position and suck water like a giant vacuum cleaner. If that happens, be prepared for the most amazing experience ever. We swam with little baby whale sharks only 8 - 10 years old and massive ones (the bigger ones are easier to keep up with!). At one point, I counted at least 5 whale sharks feeding in an area at once. Most encounters are less than 10 min at the time, but at the end with 5 in the water feeding, everyone spent at least 1 hour in the water with them. As if whale sharks aren't exciting enough, there is a high chance you will run into some Bottlenose dolphins and if they are curious, you can get to swim with them as well. The water temperature was ~ 87 degrees F and calm in late September, visibility was ~ 60 feet.
Los Islotes, the Sea Lion colony was equally as amazing. This was a 1.5 hr boat ride out, it is a rock outcropping with a huge colony. The topography above water is amazing and there is a famous arch which makes for really nice wide angle photos underwater. The sea lions were so friendly! Maybe a little too friendly!! They love to bite fins and the Styrofoam floats on strobes and maybe even a butt or two! (But they are playful nibbles). We saw tons of pups in late Sept. They are so cute. Aside from sea lions, tons of bait fish underwater, amazing viz, and beautiful sea fans make for wide angle photos that are absolutely stunning. There can be quite a bit of current in the morning, I recommend listening carefully to instructions during the dive briefing. Once you get over to the little cove, current is minimal, it is just getting over there that can require quite a bit of swimming. Surf can also be up sometimes. In the afternoon, conditions tended to calm down. If conditions are good, I highly recommend taking the route around the point as that was probably my most favorite dive of the trip.
The reef diving was also very nice, though the viz at times was not the best and there can be some current at many spots. We also did a wreck dive - Fang Ming which was a nice easy wreck dive.
This trip was definitely heavy on the wide angle but there is plenty of macro opportunities as well. Lots of little blennies everywhere.
I didn't spend too much time in town but La Paz is a very nice city with many nice restaurants. I had a fantastic meal at the Costa Baja resort.
I booked this trip rather last minute and I am 100% glad I did.
