Manta is a PADI Dive Resort. I'm not sure what that means exactly but this is strictly a gear rental, dive trip shop. This would be an ideal dive resort for someone who took the classroom/pool portion somewhere cold and wanted to do open water work somewhere the diving was phenomenal.

Staff is extremely helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. They helped me recover some photos and video I ham-handed trying to save. Very attentive in or above the water, maybe a bit overbearing for an experienced diver. Explained the dive sites very well and allowed for excellent dive planning.

The boats are a bit on the small size for my liking, but I'm 60 years old and not as spry as I was a few years ago. Excellent dive sites were just minutes from the marina. DO take their whale shark trip. Absolutely do their whale shark trip. You can add a dive with really friendly sea lions which was absolutely great. The sea lion portion is a long boat ride (sea above).

I checked out 5 or 6 Cabo dive sites and this is my favorite by far. I will be back to Cabo and I will dive with Manta again.

WHALE SHARK EXCURSION, LA PAZ

Whale shark trip out of La Paz. WOW! what can I say but WOW!. 5 minute boat ride from the beach to the nearest site. There we found "baby" whale sharks, only 25' long. The animals were very approachable and seemed completely unaware of our presence. Very calm water and easy to approach the animals. The only down was that these were in very shallow water near the beach so visibility was limited. This made things exciting because all of a sudden this behemoth would appear out of the silty water.

Bigger whale sharks were available further offshore. You could SCUBA with these. Clear water allowed photo/video from many angles. Animals were easy to approach but shunned contact.

Did I mention WOW! Diving with whale sharks must be on every diver's bucket list. I can't believe I waited 40 years to do it.

SEA LION ADVENTURE, LA PAZ

Wonderful dive for beginners or someone who has never been up close and personal with friendly sea lions. 40ft - 80ft sand bottom with a rounded rock wall barrier. Excellent visibility, slight current on surface and shortie dive most of year. Broad range of sea life on wall and various rocks. Excellent photo and video opportunity of sea lion pups and young adults. These animals will nuzzle with you if you let them. No snorkels, the sea lions try to steal them.

The sea lion colony was an add on to a whale shark snorkel. This trip did not get 5 stars solely because of the long, small boat ride from La Paz to the colony. I'm too old for that kind of excitement. But even so the scenery is breathtaking on the way. La Paz is a beautiful town with lots of things to do and access to a broad range of diving.

Highly recommend visiting the sea lion colony.

REVIEW OF CABO SAN LUCAS

Cabo San Lucas. It's Cabo. The topside activities and food is superb. If you are a geezer like me don't go at Christmas or Spring Break. But go to Cabo.

The diving ranges from very simple to fairly challenging. I want to rave about the easy snorkeling and diving less than 5 minutes by boat from the marina (the marina is the starting point for pretty much everything). Pack a small cooler, sun tan lotion and mask fins snorkel. Catch a Panga ($10 round trip) to Lover's Beach. Tell the panga driver when you want to be picked up and he will be there. As soon as you hit the water you see critters. Snorkel about 100 feet and you come to some rocks with one large primary rock.

Snorkel around this rock and the sea life changes every 20 feet or so laterally as well as vertically. Completely different sea life in each area. Sea horses, to turtles. Blinney's to Lumphead Parrot fish. The area is roped off so boats can't get any closer than about 30 feet. A beginer photographer's dream.

You can get out of the water and walk up to the "arch." From there you can walk from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean on a sand beach. Lots of caves and rock formations to look through too.

If you want the easiest dive of your life, visit Manta Dive Shop and have them take you to the Arch and pinnacle rock. (You can rent gear and hire a panga but then you have to lug every thing around). Pinnacle rock is much like the snorkel rock mentioned above just far less traffic. And the sea lions will check you out. The rock sits in about 80' with a sand bottom and the environment changes at every depth depending if you are on the Pacific side or the Cortez side. You can start at 60' and just corkscrew around and up the rock. When we were there a school of wahoo swam by and the sea lion pups followed us most of the dive. Saw barracuda and a small shark.

You can not ask for an easier dive. Manta is the shop in Cabo to do your open water dives after doing your classroom/pool stuff somewhere cold. I have been diving since the '70's (yes I am 60 years old) and I am very selective of my dive shop. Checked them all and Manta was the best. Not really a shop per se as a resort gear rental-trip shop. Though they do have a training pool upstairs over the shop.

I gave conditions only 4 stars and it has nothing to do with the diving. From the minute you set foot, and I mean literally, when you walk out of customs into the airport someone is trying to sell you something. Everywhere you go, everything you do, someone is trying to sell you some craft or hat or beads.

Most all hotels/resorts are an easy walk to the marina. All directions are based on "from the marina you go...."
I really like Cabo for a lot of reasons. Chief among them is the diverse diving options.