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Dive Review of Manta Scuba/Tesoro de los cabos in
Mexico (Western)/Cabo san Lucas, Baja

Manta Scuba/Tesoro de los cabos, Jul, 2009,

by Glen Kitchens, NM, usa (Contributor Contributor 18 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 4925.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 1 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Never having been to Cabo before, this was a mixed-use trip. We did the tours, parasailing, etc. Stayed at Tesoro de los Cabos which is right on the harbor & is newly remodeled. The decks overlook the harbor & (this is critical) the AC works great! We only did the 'local' dives which are within 20 minutes from the diveshop. Mostly the diving is typical eastern Pacific - water temp & visibility can change markedly on the same dive. My main purpose for diving here was to get sea lion shots, but the only sea lions we saw were sunning on the rocks at Lands End.

The best diving turned out to be inside the harbor, just off Land's End at what they call Pelican Island. Typical of all the locations, from day to day, the site changed from no current to major current, but there were a lot of things to see - scorpionfish, moorish idol, bumphead parrotfish, sea snakes, & all the more common fish - nothing big except the parrotfish. Due to the vis, best shots were closeups & macro, & there were a number of nudibranchs to check out.

The dive operator, which I set up online was Manta Scuba. True to their website, everyone there speaks English & setting up the trip was very easy, thanks to Melissa, who handles all their email. From Tesoro, it's an easy walk to their operation. We had two divemasters, Ivan (local) & Claudio (Argentina). Both were excellent & were most concerned with what the divers wanted to see or do. Their pangas are very roomy w/ underseat storage & the most divers we had on a boat was seven. The boat could have easily handled twice that. Only negative comment is 'no fresh water for cameras', but our trips were so short it didn't really matter. I ended up dumping bottled water on my camera gear & nobody seemed to care. Due to the water temp variations, the dive operator was advising everyone to rent 7MM wetsuits (probably good advice). Since Costa Rica was similar, I chose to dive in a 3MM shorty w/ a hood & although below 40'-0 was pretty cool, I knew that soon enough I'd be back in 80+degree water.

Bottom line, if I was serious about diving here, next time I'd take the time to set up a trip to Cabo Pulmo where you're more likely to see the big critters. But the fact is - I don't think I'd go back to
Cabo to dive - there's plenty other diversions, besides diving.

Honestly, a trip here is very reasonably priced (as the vendors say, 'almost free') so everyone felt we got our money's worth. Hell, it's cheaper than Cozumel!

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving south pacific; australia; fiji; papua new guinea; all over carribean; bahamas; costa rica;
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp 74-84°F / 23-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 4
Water Visibility 5-50 Ft/ 2-15 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions divemasters allowed divers to decide restrictions, other than 500 PSI to start safety stop;
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 2 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 2 stars Shore Facilities 1 stars
UW Photo Comments Most dive trips from Cabo are 5 - 20 minutes, so lack of facilities on boat wasn't critical, but for longer trips, a dunk tank would be very nice;
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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