Dive Review of Quino El Guardian in
Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez

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Quino El Guardian : "Bunk Bed Was Like a Coffin", Sep, 2024, by Dean C, CO, US ( Contributor 13 reports with 17 Helpful votes). Report 13102.
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
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Comments	Bunk Bed Was Like a Coffin I spent a week diving on Mexican Liveaboards’ boat Quino El Guardian in September 2024 in the Sea of Cortez. The itinerary started in Puerto Peñasco and made it as far south as the Midriff Islands. The boat wasn’t even half full with only 7 passengers out of 18 berths. There are a few reasons for this which I’ll highlight below but it worked for us. It was a good week of solid diving but not mind blowing like Socorro, Malpelo, or Indonesia. It is a worthy trip nonetheless and conveniently located to the Western US. With diving locations like Punta Diablo, Friday the 13th falling at the end of the itinerary, and a tropical storm on the prowl in the Sea of Cortez may sound like a recipe for loads of drama. Happily, there was none other than repositioning to the north a day early to avoid the storm. When we returned, Puerto Peñasco was closed to outbound traffic which did delay the departure of their sister ship Rocio Del Mar. The diving was solid but lacking in a lot of bigger creatures other than sea lions which were the stars of the trip. They are always entertaining as they sveltely twisted and turned around us. They seemed to smirk at our lack of mobility as they zoomed past and greedily hogged the attention of videographers. Locations like Nudi Cove delivered for macro photographers with many varieties of the colorful critters. We even spotted a couple of frog fish. One was a lemon-yellow color hiding in the black coral, this, of course, was also a matching yellow color. In another location, a frog fish with a purplish tone was hiding in a seam of a rock formation. Finding it was an impressive discovery by one of our divers. A few hammerheads were visible in the distance but they quickly turned tail when they were spotted unfortunately. No other sharks were seen except whale sharks on the last day. Snorkeling with them was part of the itinerary. Always rewarding to swim with these beautiful behemoths. Sadly, no mobulas made an appearance which I was hopping to see. I’ll just need to return some day to see the vaunted schools of hundreds of devil fish. Returning from a dive, the panga driver took us to a pod of bottle nose dolphins he spied while we were underwater. When we got close, the dolphins surrounded the zodiac as we were speeding along. Next, they started leaping high into the air in front of the boat covering us in huge splashes when they landed in not so graceful belly flops. Finally, the driver slowed so we could jump in the water with them. Alas, they were more interested in playing with the boat and kept their distance. All and all it was a wonderful and unexpected experience that put a smile on everyone’s faces. We also saw a fair collection of electric rays, turtles, small fish in a variety of colors, and small schools of sardines. Scorpion fish were plentiful. Though these are common in lots of places, the dive guide had me getting close trying to spot the tiny skeleton shrimp which, allegedly, can often be found on them. My aged eyes had a tough time seeing them but I took a picture most of the time and I might yet find evidence of these elusive shrimp. Shy octopus could be found on most dives with a little exploring in the boulder fields. Mostly, they kept hidden or burrowed deeper into cracks and crevices when discovered. I was able to spend some quality time with one that was contemplating touching my outstretched hand. In the end, he/she left its hiding spot and slowly moved past me then returned to hunting. He/she did not seem to mind my lights as I followed at a respectful distance. I marveled as the creature changed color and texture when it crossed from coral, to rocks, and sand, and back to coral again. The diving can be best described by the song Hot, Hot, Hot. Water temps tended to range from 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit with occasional surges to 91, which had me looking for a volcanic vent, and as low as 78 which felt blissful. I brought a 5MM full wetsuit and a 3MM vest assuming it might be chilly below the thermoclines. I ended up wearing just shorts and a long-sleeved water shirt and was very comfortable. Visibility varied from beautiful blue that was almost Caribbean-like with 60’-70’ visibility to some poor greenish conditions where you couldn’t see 10’. The better conditions were at the southern end of our itinerary at the island of San Pedro Martir. The divers, all very experienced, took the varying conditions in stride. Like the elusive skeleton shrimp, space is hard to find on the Quino el Guardian. Originally built as a fishing boat then converted to a liveaboard, a lot is packed into each space. The dimensions and layout of the vessel are clearly shared on the company’s website so there were no surprises. I knew this wasn’t going to be a luxury ride and was prepared for it. Sleeping arrangements were compact with 2 bunks sleeping 4 people in a cabin lower deck cabin that was smaller than a bathroom on other boats I have been on. Luckily, there were only two of us sharing a cabin for 4 which gave us room for our luggage on the top bunks. Still, as my roomie put it, crawling into the bunk was like entering a coffin since the beds were narrow and the top bunk and ceiling were low. Many people, including me, reported hitting their head on the top bunk or ceiling. Four shared toilet/shower combos are located on the dive deck, one up from the cabins, with two basins for shaving and brushing teeth on the open deck and shared by all. This makes for some interesting midnight trips to relieve bursting bladders after beers. Pro tip – lock the bathroom door even at 3AM as I was startled and startled the late-night roving watch. I feel the layout of the boat’s cramped quarters keeps some potential divers away. I think this kept the number of guests low. Having said that, one guest had been on this boat for a trip to Socorro previously and had no issues returning. Also, the boat does sell-out for some itineraries like the repositioning trip to the South and trips to Socorro. This can all be avoided by booking on the sister ship Rocio Del Mar which has a much better layout but is often sold out. Quino el Guardian will be retired next year and replaced by another boat, Quino Del Mar, which is larger and has a much better layout so these concerns shouldn’t be a problem in the future. Quino’s chef produced some enticing meals. He learned his craft working at some of Mexico’s largest resorts where he was exposed to many culinary traditions and rotating head chefs. The results were tasty and hardy meals for all. He also catered to special menu requests which were pronounced to be excellent too. Icing on the cake, so to speak, was a birthday cake in celebration of one of the guests latest trip around the sun. Other than a continental breakfast prior to the main breakfast, all meals were served. Breakfast was eggs to order along with a variety of other accoutrements like beans, pancakes, waffles, etc. My pancakes were cold one morning but no other issues for the week. Dinner included beer and wine and they made tasty margheritas on request with spice on the rim instead of salt. I found the crew to be hard working and dedicated to making the trip safe and enjoyable. The dive guides were knowledgeable about the sites and skilled divers. The lead guide had just returned to the boat after a few months in Playa Del Carmen where he was leading cave dives in the cenotes. We dove as a loose group but had freedom to wander off within reason. If we wandered too far the assistant dive master would chaperone us but not make you return to the main group immediately. Due to some boat traffic and poor vis in the Bahia Del Los Angeles, we dove as a school and surfaced together. Scenery above the water was impressive. The Sea of Cortez is still remote and largely uninhabited. The desert mountains at sunrise and sunset were a real treat. Another was the lack of other boats of any sort for much of the trip. However, at times we could see the Rocio Del Mar, which was on the same itinerary but left and returned a day sooner. Even so, we never encountered their divers in the water or heard their zodiacs. If I had one complaint, the dives were short and limited to 50 minutes during the day and 40 minutes at night. These could have been stretched to an hour plus based on the experience level of the guests. There were typically 3-4 dives a day. I think these could be expanded to 4-5 dives too. Safety seemed adequate though it could be taken-up a notch. We were given safety briefings, no unattended battery charging, flame proof bags provided for charging lithium batteries, the aforementioned roving night watch, and smoke detectors were all in place. It could be improved by performing a safety drill, walking us to the alternate exits, building in sprinkler systems, and providing us the use of Nautilus lifelines or similar PLBs. Our small band heralded from many countries. We had 4 Americans, 1 Scott, 1 German, and 1 Australian. 5 men and 2 women. Personally, I enjoy diving with a mix of people from around the world. It makes for more interesting dinner conversations and provides feedback about far-flung destinations that aren’t commonly visited by North Americans. Each of the non-Americans was traveling solo and in the midst of serious adventures with this week of diving being only one bullet point. They definitely provided me with inspiration to get out and see more of the world. There was no drama with the guests or crew. Only change of plans was the result of the tropical storm which had minimal impact.
Websites	Quino El Guardian
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Indonesia, Fiji, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, Florida, California, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Red Sea, and other inland reservoirs.
Closest Airport	Phoenix	Getting There	Colorado to Phoenix. Van to boat in Puerto Peñasco
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	84-91°F / 29-33°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	10-70 Ft/ 3-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive as a loose group and limited to 50 min dives.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Provided a camera table with charging stations in the center of the dive deck that had air hoses for drying cameras. Could get crowded. Rinse bucket could be bigger.

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Dive Review of Quino El Guardian in Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez

Quino El Guardian : "Bunk Bed Was Like a Coffin", Sep, 2024,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Quino El Guardian in
Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez