Dive Review of Valentina in
Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez

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Valentina: "Best way to dive Sea of Cortez", Oct, 2024, by Donald Brown, WA, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 13171 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My 3rd trip to the Sea of Cortez, first time on this liveaboard. GREAT: The crew was excellent, safety conscious, and friendly. If you know a little Spanish, great. If not, don't worry they will adapt. The food was excellent and plentiful, 5+ stars. The dive briefings were clear and well planned. Our guides were experienced and organized. The crew was careful with handling camera gear. GOOD: The boat is large and comfortable, air conditioning worked well, well laid out and a good dive deck setup. Getting onto & out of the RIB skiffs was challenging with the wave action, but the crew was so helpful that we had no issues. Air fills and nitrox mixes were very consistent. There were charging stations in the salon and on a shelf on the dive deck. You were asked to not leave any chargers unattended in the cabins. BAD: nothing of consequence THING TO KNOW: 1)Getting to the boat requires a trip from either SJD (2.5 hrs) or flying a smaller aircraft into LaPaz which I believe would involve a domestic Mexico connection, like Mexico City, so plan accordingly. The Valentina arranged our shuttle rides to/from the SJD airport, but be advised it is pricey unless you can share the cost. 2) Mexico has some restrictive rules about bringing electronic devices into Mexico, and they are known to charge import tax if you get the dreaded red light at customs. The Valentina provided me with a document that was supposed to declare my housing was not for sale. I did not get the red light so I cannot say how effective this was. 3) We stayed at a local hotel before & after the trip in LaPaz. I would recommend this, both to ensure you don't miss the boat, and to enjoy the culture & excellent restaurants in this lovely town. The Valentina provides transport to your hotel on the last day to your local hotel. The do not provide transport to the boat from a local hotel on our boarding day, so we used an Uber. 4) The credit card surcharge was a whopping 16% so please bring plenty of cash (pesos or dollars) for the park fees, fuel surcharge, nitrox, bar tab, and tips. 5) Internet is available but expensive. Nobody bought it on our trip. *You can also check out David Brom's review of the same trip for another perspective.
Websites	Valentina
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Everywhere but the Red Sea
Closest Airport	SJD	Getting There	numerous options, 2.5 hours by car/expensive shuttle to LaPaz for boarding (share cost to save $)
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	81-83°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	- Ft/ - M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco diving, try to stay together within view of the group
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Photography support was excellent. Due to the conditions, some of the photography was challenging. The Sea of Cortez has some unique opportunities to see different endemic species. Corals are not prolific so most of the subjects are fish and a few invertebrates. We did see dolphins underwater which was a surprise, and a cormorant diving underwater. Other sightings were numerous sea lions, hammerhead sharks, more green moray eels than I could count, a few zebra morays as well. Lastly, we did one night dive for mobula rays which was entertaining.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Valentina in Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez

Valentina: "Best way to dive Sea of Cortez", Oct, 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 Valentina in
Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez