Before Cocos Island, Costa Rica, the seamounts of the Sea of Cortez were the place for schooling hammerheads and sea lions. The sea lions are still there, although the hammerheads are harder to predict.... Some live-aboards now run to Isla Socorro to find hammerheads, although it's a long ride and there's no guarantee of sharks or good weather.... Manta rays are a little more reliable, and they have a reputation for letting divers approach them.... Water visibility and temperatures vary dramatically. In winter and spring there's a thermocline, with 70 to 80 degree water on the surface and 50 to 60 degree water below 30-40 feet.... Visibility is determined by the plankton blooms; while it's low (25­40 feet) in midsummer, it generally improves to 80 to 100 feet by late summer.... From December through May winds kick up the water, which makes diving difficult.... Wear a wetsuit for protection from jellyfish even if the water's warm.... Whale-watching season is from December through March.... The nice hotels and restaurants in Cabo have helped make it a long-weekend retreat for some California divers....

For full reviews of the following Mexican live-aboards and destinations, see:

The Sea of Cortez, By Sea, By Land, Undercurrent - January, 2001

Solmar V,Undercurrent- April 1998

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California, Undercurrent- April 1998

Pacific Coast Adventures/Mar De Cortez, August 1997, Ray Pettigrew, Napa, CA. Hotel Mar De Cortez modest, clean and adequate. Diving in bay so-so. Limited viz, surge. Vis: 15-100 ft, water: 80-87 degrees. Took trip to Cabo Pulmo for drift dives, by far the best dives of the trip. Fish tacos on beach super. Roberto a very good guide, pointed out all the small and interesting things, spawning fish, coronets, octopus, puffers, moray, crown of thorns. (Ph: 011-52114-31592, Fax: 011-52114-33922)

Guaymas/San Carlos

Gary's Dive Shop, January and May 1998, Chat Watts, Tucson AZ. Complete rental and for-sale gear, lessons, small fleet of dive boats. Top notch operation at Km 10 on San Carlos. A variety of good reasonably priced condo and hotel accommodations in San Carlos. Fly to Guaymas, less than a half hour's drive away; we drive from Tucson in eight hours; an "Only Sonora" permit reduces border hassle and paperwork for people staying within Sonora. Roads mostly four-lane highways. . . . Two dozen excellent sites a few minutes from San Carlos marina, with steep cliffs, huge boulder fields and sandy bottom. Protected coves and open-sea sites, swim throughs, two wrecks; 45 minutes away lies San Pedro Island where sea lions swam with us. Decent beach diving at Lalo Cove and Frenchie's Cove, a few minutes drive from San Carlos. . . . No hard corals, plenty of soft corals, colorful worms, sponges galore, large colorful sea stars found only in the Sea of Cortez, stingrays, eels (some out of their caves in day), octopi, countless fish. In January a pair of mantas made repeated leaps in our boat's bow wave. Water in 60s during the winter and above 80 in the summer. Vis sometimes limited to 10-15 feet by seaweed debris in late winter. Otherwise the visibility is 60 feet or more and sometimes nears 100. Conditions in the coves are usually calm. Afternoon breezes can kick up chop in exposed areas. Moderate current at ferry wreck. Diving is "5" for beginners and "4" for advanced divers, especially at the wreck sites and San Pedro Island. Allowed to dive our own profiles. Briefings are fine and the boat crews are helpful and enthusiastic and often serve fish tacos after the last dive. Gary limits the number of divers so no overcrowding. Few large pelagics, but numerous tropicals and large fish. Do not drink the tap water! (Ph: 011-52-6-226-0049, Fax: 011-52-6-226-0049, e-mail: garys@enlace.com.mx., Internet: www.garysdiveshop.com)

Buena Vista

Vista Sea Sport, December 1997, Matthew Winston. Fifth trip to Sea of Cortez. Mark and Jennifer Rayor offer day trips to sites from Isla Cerralvo in the north to below Cabo Pulmo, with emphasis on fabulous Cabo Pulmo reefs. Fast boats (pangas with sun shade), excellent captains, first class rental gear; I quit lugging my BC and reg and rent theirs). Been operating for five years and really know the sites. Both PADI instructors and provided wonderful instruction for my 13-year-old daughter last summer. . . . Diving great. Fish quantity and size I have not seen elsewhere (and I've been to Palau); turtles and rays, sometimes hammerheads and whale sharks. Corals and nudibranchs, wonderful bottom topographies. In winter it's a 6mm wetsuit with maybe a hood. In summer, it's polartec or even lycra. Sometimes strong current. Winter can be windy. . . . Fly into La Paz or San Jose del Cabo. Buena Vista is halfway between. Rent a car or take a van taxi. Several good hotels; call Mark and Jennifer to get suggestions. Beaches, fishing, all kinds of water activity. You can drink the water; reasonable infrastructure. No signs of poverty. Los Cabos area is not worth diving, or even visiting. (Ph and Fax: 011-52-114-10031)

Cabo Pulmo

Pepe's/Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort, March 1998, Robert C. Probasco, Moscow, ID. Great place for rest and relaxation, with the possibility of getting wet if you choose. Snorkeling is decent. No TV, no shopping, no problems. Opposite ambiance from Cabo San Lucas. (Ph: 011-52-11-410001, Fax: 011-52-11-253900)

Cabo San Lucas

Amigos Del Mar/Pueblo Bonito, October 1997, Larry and Fawn Lovecchio, Ignacio, CO. Diving better than expected, though coral growth was not as prolific as Caribbean; Cabo Pulmo seemed overrated. Fish life prolific; myriads of tropicals, many large lobsters, green morays, large turtles, mobulas, enormous scorpion fish, seahorse and sea lions. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 87-88 degrees. Dive restrictions: 99 ft, had to stay with divemaster for boat to pick us up. Divemaster Scott (usually works on the Solmar V live-aboard) was exceptional. Made the dives personal with his interactions with the marine life from petting a green moray to showing off his "pet" damselfish, who actually does tricks. You would have to see it to believe it. The River is a terrific intermediate dive around land's end by the sea lion colony. Cabo is a fun place to visit. (Ph: 800-344-3349 or 310-459-9861, Fax: 310-454-1686,

e-mail: CaboResort@aol.com,

Website: http://www.solmar.com or http://www.amigosdelmar.com

Cabo Aquadeportes/Hacienda Beach Resort, July, 1998, Dale & Sarah Burden, Convov, OH. Storm diminished the visibility. Vis: 30-50 ft, water: 70-85 degrees. The first 2 days were slightly choppy with some surge. Thrilled with the amount of fish life. Dive shop was tremendous. Helpful and accommodating. Our divemaster was careful, but not too the point of suffocation. We loved Cabo. (Ph and Fax: 011-52-114-30117)

J&R Baja Divers/Westin Regina, May 1998, Bruce Medway, Roselle Park, NJ. Schools of mantas, sea lions, schools of large snapper and jacks, a large jewfish and a diving duck. Much different then the Caribbean. Vis: 30-50 ft, water: 70-72 degrees. Bottom is rock or giant boulders covered in purple sea fans. Tons of fish. Jorge, the owner of J&R Baja Divers, loves to dive and shares his experience, knowledge and enthusiasm. Treats experienced divers as such while helping those who need it. Between dives, he took us trolling for tuna, wahoo, dorado. Lunch is included in the package. Couldn t go to Punta Gorda, a seamount, and Cabo Pulmo, a coral reef up the coast were not in season yet (late June to November). The Westin Regina was a stunning hotel but it was very expensive and 15 miles to Cabo, 8 miles to San Jose). J&R Baja Divers have reasonable packages. (Website: http://www.cabotel.com.mx/j&rbajadivers/home.htm.)

Ixtapa

Coral Ixtapa, June/July 1997, Steve Neal, Fairfield, TX. "Excellent staff. Actually condos-time shares. Let me use freezer for two sailfish. Too far from beach (on golf course)."

Oaxaca

Mr. Lara, Huatulco, October 1997, Gunter Pilz, Managua, Nicaragua. Hurricane Pauline had passed the coast of Oaxaca the week before; most of the coral was damaged. Vis: 7-12 ft. Water: 75 degrees. Diving restrictions enforced were depth and time limit.

Puerto Vallarta

Vallarta Divers/Vellas Vallarta, August 1997, Larry & Marie Gluck, Worcester, MA. Vallarta Divers excellent. State of the art equipment. Wetsuits are new. Aluminum 80s filled to 3000 psi. Small, covered, fast boats. Tunnel and cave dives pending divers ability. Vis: 30-60 ft. Water: 85-90 degrees. No restrictions: based on divers ability. Friendly establishment, can't do enough to make your diving memorable.

Zihuatenejo

Zihuatenejo Scuba Center, June/July 1997, Steven A. Neal, Fairfield, TX. Saw more octopus in eight dives than in all previous 100 dives elsewhere. Saw yellow balloon fish, 8' manta on first dive, dolphins every day going in. Not much coral, dived seamounts and rocks. Not bad stuff. All gear handled. Stayed down 89 minutes when everyone else up in 60-65 minutes.

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