2000 Chapbook

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

Socorro Island

Solmar V/Amigo del Mar, August 1998, Sahne & John Phillis, Southfield, MI. Vis: 20-70 ft. Water: 78-86 degrees. Sunny, dry. Water: calm. Restrictions: 130 ft max. depth/500lbs. No E-6. Boat departed Cabo San Lucas Saturday pm. for overnight trip to Sea of Cortez. Initial dives at Roca Carpintero, Isla Cerralvo. Angels, surgeonfish, sea horses, starfish and morays. Sea bottom usually rocky with few hard corals and some fans. Overnight journey to El Bajo seamount for scalloped hammerheads, tuna, a whale shark and smaller fish. Diving led by divemasters, with pangas following to recover divers. Isla Las Animas: a small sea lion colony, sea caves, colorful cactus flowers on the island. At Los Islotes sea lion colony divers exciting shallow dives with animals. Gorda Banks: huge schools of bait fish, schools of hammerheads and tuna and feeding amberjacks. Accommodations very good; shower/toilet recess in each cabin. The lounge/dining area is attractive and functional and the meals were good. Crew of seven courteous and helpful. Scott, Alberto and Antonio excellent and expert at locating hammerheads. Adequate space on the dive deck, a sturdy exit ladder, and rapid refilling of tanks to at least 3000 psi. Pangas equipped with ladders for easy reboarding after a dive. Exciting and different dive experience. (Telephone 800-344-3349 or +52 114-3-3535; Fax +52 114-3-0410 or 310-454-1686)

Solmar V,October 1998, Doris & Bob Schaffer, Fallbrook, CA. Vis: 30-90 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. no diving below 130 feet. One of our best dive trips. Excellent and accommodating crew. Sundeck needs a shade structure, cabins are a bit tight, but boat is beautiful, well maintained and comfortable with convenient dive deck and photo table. Excellent diving. Spent a day at a sea lion rookery playing with the pups; snorkeled with whale sharks and mantas, dove with hammerheads and other large pelagics and schools of large fish.

Solmar V,December 1998, Doris & Bob Schaffer, Fallbrook, CA. Vis: 10-90 ft. Water: 76-78 degrees. Second trip. Excellent crew provided best dive sites possible. Though cabins are tight and daily maintenance could improve, boat is beautiful, well-maintained with comfortable and convenient dive deck and photo table. 24 hour run to first site. Dove with mantas for two days. All the "hype" about diving with mantas that interact with the diver is true! Also, hammerheads and other sharks. Three spectacular dives at Roca Partida.

Solmar V,February 1998, David Hamilton, Los Angeles, CA. Vis: 30-80 ft. Water: 68-72 degrees. Dive restrictions: 130 ft. max.

Solmar V,February 1999, Martin Doble, London, UK, (martin_doble@msn.com). Vis: 10-40 ft. Water: 72-78 degrees. Sunny. Water: surge, currents. Restrictions: 40 meters depth limit. Plenty of space because the boat had only 10 passengers. Had full complement of 24 been there it would have been a tight squeeze! Crew excellent. Boat comfortable because it was half empty. Outside temperature was cold and I wish I had brought warmer clothing for the boat. Two sites at the Socorro islands were magnificent. On one day we had upwards of 50 sharks, silvertips, Galapagos, hammerhead. Another day we dived and snorkeled with 6 large mantas.

Solmar V,March 1999, Bob Jacon (sbjacon@aol.com), E. Greenbush, NY. Vis: 15 ft. Water: 69-73 degrees. Dive restrictions: 130' No DC. Fourteen divers from Mexico City, one from Munich, one diver from East Greenbush. Trip from Cabo to Socorro was smooth and the time passed quickly. San Benedicto was the first stop. Check out dive was uneventful. The "Boiler". Four giant mantas or was it five, or was it six, put on a show of shows. Roca Partida: more sharks than you could count. Schools of hammerheads, Socorro, white tip, silky, silver tail etc. Back to San Benedicto after two days at Roca Partida for more Mantas. Trip back to Cabo was good despite horror stories. Great trip, diving was as good as anywhere, including Galapagos.

Solmar V,April 1999, Edwin L. Granite, D.M.D., P.A. (EGranite@aol.com), Wilmington, DE. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 70-74 degree., Great Trip! First 3 days lousy diving, currents, cold, not much to see. Last 3 days fantastic, especially mantas, sharks, eels. Cold water, 5-6 mm suit best, with hoods even better. Blue water drift dives frequent, safety stops while drifting, Pangamen great!

Solmar V,April 1999, Lyle B. German, Corpus Christi, TX. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 69-71 degrees. Dive restrictions: 130' max. The boat food very good. Great captain, cook, divemasters good. Lots of room for cameras, good sun deck. Only 12 of us so there was lots of room. Cabins were small, luckily, I had a cabin to myself, great trip for the money. Bring a heavy wet suit for cold water.

Solmar V,June 1999, Mary Alexander, Flower Mound, TX. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 76-78 degrees. Restrictions in force: 100 ft. Dove the Sea of Cortez. Sea lions.

Solmar V,July 1999, Bill Meredith (Bmeredith1@aol.com), Austin, TX. Solmar Vran several specials because of a change in their dry dock schedule. 8 day/7 night/6 dive day was $1,000 in June, $1,300 in July. 16 guests. Would have been cramped with two people in my cabin; lavatory outside the shower/head combo (adequate) unlimited hot and cold water. Dive deck: two fresh water showers; crew emptied, cleaned and refilled four 50-gallon water barrels (two for cameras and two for gear) each day. Two fresh water makers. 12 cabins, all with two bunks and showers/heads en suite - six regular in the bow and six superior in the midsection. Regular cabins are in the curved bow, lower bunks are singles, compared to larger lower bunks in superior rooms. Bow gets the most movement during crossings. Four superior cabins same space as regular cabins. The April 1998 reviewer recommends superior cabin but I do not agree unless two close friends want the bigger bunk to sleep in together. He recommends cabins 404 and 403, but they abut the engine room which is loud (the boat moves mostly at night). Best dive boat food I have had; new chef named Luis. Dinners great: fish in mushroom sauce, bacon-wrapped shrimp, charcoal-grilled steak filets, lobster tails, and carne asada. Lunch: made-from-scratch soups and dinners with a green salad. Breakfasts: cold fruit, cereal and pastries, pancakes, eggs or oatmeal. Mexican beer and wine complementary as long as you are done diving. Crew of 10. Divemaster Enrique is in charge, Jose Luis has a masters degree in marine biology. Boat owned by the family that owns Solmar Suites, dive operation is concession of Amigos del Mar, a Cabo San Lucas dive shop. Crew service oriented. 11 tank racks on each side to accommodate 22 guests. Each side has its own panga and driver, though most diving done from dive step off rear. Pangas always in the water. Nitrox not available. Gear bins under each tank rack. Three divemasters, two dived at any one time. Detailed briefing, had to dive with a buddy or group. Four dives and a night dive. No diving deeper than 130 feet - if violated, you were done for the day; no decompression stop diving; if violated, you were dry for 24 hours; no alcohol or you were done for the day. Divers who did not possess a safety sausage were provided one; when I had to use the one provided, it had a hole in it. Maximum depth and time logged by the crew. Hang tanks with three regulators on each side of the dive step as were trailing grab ropes for currents. Diving was unremarkable. Largest fish was a parrot fish. Water was warmest and clearest at the northern sites, coldest and worst vis (10 to 15 feet?) the further south we went. Surface temperatures 82-84 degrees, but below thermocline lower 70's, even 68, and below the thermocline water was a green gloom. Went north from Cabo San Lucas to Isla Cerralvo, then north to Isla Las Animass and Isla San Diego and south to Isla Espirita Santo with the sea lion colony at Los Islotes, El Bajo Seamount, El Bajo Punta Gorda and Chileno Reef just outside Cabo. El Bajo: had to follow a divemaster to find hammerhead sharks or mantas, what a waste of time and energy! Dive at El Bajo Punta Gorda (Gorda Banks) was the same, but the water here was colder and dirtier. Total wipe out. Best dives: Las Amimas: abundant and varied, albeit small sea life. All dives we did can be done via day boats from La Paz or Los Cabos in the south. (www.solmar.com/solmarv.htm) To learn more about Los Cabos, www.loscabosguide.com. Beware the timeshare sales people in Los Cabos. They are everywhere, sort of like upscale Chiclets kids. If you can resist impulse buying, however, you can get all kinds of free entertainment and dining by sitting through high pressure sales presentations.