An Adventure in Cabo

I get to talk to a lot of people in a day; seasoned divers, new divers, aspiring divers.  I can talk about the courses we offer, the equipment that we sell, what our next trip will be and where we will dive this summer, but the question that always have difficulty answering is, where is my favorite place to dive.   I guess the trouble is that each place has its special charm: a memorable critter sighting, a great dive crew, a fun group of fellow divers.  Some dives are just great simply for the adventure we had while diving it.  That said, I’d like to share one of my real adventures dive with you.

My husband, Mike and I were on a trip, sponsored by a company that he worked for, to Cabo San Lucas Mexico.   Cabo San Lucas, found on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, is known to many as home to former Van Halen member, Sammy Haggar and his nightclub, Cabo Wabo Cantina.  Since it is on the Pacific Ocean, I naturally wanted to see about diving while we were there.

I did a little research and found a dive shop close to the resort we were at and booked a couple of dives with them, but what really piqued my interest was what many websites declared Cabo’s “must dive” place, Cabo Pulmo.  I made arrangements for Mike and I and four other divers on this adventure, and adventure it was!

As it was a bit of a drive from our resort, we needed to have ample time to get there, do our dives and return in time for the formal dinner at night.  I arranged for someone from the dive shop to pick us up and deliver us to the site.  Now, one thing to keep in mind, I never met anyone from this shop in person.  I only corresponded via e-mail.  The second thing to know is that while Cabo San Lucas in quite developed, Cabo Pulmo is billed as being like “Old Mexico” and they are not kidding.  Our driver picked us up bright and early and piled our gear into the back of the vehicle.  We sped off into the traffic, often on the wrong side of the road, mind you, and drove and drove until we literally ran out of road.  This lack of pavement did not deter our driver, however and we continued on, trailing a cloud of dust.  As our surroundings became more desert like and remote, I was beginning to worry that we were being hauled out to the wilderness to be robbed.  I could see us now, stripped to our undies, wandering lost and thirsty in the Mexican desert.  Fortunately, everything was on the up and up and we made it to the dive shop safe and sound.

It was…rustic.  In fact, it was not a “shop” so much as a covered gathering place with a kitchen in the corner of a parking lot.  We were greeted enthusiastically and informed that we were in for a treat since I had booked the dive and lunch and they would be making fresh fish tacos for us when we returned.  (Goody)  After the formalities: forms, releases, C-card viewing, were done we were directed to the beach.  The first thing I noticed was that there was no pier and no dive boat, just a skiff beached forlornly on the gravel.  Suddenly, a truck appears from the parking lot and it motors over to the boat and pushes it into the water.  We turn our gear over to the staff, who wade out to the boat and drop it on the deck and assemble it all.  Next, we are instructed to wade in and get into the boat.  Are they taking us out to a bigger boat that is moored somewhere out of site?  No!  This little skiff IS the dive boat.  By now, I’m sure that our fellow divers were vowing that they would not be leaving the dive arranging to me.  

Once we reach the dive site, the divemaster gives the briefing and explains that we will enter the water all together.  We were to sit, two divers on each side of the boat, and on the count of three roll back simultaneously.  The penalty for bad timing could well be the loss of some teeth, so it was important to do this right.  We rolled off and enjoyed a wonderful dive, viewing the only living coral reef in the eastern Pacific Ocean.  The fish life was abundant and colorful.  The water, a bit cooler than I had anticipated at 75F, made me feel thankful that I tend to “over dress” for my dives because I hate being cold.  Once the group was low on air, it was time to ascend.  At the surface, we were instructed to remove our BC’s so the crew could pull them into the boat and swap out the tanks.  I figured this is where we would be robbed, left to bob, lost, in the Sea of Cortez, but fortunately, that didn’t happen either.  The question, though, was how we would get back into the boat, as there was no ladder.  Well, let me tell you, we JUMPED back into the boat, like a silverhead carp!  Actually we would get ourselves half way in and then the crew would pull us in the rest of the way.  Mike especially, was not amused.

We were on our way to the next site when we heard some barking.  The boat captain excitedly spoke in Spanish to the divemaster and pointed at a sea lion that had just surfaced.  In a few moments, another sea lion surfaced, chomping a flopping fish. The DM excitedly told us to gear up, we were diving here.  As rehearsed earlier, we rolled back in unison and descended beside a large bait ball.    I can only describe the sight as hypnotic; thousands of fishes acting as one giant organism, swirling like a piscine tornado.  As we wondered at the orderly gathering of fish, we were equally impressed with their precision dissipation as they parted ranks to allow a sea lion through, hopefully without one of them ending up as dinner.

We watched this spectacle for some time, and then finally continued exploring the area.  When we once again flopped ourselves into the boat, we could not contain our excitement at what we had witnessed.  It was clear why this was a “must dive” for this area. 

Back at the “shop”, we sipped beers as we talked about the dives while our lunch was prepared.  There was no doubt that the fish would be fresh, as we had to move from our first chosen table to avoid being downwind from the aroma of gutted fish.    The lunch that was served was out of this world, and all in alI, I felt vindicated for my choice of dive site.  After lunch, we drove back to civilization to get ready for our for our company function, bubbling with stories of our day’s adventure. It sure beats the heck out of lazing by the pool!

That is all for this week! Tune in next time for more stories and dive related flim flam! Below is another video of a Sea Lion chasing fish in Cabo. As always, share us, like us and leave a comment for some feedback. Until next time, Cheers!