Dive Report - April 6th and 7th, 2015

Date:  April 6th & 7th, 2015

Dive Sites:  Pelican Rock, North Wall, and Chileno Bay

Depth Range:  20-40 feet

Visibility:  20-30 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Moderate to Strong

Waves:  Moderate

Wind:  Mild

Today Team Nautilus welcomed a family of divers into our family of divers.   The two children had completed their PADI open water class and pool in California and wanted to finish their certifications here in Cabo San Lucas.

We started the day with a pool check out and then moved to the open water.  CJ and Casey worked with the students and Dael took the parents on a guided tour.  Pelican Rock was vibrant with life, but the outgoing current was strong on the first dive.  We did our best to use the rock structures  to shield us from the current, and did the skills near the principal rock,  A surface float, down line, tag line and sand anchors provided a secure environment for the students.  During the tour for pleasure the new divers encountered a huge school of yellow snapper and goat fish, as well as free swimming white tip sharks.  The transition from confined water to open water can really be magical!

During the second day of certification dives three more family members joined the group.  We started the excursion by incorporating a whale watching tour into the transit to Chileno Bay.  Unfortunately today the whales were not too agreeable.  Their were a couple of sightings but they were on the horizon line.

Once on location in Chileno the group was split between certified divers and students.  The other family members snorkeled in the shallows of the protected bay.

After the first immersion, the group was escorted to shore where the other members of Team Nautilus had set up a beach picinic of Ceviche, tacos, and baguettes.  The group relaxed for a couple hours enjoying the beauty of Chileno Beach.  One of the students had a hard time equalizing on the first dive but a little Mexican salsa did the trick and was ready to go for round two! Congrats Todd on completing your PADI Open Water certification!

We wrapped up the day by motoring back to Cabo in search of whales...next time we will try to make reservations at the whale's corporate office...

Dive Report - March 23rd, 2015

Date:  March 23^th 2015
Location: Cabo San Lucas

Dive Sites:  East Chileno & Pelican Rock

Depth Range:  30-60 feet

Visibility:  40-60 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Mild

Waves:  Mild

Wind:  Mild

This morning's tour was a private charter.  The group consisted of both snorkelers and divers.   Dael guided the snorkelers and Casey guided the diver. During our trip out to Chileno Bay we encountered a mother whale and her calf.  They played near the boat for several minutes before we continued to our first dive site.

Chileno Bay has a rocky reef that extends approximately a quarter mile off shore.  Near the shore and close to the reef are excellent areas for snorkeling.  The divers entered the water near shore and worked their way along the reef into deeper water.  We saw mixed groups of parrot fish, surgeon fish, trigger fish, trumpet fish, and puffers.  The highlight of the dive was an encounter with a green sea turtle.  The young turtle spent more than 10 minutes with the divers.

During the surface interval the group caught some sun on the beach and had fresh fish ceviche and mixed fruit lunch. Afterwards we made way for the Bay of San Lucas.  During the transit we made detours for whale watching and spotted several more groups of grey whales. Which have been seen in higher concentrations this season than usual!

Once back at Pelican Rock we made our second immersion.  The water was turquoise and very clear. We had at least 60 feet of visibility.  There was a tremendous amount of tropical fish schooling around the pinnacle.  At the base of Pelican Rock we encountered one of our resident white tip sharks cruising the top of the wall.  In 35 feet of water we found a yellow sea horse tucked into one of the coral formations. In the picture below, the picture is more to show the spot where this one sea horse has picked to hang out around than of the horse itself, which is nestled in/around the center of the picture. The purple fish surrounding are Sargent Majors. Normally they are blue, yellow an black striped, but once they have mated and the females have lain their eggs the males take on a purple hue and get very defensive of the nest. This makes the spot where the sea horse has been hanging out for a month now a good safe spot for protection!

After the charter returned to the marina Dael escorted the group back to the dive shop.  Casey stayed on the boat for a third dive with one of his students.  This was the primary skill dive of the entry level technical diving course.  They worked on valve drills, gas sharing, consumption exercises, no visibility drills, gas switches, as well as a variety of other skills.  The depth was between 30 and 40 feet for almost 2 hours.

Until next time! Eat! Sleep! DIVE!

Dive Report - March 11th, 2015

Date:  March 11^th 2015

Location: Cabo San Lucas
Dive Sites:  South Chileno & Pelican Rock

Depth Range:  30 to 70 feet

Visibility:  15 to 20 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Moderate

Waves:  Moderate

Wind:  Moderate

Report: 

Today Nautilus Dive Tech conducted certified diver tours to the corridor and bay dive sites.  Dael led the group and Casey accompanied the divers using his Hollis Prism 2 rebreather.

The first dive to Chileno started in the sandy clearing on the south side of the reef.  Slowly the group progressed to deeper water.  The visibility had degraded overnight a bit.  The divers saw a small school of mobula rays, several moray eels, a school of bright yellow pork fish, damsel fish and numerous sergeant majors. 

By the end of the first dive the ocean had started to pick up.  Rather than risk a rough return trip, the group decided to head back to Cabo early and make the second dive back at Pelican Rock.  The surface interval back to Cabo was uneventful.  We saw a few jumping mobulas but that was about it. It appears the whales had the day off.  The only activity was off shore quite a ways.

Pelican Rock was bustling with life.  Even though the visibility wasn't too good, we were able to focus in on the rock formations and see smaller critters.  My favorite of the dive was the white nudibranch cruising (slowly) through the cup coral.  We turned the dive in the shallow area at the top of the Sand Falls.  The pregnant white tip shark was resting at the base of Pelican Rock.  Eventually she had enough of the cameras and headed out for deeper water.  Maybe she will be back for the night dive tonight :)

NDT Staff

Photo of the day (maybe not THE day)