Dive Report - March 25th, 2015

Date:  March 25^th 2015
Location: Cabo San Lucas

Dive Sites:  Pelican Rock, Neptune's Finger, and Land's End

Depth Range:  30-105 feet

Visibility:  50-60 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Mild

Waves:  Mild

Wind:  Mild

Today the morning charter took a PADI Open Water class to Pelican Rock.  The conditions were amazing.  CJ was instructing the class and Casey tagged along with the group using his Hollis Prism 2 rebreather.  A variety of different species were schooling near Pelican Rock in both shallow and deeper water.  The resident white tip reef sharks and several sea  horses were also spotted. Near the top of the Sand Falls they encountered a pair of mobulas which, while common to Baja and the Sea of Cortez, are not common enough to guarantee sightings on every dive. On top of that they usually tend to keep some distance from divers unless they are in large numbers, so it was quite nice to get a chance to see them and so close for Open Water dive 1! The larger one was around 5-6 feet from wing-tip to wing-tip with a smaller one following behind, maybe 4 feet across. Casey was able to record several minutes of video while the mobulas soared through mid water above the top of the wall.  --- For more great information about Mobulas and Mantas check out                

http://www.mantatrust.org/about-mantas/gentle-giants/

In the afternoon CJ took out a group of certified divers to Neptune's Finger and Land's End. Neptunes Finger sits atop somewhat of a big sandy dome. Shallow areas can be as little as 15-20 feet, and slopes downwards. With almost 50-60 feet of visibility, the deeper part of Neptunes follows the top of the wall around 100 feet. It was fairly calm with not a lot of action going on. Halfway through the dive as we made our way to the mid-water cleaning statoin, we encountered the bait ball of Grunts coming in from the open blue with 6-8 Bonitos mixed in like usual! They stuck with the divers for 20+ minutes even following the group from 60 feet deep all the way up to 5 feet below the surface in the shallow side when the through the duration of the safety stop. Depending on where you are diving in general, the safety stops we make can be uneventful if you have nothing to focus on, so it was great to hangout and be a part of the school!

After an extended safety stop due to our deep dive at Neptune's, we headed towards Lands End. We could see numerous sea lions playing near the surface as we pulled up. We also noticed that the swell and surge had slowly been increasing throughout the day and while there didn't appear to be any current it was noticeable enough, we adjusted our initial dive plan to avoid possible problem areas between the rocks and wall. Due to all the movement in the water in the area the visibility had dropped dramatically too with lots of sand and particles floating everywhere. Combine the turbidity of the water with the sun starting to set behind the end of the peninsula  and the whole dive had a feeling of twilight. Even still we saw large gatherings of snapper and leopard grouper actively swimming around in the haze between schools of grunts and goatfish. When we got close to the far side of the point we could hear the familiar barking sounds of the sea lions. We came upon the alpha male and a group of females with a few smaller pups playing along the bottom and spent the last half of the dive watching them fly and roll playfully around us! Not a bad way to end the day!

Until next time! Eat! Sleep! Dive!

Dive Report - March 12th, 2015

Date:  March 12^th 2015
Location: Cabo San Lucas

Dive Sites:  Los Morros & Land's End / Shipwreck

Depth Range:  30 to 80 feet

Visibility:  20 to 40 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Mild

Waves:  Moderate

Wind:  Moderate

Report: 

Today Nautilus Dive Tech conducted certified diver tours to the bay dive sites.  Dael and CJ led the group and Casey accompanied the divers using his Hollis Prism 2 rebreather.   The trip had been planned for Santa Maria, but the seas were a little rough in morning so we opted to stay closer to the bay instead.  

The first dive to Los Morros started on the principal rock which is less than 20 feet deep to top.  The group used the rock as reference for their tour.  Today the surge had increased.  It was about a 3 to 4 foot swing.  After the group was in the water, Casey followed and cleared the anchor.  As a solo rebreather dive, he was able to clearly hear the sounds from the ocean.  The whales were in full song for his entire dive, how cool!  Other than the whale song, he reported a large bait ball near the anchor line.  The rest of the group reported a variety of tropical fish.

On the way back to Cabo we saw the Marina Rescate (Rescue Boat) leaving the bay.  They went to give support to a boat that was damaged by a whale.  This is an extremely rare event, but I am sure it is one the guests and crew will never forget.  It is unclear at this time if the boat was following whale watching regulations or simply just didn't see the whale.  

Although the ocean was choppy, we decided to make the second dive at Land's End.  The swell coming into the point was significant and their was considerable surge in shallow water.  The water coming in from the Pacific was much more clear than what we had the past few weeks.  Visibility tipped out at near 40 feet and was nice and blue.

The group made a mixed dive between Land's End and the shipwreck. Sea lions dive bombed the group barking playfully.  Land's End was teeming with life.  We saw large schools of pork fish, surgeon fish, and goat fish.  There were also numerous lobsters, eels, and octopus.

One of the divers in the group had been recently certified and her first post certification dives were in Cabo San Lucas.  Over the course of the last three days she showed a lot of progress and was much more comfortable in the water.  It is great to see how new divers learn and gain experience.  We look forward to her next scuba diving trip to Cabo.

NDT Staff

Photo of the day (maybe not THE day)