Dive Report - March 31st, 2015

Date:  March 31st, 2015
Location: Cabo San Lucas

Dive Site:  Robert's Rocks

Depth Range:  110 feet

Visibility:  25-35 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Moderate

Waves:  Moderate

Wind:  Strong

Today the Nautilus team was conducting an ANDI Extended Range Course.  The site was off shore in about a 110 feet of water.  The scheduled run time was 90 minutes.  The team planned the dive for three cylinders of bottom mix and one for the decompression stops.  Normally this dive site yields limited bottom times, but by using Tec diving procedures we were able to explore a much larger area. The conditions were pretty good accept for the top 20 feet.  During the last deco stops the visibility dropped to about 15 feet.  The shallow water was inundated with a variety of jellyfish  (no stings today).

The group had hoped to spot some whales during the deco hang since we saw a baby humpback breaching a few hundred yards away just minutes before entering the water, but unfortunately the only whales encountered were seen from the surface.  Our gentle giants should still be in the area for a few more weeks. Next time we won't stop for tacos on the way out!

During the dive we found spotted sting rays, diamond sting rays, bulls eye electric rays, jeweled moray eels, a large green sea turtle and a school of 40+ sierra mackerel!

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 10th, 2015

March 10, 2015

Location: Cabo San Lucas

Dive Sites: Blow Hole & Gavilantes

Depth Range:  30 to 70 feet

Visibility:  20 to 25 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Moderate

Waves:  Minimal

Wind:  Minimal

Report: 

Today Nautilus Dive Tech conducted certified diver tours to a couple of the corridor dives sites.  Dael led the group and Casey accompanied the divers using his Hollis Prism 2 rebreather.  Before exiting the bay, the group spotted several whales. 

The first dive to Blowhole was a multi-level drift dive.  The current wasn't real strong but we ended up covering a pretty large area.  The group saw a couple of cow nose rays and several large parrot fish.  Some of the other animals included sting rays, schools of goat fish, lobsters, large puffers, and a school of juvenile trumpet fish. 

The second dive to Gavilantes was 30-50 feet deep.  We stopped by the “shark rock” to see if the resident white tips were home.  They must have been out for lunch (poor fish).  The new divers in the group saw their first Stone Fish.  Fortunately everyone followed the dive briefing… "please do not pet the stone fish”. Some of the other animals included an octopus, green moray eels, and parrot fish.

On the way back to the marina the group encountered several more whales that put on a heck of a show.  Normal transit time to the marina from Gavilantes is about 25 minutes!!  Today it took over an hour.  A mother and two calves put on a non-stop show of breaching, jumping, and fin slapping.  It was beautiful.  No matter how often you see this behavior it is always special!

NDT Staff

Photo of the day (maybe not THE day):