Dive Report - April 5th, 2015

Date:  April 5th, 2015
Location: Cabo San Lucas

Dive Sites:  Neptune's Finger and Land's End

Depth Range:  30-120 feet

Visibility:  20-40 feet

Temperature:  72 degrees

Current:  Mild

Waves:  Moderate

Wind:  Mild

Today the morning tour visited Neptune's Finger.  The divers wanted to make a deep dive following the top of the canyon wall.  The immersion started near the principal structure and the descended to their operating depth of 110 feet.  Through the descent we found numerous tropical fish escorting us to the maximum depth. On the canyon plateaus we found several guitar fish and stone fish tucked into the crevices and over hangs.  At 110 feet the divers still had a great view of the canyon below.  As you fly over the canyon walls, it is natural to wonder what could come from the depths of the seemingly bottomless void.  During the ascent, the group paused at one of the cleaning stations in 60 feet of water. This cleaning station is a small rock formation sitting off on it's own surrounded only by sand. Being the only structure in the area in mid-water, it is a good stopping point for larger fish to stop and get groomed by butterfly and barber fish picking parasites off, as well as a good spot to see a variety of moray eels.  On the outskirts of the rock amber jacks and bonitos cruised around hunting the fish that strayed from the station.

During past trips to Cabo San Lucas, the divers had enjoyed Land's End before.  However, they had yet to see it after the 2014 hurricane last fall.  The divers descended at Land's End in front of the cave like crevice that used to only be about 10 feet across.  The crevice is now in 50 feet of water and extends almost to the surface.  On the way into the cave we encountered a group of divers coming out.  They had found a large diamond sting ray in the cave and followed it out.  After exploring the recently excavated cave, we made our way through the narrow sea lion channel.  It is about 5 feet across and in the past it was only about 5-10 feet deep. After Hurricane Odile though, it's now almost 30 feet and a good spot to try and see some sea lions playing. After passing through the channel we explored the shipwreck and Land's End Pinnacle.  We encountered large schools of tropical fish, several octopi, more than 10 moray eels.

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)