| La Paz is a great diving destination for the more | | | | catered to in a beach resort, then this is a good |
| adventurous divers. The city of La Paz is a quiet | | | | place to stay. |
| fishing village that is not known for its night life, but is | | | | If you prefer live aboard diving, Baja Expeditions has |
| rich in old Mexico culture and is filled with friendly | | | | the Don Jose, a 80' live aboard dive boat with 7 air |
| people. The scuba diving is fantastic and varies from | | | | conditioned staterooms. The boat is specifically |
| off shore pinnacles, exciting wreck dives and beautiful | | | | designed for diving and has an excellent crew. It is |
| garden reefs. All sites are loaded with amazing sea | | | | not a luxury live aboard but it is a great boat. The |
| life from huge schools of jack, marine mammals of all | | | | crew, the awesome dive sites and the beautiful |
| sorts, giant Manta rays and hammerhead sharks. | | | | scenery definitely make it a trip to remember and |
| There are a lot of beautiful small creatures for those | | | | repeat. |
| macro enthusiasts as well, a wide variety of | | | | Many of the dive sites are intermediate to advanced |
| nudibranch's, frog fish, sea horses, octopus, shrimp | | | | diving so it is a good idea to do some refresher dives |
| and much more. Many of the best dive sites are | | | | before you go to La Paz so that you are on your |
| between 1 to 2 hours boat ride away from the city; | | | | game with your scuba skills. |
| some see this as a negative aspect of La Paz diving, | | | | My 5 favorite La Paz dive sites are: |
| but the sea of Cortez is so beautiful that the boat | | | | 1. Los Islotes: The sea lion colony where you can |
| rides can prove to be very entertaining with whale | | | | swim with many sea lions and even get some close |
| sightings, schools of dolphin, flying fish, jumping | | | | encounters with these curious animals. This is one of |
| mobulas, sail fish and who knows what else you may | | | | the easier dive sites and is a great snorkeling site too. |
| see along the way. | | | | If you want to do an advanced dive here you can |
| The dive season in the Sea of Cortez is May through | | | | by going around to the back side of the island where |
| November. May and June are a little cooler with | | | | you can dive deeper and approach the currents to |
| water temperatures between 65 to 75 degrees but | | | | possibly see some pelagic fish. |
| this is the best time to see the whale sharks. In July | | | | 2. La Reina: Here you can see huge schools of fish |
| and August the water is warming up to 75 to 85 | | | | and maybe even a giant manta ray. This is another |
| degrees and this brings in the schooling fish and the | | | | off shore islet or rock outcropping that is subject to |
| sport fish that come in to feed on them. This is a | | | | heavy ocean currents. This brings massive amounts |
| good time to see schools of tuna and possibly marlin | | | | of sea life to the area to feed. You can find shelter |
| and sail fish. September and October finds the best | | | | from the current by going on the down current side |
| visibility and abundant sea life. At this time the sea | | | | of the rock. Depending on the conditions you can |
| lion pups are more curious and adventurous to come | | | | also get to some wrecks that are at this location. |
| around and interact with the divers, this is also the | | | | 3. Suwanee reef: A 3/4 of a mile long reef loaded |
| best time to see hammerhead sharks at sites like El | | | | with hard and soft corals, brilliant colors and amazing |
| Bajo. | | | | sea life. This is a shallow dive, mostly around 20 to |
| Baja Expeditions runs 3 tank day trips on the Rio Rita | | | | 40 feet deep and is a great last dive of the day if |
| dive boat. This my favorite way to dive La Paz, the | | | | you have been doing deep repetitive dives. At |
| crew at Baja Expeditions makes the trip fun and | | | | Suwanee reef I saw frog fish, garden eels, many |
| educational with very experienced and knowledgeable | | | | different nudibranch's, turtles and very colorful corals |
| dive masters. On the boat trip back to town they | | | | and reef fish. |
| serve drinks and snacks and throw a great after dive | | | | 4. The Salvatierra wreck: A 300 foot long cargo |
| party. The best way to do a land based day diving | | | | transport ferry that sank in 1975. The wreck is |
| trip is to stay at the Los Arcos hotel. From the los | | | | loaded with black coral and is home to several very |
| Arcos you can walk to the Baja Expeditions dive | | | | large groupers and big schools of jack. You can find |
| shop, there you can arrange your dive schedule and | | | | some cargo scattered about the dive site including |
| request them to pick you up at the hotel on your | | | | some trucks. This is really a great wreck dive to go |
| dive days. There are also several good restaurants | | | | along with several other great natural and artificial |
| within walking distance. The Hotel is very nice and | | | | wrecks that La Paz has to offer. |
| has a great swimming pool and is right across the | | | | 5. El Bajo Seamount: El Bajo is a group of 3 |
| street from the Bay of La Paz and the famous | | | | underwater pinnacles in open ocean. The top of the |
| Malecon walkway. | | | | shallowest seamount is at 70 feet deep. The sea |
| Another good land based option is to stay at the La | | | | mounts are loaded with moray eels. Some call them |
| Concha beach resort. This is a nice full service resort | | | | eel flowers because many times you can see a hole |
| that has a great pool and a beach where you can go | | | | in the rock with 5 or 6 eel heads sticking out. El Bajo |
| snorkeling and boat docks with their own quality dive | | | | is all advanced diving that is very deep and subject |
| operation. The dive shop has fast boats and Nitrox if | | | | to heavy currents, but this is the best site to see |
| you want, and they will run 2 or 3 tank day trips. The | | | | hammerhead sharks, especially in September to |
| La Concha is a little bit away from the main part of | | | | October. At El Bajo there is also great blue water |
| town so you will need to take a taxi to go enjoy the | | | | diving where you may see dolphin or marlin and other |
| sites. The resort is nice enough, however, that if you | | | | big game sport fish. |
| just like to spend your surface intervals being | | | | |