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Dive Review of Cabo Pulmo Dive Center/Cabo Pulmo Resort in
Mexico (Western)/Cabo Pulmo

Cabo Pulmo Dive Center/Cabo Pulmo Resort, Nov, 2009,

by Karen Card, CA, USA (Contributor Contributor 14 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 5287 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling 5 stars
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments My partner and I ventured to Cabo Pulmo to scuba dive and relax, with an emphasis on relaxation. We were seeking warm weather coupled with a quiet, calm environment. The Resort fit our needs perfectly.
No, it isn’t really a resort. It is a remote village where you park your car in a dirt lot, and walk to your housing whether a room or casita. We weren't dismayed to arrive at 9:00 p.m. faced with an entirely dark and silent village (we had been warned by the resort) and successfully found our way to our casita (with flashlights) unloaded our car and went to bed.
We had shopped in San Jose for eggs, coffee, cheese, crackers, beer, wine, and other basics. We weren’t deterred by the drive in the dark. We knew to watch for cows on the roadway, and we saw plenty! We ate dinner in La Ribera on the way, correctly assuming the restaurants in the village would be closed by the time we arrived.
We loved our Casita, our outdoor shower, our patios both downstairs and above with views of the mountains and water. We spent early mornings, and afternoons on the upstairs viewdeck. We cooked breakfast in, but ate most lunches and all dinners out. Our casita was clean and the kitchen was fully equipped. The only negative was it initially had an unpleasant odor of pest spray. We requested and were provided a fan to help air it out. We also requested a late departure on Thanksgiving since we didn’t fly out until after 6:00 p.m., and the office graciously granted our request at no charge.
The food was relatively simple and delicious at the restaurants, ranging from the Coral Reef above the Dive Center, to El Caballero, Nancy’s and the Beachside Palapa Restaurant/Bar referred to in other reviews as the “taco stand.” The best salad ever was at the Coral Reef, and best fresh fish…hmm… tied between Beachside, Nancy’s and the Coral Reef. Nancy’s made a mean chile relleno with fresh shrimp.
We read books; Steve painted reef fish in the afternoons; sat on the beach, and generally just vegged. We hiked up the canyon one morning, and took a day to drive the coast up to Los Barriles to check out other fishing resort areas – Buena Vista and Rancho Leonaro. We were generally in bed around 9:00 p.m. Our casita had solar power but we never ran out of light when necessary although our bedside lamps wouldn’t stay on for long at night. We would love to return, and have learned we could rent directly from some owners for lower rates and/or higher end digs.
Dive report:
The first morning after breakfast we signed in at the Cabo Pulmo Dive Center and were off at 10:00 on our first dives of the trip. We brought our own equipment, and rented tanks and weights. We dove three mornings, two tanks each. Divemasters were fine—although we preferred the new Center Director, Rick Harbeck—who took plenty of time pointing out fish and critters. DM reviewed dive profile carefully prior to the dive. On more than one occasion we were with new or inexperienced divers who needed extra assistance during the dive – with bouyancy, ear problems, etc. or just a quick check-out. DM’s were great dealing with all this and very patient. Viz was typically around 30 - 40 feet although we understand it is up to 80+ during the warmer season, July through October. Water temps were around 80 but decreased slightly near the end of our week. We wore 4/3 suits and were fine but I got a bit cold the last dive of our week.
The fish we saw were unbelievable. There is more sheer volume of fish than we’ve ever seen anywhere before, virtually all in large schools. We saw a couple of Jack “bait balls” that went on forever. Hundreds of them! Turtles, free swimming green morays, all kinds of puffer fish, (never seen a yellow one before!) rays and many varieties of brightly colored tropicals. Blennies by the dozens. Crown of Thorn starfish was another new one on me.
The Cabo Pulmo Dive Shop is also servicing divers driving over from Cabo San Lucas, who generally don’t arrive until after 9:00 a.m. They are renting equipment so they take a while to get suited up…and if you don’t make an advance reservation to dive you may be prevented from diving which happened to us one afternoon. Cabo Pulmo Diver Shop offers morning and afternoon two-tank dives. They have three boats, although they had one out for repairs during our visit. There are two other dive shops but we did not dive with them, although we read good reports of them as well. You are in panga boats, with no cover, and everyone enters the water at the same time in a backwards roll. All the dive sites are close to shore, no more than 15 minutes out.
We will return!
Websites Cabo Pulmo Dive Center   Cabo Pulmo Resort

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Southern Cal - Laguna, Catalina, Anacapa, Malibu; Roatan; St. Lucia; Caymans; Cozumel; Bonaire (some are my partner's dives, I am a newby with around 75 total to my name)
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 76-82°F / 24-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 4
Water Visibility 25-50 Ft/ 8-15 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Keep within site of DM or all divers wait and surface in one minute if can't find missing diver, vice versa
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? no

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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