Dive Review of Solmar V in
Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez

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Solmar V, Sep, 2004, by Mark Buchfuhrer, CA, USA . Report 1316.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The cost of the diving on the Solmar V is similar to other first class live-aboards. However, the operation has much more in common with less expensive boats. They do not pick you up at the airport (I spent $80 on a taxi from the airport to the boat) and no welcome T-shirt on my bed. As noted by many others, the rooms are tiny and my son and I could not stand without touching each other (and there were actually smaller 2 person rooms!). The food was on a par with most live-aboards and quite plentiful. They did have sodas, but no juices included. Visibility was usually 10-30 feet making sightings of pelagics virtually impossible. We saw only one small white tip shark on the last day when diving in the southern most area. A whale shark was seen the week before us, but there was nothing even close on our trip. The highlights of our trip included 2-3 turtles, many seals, 2 jawfish, 7 sea horses (on one site) and one school of small baracuda. I did see 2 nudibranchs the entire trip (so much for my macro photography!). Many of the divers had been on the Solmar several times and kept saying that more pelagics were seen over 3-5 years ago. There was open diving at times from the stern of the boat, but diving from the pangas was limited to 50 mintues (that was a first for me on a live-aboard...I prefer live-aboards because they do not limit your dive time except when the must travel to the next site). There are too many divers for the 3 divemasters as with visiblity of 10 feet it was easy to get separated from the group (especially when taking pictures) and several times I ended up diving alone (despite their warning us not to dive alone) missing out on the few interesting things on the dive. I had to fight for space on the photography table and their were only 7 cameras. Imagine if all 22 divers were taking pictures! There were no secure indoor charging stations and the main area to charge was outside under dripping stairs with only 3 double sockets. As far as how pretty the reef was, fish life and photography opportunities, this has been the worst trip that I have ever taken, live-aboard or land based! The most positive aspect of the trip is the short 2 hour plane ride from southern California (where I live) to the Solmar's port in Cabo San Lucas.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	All over the world, mostly south Pacific
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, surge, currents
Water Temp	79-86°F / 26-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	10-40 Ft/ 3-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	130 feet (fine by me), but only 50 minutes when diving from pangas.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The photography table was too small for 22 divers (luckily, only about 7 cameras, but still not enough room). Only 3 outlets for charging and they are outdoors under dripping stairs.

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Dive Review of Solmar V in Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez

Solmar V, Sep, 2004,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Solmar V in
Mexico (Western)/Sea of Cortez