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

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Cabo Pulmo Sports Center: "A few Hiccups But Worth The Trip", Nov, 2018, by Paul Barrett, NM, US ( Sr. Reviewer 10 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 10683 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Realizing the fish stocks were depleted and fishermen could no longer rely on it those same fisherman led the effort to designate the area a National Marine in 1995. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the oldest of only three coral reefs on the west coast of North America, and the northernmost reef in the eastern pacific. We flew from Tijuana to La Paz on Volaris Airlines. In La Paz we spent a day snorkeling with whale sharks then drove two rental cars to Cabo Pulmo. In Cabo Pulmo two days were spent diving with Cabo Pulmo Sports Center. Beware of Volaris Airlines! Although the flight was less expensive than flying from an American airport the customer service was atrocious. I had a small dive tool stolen from my checked luggage and the airline’s response was to blame me for securing it in an outside pocket where their employees could steal it! (Toiletry items in the same pocket were not stolen and it was zippered when it left our hands and when we received it at the La Paz Airport.) Another of our party purchased her ticket but at the last minute had to cancel because she is caring for her 97 year old mother who took ill. Rather than try to accommodate her with a refund or at least credit for a future flight she was told she would need to pay $150 to change her flight which she than would need to take within a year and she had to decide before the flight departed in four hours! There are a couple of things to be aware of with respect to Cabo Pulmo. The town caters to tourists, particularly divers but it still has a way to go in developing its infrastructure. It is primarily off the grid some most electricity is solar power and batteries. Air conditioning is non-existent, not a problem for much of the year but from May through August the heat can be oppressive. Even with the solar batteries our power cut out near 4:00 am. Also there are only three or four restaurants in town and none take credit cards. There is also no ATM so be sure to take lots of peso notes when visiting. As for the diving it was very worthwhile, if limited. On the reef, the fish life was quite abundant with large schools of yellowfin, grunts, and others. The coral seemed healthy with lots of small wrasses and other fishes. Garden eels were common in the sand flats. One of the big attractions is now that the populations of schooling fish have rebounded, large predators have returned. In particular the area is known for bull sharks. The Dive Masters know where to find them and will schedule dives to ensure you’ll have encounters, or at least ensure you have an opportunity for encounters. At one site, six or seven bull sharks circled our group as we kneeled in a sand flat. These sharks are obviously accustomed to divers and never seemed to be a threat. The area is well regulated and only two boats are allowed at a site at any given time. Dive sites are limited to a dozen or so. Therefore two to three days is sufficient to see the diversity available. Furthermore, each boat can only carry six divers plus the Dive Master and Captain. As a result, if you have a group larger than six some of you will be split up and put on separate boats. Our Dive Master, David Castro was very good and safety conscious. His father was one of the people responsible for the creation of the Marine Park and he justifiably takes pride in the area and what has been accomplished. He has spent his life in the area and is familiar with the history of all the sites. Once your gear is loaded on the boat it stays onboard for the duration of your trip. At the end of the trip your equipment is rinsed and hung out to dry. We left early in the morning so I went over and grabbed my BC from the drying rack. That is when I realized that when disassembling my second air they damaged the connection. I was able to repair it myself but dive operators should be able to handle equipment without damaging it. This was a minor hiccup during our trip.
Websites	Cabo Pulmo Sports Center
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Bonaire, Caymans, Cozumel, Honduras, Truk, Sipidan
Closest Airport	La Paz	Getting There	Parked in San Diego, took the Cross Boarder Express walkway to the Tijuana Airport. Flew to La P{az, then rented cars.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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

Cabo Pulmo Sports Center: "A few Hiccups But Worth The Trip", Nov, 2018,

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 Cabo Pulmo Sports Center in
Mexico (Western)/Cabo Pulmo