Dive Review of Dolphin Dive Center in
Mexico (Western)/Loreto, Baja

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Dolphin Dive Center, Jul, 2009, by Gina Sanfilippo, CA, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 7 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 4905.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was (at least) my 8th trip to the Sea of Cortez, and my 2nd time diving in Loreto with Dolphin Dive Center. The shop, divemaster, and captains are all friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. A typical dive day starts by meeting at the shop at 9am, then walking to the marina 5 mins. away. Two dives a day are done from small pangas with no more than 4-5 divers per boat. Dive sites are about 30 mins. away. We had a group of 8 so two boats would go out together to the same site, but multiple smaller groups could theoretically go to different places so as to not crowd dive sites. We were always allowed to dive our own computer profiles, and never forced to ascend early. We got back between 2-3pm. While we had snacks (fruit, chips, cookies) and ample fresh water between dives the lack of a proper lunch threw off our meal timing for the balance of the day. Surface intervals were often spent on the beach of an uninhabited island, and the swimming and exploring there was one of my favourite parts of the trip. Night dives are offered if you have a minimum of 4 divers. We did a nighttime Humboldt squid dive and saw many of them! Water temps this summer were abnormally cool, with 80F at the surface, mid-70s during most dives, and thermoclines that went down to 68. I was too cold in my 3-5-3 suit and switched to a 7mm with hood, which left me comfortable but not too hot. Loreto is too far north for considerable coral growth, but there is some. Most sea life was smaller--reef fish, eels, nudibranches, etc. plus the occasional turtle. The only sharks seen were two horn sharks wedged in the reef. While in transit on the boat we saw a pod of about 20 pilot whales, countless jumping mobula, a few small groups of dolphins, and once we found ourselves in the middle of a pod of 2000(!) white-sided dolphins. We stayed at Hotel Posada de las Flores in the center of town, 1.5 blocks from the dive shop. It was a high-quality hotel by Mexican standards, clean and with firm, comfy beds. My only criticism of the hotel would be dim lighting and poor ventilation (requiring the use of air conditioners, as opposed to just opening windows) in the rooms. Here are my photos from the trip: www.flickr.com/photos/g-na/sets/72157621530287574/
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	California, Sea of Cortez, Caribbean, Andaman Sea, Fiji, Costa Rica
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	68-80°F / 20-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restrictions other than common sense.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		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	Diving is done from pangas so there are no on-board camera facilities. You'll need to use the rinse tanks back at the shop. Particulate matter in the water during this trip had me shooting with a 100mm macro lens this trip, but there was no lack of subject matter.

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Dive Review of Dolphin Dive Center in Mexico (Western)/Loreto, Baja

Dolphin Dive Center, Jul, 2009,

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 Dolphin Dive Center in
Mexico (Western)/Loreto, Baja