Dive Review of Rocio del Mar in
Mexico (Western)/Baja

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Rocio del Mar: "Explore Baja a great opportunity to see the best of Baja", Oct, 2018, by Joel Snyder, AZ, US ( Top Contributor 30 reports with 30 Helpful votes). Report 10540 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This is our second Rocio del Mar trip, so we were already pre-disposed to like the boat, the area, and the dive operation. In any case, we were not disappointed. The "Explore Baja" is a rare opportunity to go the length of Baja (S=>N or N->S) and visit the best dive sites at the best times. In our case, we spent most of our time in Southern Baja because that was where the water temperature and visibility was best (low 80s for temp, 40-80' for vis). Pelagic highlights included hammerheads, whale sharks, and mantas, combined with all of the other incredible variety of Sea of Cortez diving---lots of octopi, nudis, angels, parrots, wrasse, morays. As the boat moved north (we did a S->N run), the temperature dropped and I put on a 3mm top but just for the last days. Out of 11 days of diving, one was mediocre (low low visibility) and 10 were outstanding, so percentage-wise a great location. The boat is custom-built for diving and holds a maximum of 20 divers (10 double cabins). Cabins (all with individual A/C) are smallish, but enough room to get around and with private head+shower. Meals are large and semi-custom, served in a dining room; good food but not outstanding---the chef makes incredible Latin American cuisine, but somehow feels like his guests want Italian, etc., which he doesn't make from scratch. You won't go hungry or feel like you were badly fed, for sure. The dive deck can get crowded, but they run the diving in shifts (1/3 of the divers per shift), 15 minutes apart. If everyone obeys the rules, there is plenty of space and no issues. If people start to come down early, which was NOT a problem with our crew, it could get bad. The dive guides are relaxed and know the areas very well. You can follow along if you want, or go off on your own (once they have had a day or two to size you up as "not a danger to self or others"). Generally, a very very mellow operation---you suit up; your tank is filled in place; you head to one of two RIBs; a 1-3 minute ride to the site, and boom you're in the water. They use a membrane system so we had a consistent 32-33% Nitrox all week. Behind the scenes, there's a lot going on but divers don't see all the hard work. In our case, one of the two on-board compressors gave out, so they flew out a mechanic who came and worked on it for a day. Had we not seen the mechanic, we would never have known there was a problem, things were handled so smoothly. While Rocio del Mar is not the lap of luxury, it remains one of the best diving platforms for one of the most biodiverse areas divers can ever visit. The waiting list is long to get on these trips, and the wait is well worth it.
Websites	Rocio del Mar
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Asia; Carib; Mexico; Hawaii; Red Sea
Closest Airport	Los Cabos	Getting There	Easy flights to Los Cabos from PHX or LAX or IAH
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp	78-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	A goal of 60-minute dives for scheduling purposes, but going up to 70 minutes on occasion didn't cause any negative feedback. Generally pretty flexible within schedule.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	> 2
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 camera table is barely large enough---a boat full of photographers would find it a problem. We had 4 photographers with LARGE housings and about 5 with small and that more-or-less filled up the table. However, with a "normal" percentage of photographers, everything was smooth.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Rocio del Mar in Mexico (Western)/Baja

Rocio del Mar: "Explore Baja a great opportunity to see the best of Baja", Oct, 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 Rocio del Mar in
Mexico (Western)/Baja