Cabo Pulmo 2016
- Scubie Doo
- I've Got Gills
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Cabo Pulmo 2016
The journey started at 11:55pm on 10/22. That is when our plane left for Cabo San Lucas. This was a first for me, so I was very excited. ZSA and I met at the airport for our red-eye to Houston and then a quick flight to Cabo. The red-eye was uneventful, but the flight from Houston to Cabo was a fun one. At the Houston airport, I read a bunch of negative reviews about the car rental company I selected. On the flight I cancelled my reservation and emailed Sagi at BBB (he had excellent reviews). Once we got off the plane I confessed my knee-jerk reaction to ZSA and I think he was tired, because he just said "That's cool." Once we landed Sagi emailed and had a cab waiting for us. We headed to the rental place and got the max insurance and a beat up little Ford Escape. It was a good little ride though. We proceeded to drive 2 hours Northeast to Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort.
When we arrived Rico greeted us and said "We are diving this afternoon if you are interested." We dropped off our gear and headed out for our first two dives (after a red-eye and 2 hour drive). We did not have time to assemble our cameras, so we did not get any photos. However, the first dive was absolutely amazing! We were dropped into the large school of fish I had ever seen. We floated around with a fellow Seattle diver for about 45-50 minutes. We headed to our second dive and had a nice drift dive on a site called "Bajo". Got to see a Sea Turtle and cool looking Ray. Again, no camera :( But that's okay.
The next day we did two dives to El Isolte and the Sea Lion Colony. These were both 50 minute dives, they mandate that your dives are 50 minutes max due to the restrictions of the Marine Sanctuary. I was struggling with my WA skills and settings. I am a Macro guy, so it was really tough. I resisted the urge to go Macro and stayed with my WA the entire trip. Here are my two favorites for Dives 3 and 4.
We were close to a new moon, so that allowed me to get a few night shots too. I could see the stars through my bedroom window at night, there was zero light in the town. The town is completely solar powered.
Day 3 was filled with more schools of fish and some great WA opportunities. Dive #5 was to La Esperanza and Dive #6 was to Casitas. Both were great dives. Viz was consistently 50-75' and the water temp was high 80's. I took a lot of B&W photos because everything was so blue. I felt the B&W gave it more punch.
Still Day 3, I decided to go out for the afternoon dives, and I am glad I did. Dive #7 yielded my favorite shot of the trip. However, my strobe batteries died, so dive two was without a camera. I was also on a boat where everyone was speaking Spanish or French, so that was interesting too. Here is my favorite photo from El Isolte.
Dive #8 was a dive to "Stingray City" or Pibe Reef. It was way cool, but again, no camera. Day 4 we hit El Cien and Pedregal. El Cien was our deepest dive at 89'. Zack and I laughed because we were "going deep" but that is a shallow dive in the PNW :-) I also took some time to take a few top side shots along the way.
Day 5 we completed Dives 11 and 12. With the Marine Sanctuary they put quotas or restrictions on # of divers per month. Rico, the manager of the resort, pleaded with the authorities to let us dive one closed site. They allowed us to so we hit the School of Jacks at Los Morros. It was an excellent dive, but the current was kicking a little. Dive #12 was to Pedregal Norte. What a great way to end a wonderful dive trip.
After our dives I headed to San Jose Del Cabo to meet up with my family for another 7 days. However, the only diving I did was into some Tequila. We stayed at the Coral Baja and had a great time. We hit El Squid Roe for Halloween (look it up on YouTube, that places is nuts!) and visited the town square for a traditional Dia de los Muertos celebration. This was a great way to get the best of both worlds, Diving and family. I also hit up Costa Azul for some surfing. What a great time :-)
Have a great weekend everyone :-)
When we arrived Rico greeted us and said "We are diving this afternoon if you are interested." We dropped off our gear and headed out for our first two dives (after a red-eye and 2 hour drive). We did not have time to assemble our cameras, so we did not get any photos. However, the first dive was absolutely amazing! We were dropped into the large school of fish I had ever seen. We floated around with a fellow Seattle diver for about 45-50 minutes. We headed to our second dive and had a nice drift dive on a site called "Bajo". Got to see a Sea Turtle and cool looking Ray. Again, no camera :( But that's okay.
The next day we did two dives to El Isolte and the Sea Lion Colony. These were both 50 minute dives, they mandate that your dives are 50 minutes max due to the restrictions of the Marine Sanctuary. I was struggling with my WA skills and settings. I am a Macro guy, so it was really tough. I resisted the urge to go Macro and stayed with my WA the entire trip. Here are my two favorites for Dives 3 and 4.
We were close to a new moon, so that allowed me to get a few night shots too. I could see the stars through my bedroom window at night, there was zero light in the town. The town is completely solar powered.
Day 3 was filled with more schools of fish and some great WA opportunities. Dive #5 was to La Esperanza and Dive #6 was to Casitas. Both were great dives. Viz was consistently 50-75' and the water temp was high 80's. I took a lot of B&W photos because everything was so blue. I felt the B&W gave it more punch.
Still Day 3, I decided to go out for the afternoon dives, and I am glad I did. Dive #7 yielded my favorite shot of the trip. However, my strobe batteries died, so dive two was without a camera. I was also on a boat where everyone was speaking Spanish or French, so that was interesting too. Here is my favorite photo from El Isolte.
Dive #8 was a dive to "Stingray City" or Pibe Reef. It was way cool, but again, no camera. Day 4 we hit El Cien and Pedregal. El Cien was our deepest dive at 89'. Zack and I laughed because we were "going deep" but that is a shallow dive in the PNW :-) I also took some time to take a few top side shots along the way.
Day 5 we completed Dives 11 and 12. With the Marine Sanctuary they put quotas or restrictions on # of divers per month. Rico, the manager of the resort, pleaded with the authorities to let us dive one closed site. They allowed us to so we hit the School of Jacks at Los Morros. It was an excellent dive, but the current was kicking a little. Dive #12 was to Pedregal Norte. What a great way to end a wonderful dive trip.
After our dives I headed to San Jose Del Cabo to meet up with my family for another 7 days. However, the only diving I did was into some Tequila. We stayed at the Coral Baja and had a great time. We hit El Squid Roe for Halloween (look it up on YouTube, that places is nuts!) and visited the town square for a traditional Dia de los Muertos celebration. This was a great way to get the best of both worlds, Diving and family. I also hit up Costa Azul for some surfing. What a great time :-)
Have a great weekend everyone :-)
Last edited by Scubie Doo on Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- stphnmartin
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Awesome write up and photos above and below the water! Looks like you got your WA down. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
That looks like a fantastic trip! I like the B & W shots.
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Man that looks like a blast! Really beautiful WA shots! I'm so glad you had a fun trip!
Can't wait to hear more about it at ththth
Can't wait to hear more about it at ththth
Live Long And Prosper!!!
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Stay Warm underwater with the Weezle Extreme Plus undergarment! Please let me know if you would like to order one or have any questions.
Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
W00t! Great job scoob!
Sounds like a great trip!
Sounds like a great trip!
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Awesome ! When you say school of fish, it looks more like a million men march
Great photography.
Great photography.
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I take photos because I like it, not because I'm good at it. by Unknown
I take photos because I like it, not because I'm good at it. by Unknown
- Penopolypants
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
I adore Cabo Pulmo. What lovely photos! It really is perfect for WA photography with those giant schools of fish.
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Jesse, looks like you killed it. Really awesome! Then you topped it off with the family. Nicely done. Great topside work too, I really like that doorway shot showing the beach.
- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thank you Stephen. I even posted a video. It was super crappy, but captured the memories I realized one either needs to be doing video or taking pics. Doing both doesn't work very well.stphnmartin wrote:Awesome write up and photos above and below the water! Looks like you got your WA down. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thank gearhead. The B&W made the photos a little more dramatic IMO. I did keep a few in color to give the gallery a little spiceGearHead wrote:That looks like a fantastic trip! I like the B & W shots.
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
SJ, I really needed you there. You are the best UW model I have seen I was trying to conjure up my inner YE with those WA shots. Haha.ScubaJess wrote:Man that looks like a blast! Really beautiful WA shots! I'm so glad you had a fun trip!
Can't wait to hear more about it at ththth
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thanks YE. I should have hit you up for some WA settings prior to my departure:)YellowEye wrote:W00t! Great job scoob!
Sounds like a great trip!
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Yeah, the schools were amazing, disorienting, and awe inspiring. Thanks for the compliment Jan.Jan K wrote:Awesome ! When you say school of fish, it looks more like a million men march
Great photography.
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
P-pants, you are correct. Cabo is awesome. The prices are super cheap and diving is excellent. The parties are pretty cool tooPenopolypants wrote:I adore Cabo Pulmo. What lovely photos! It really is perfect for WA photography with those giant schools of fish.
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thanks buddy, I miss the PNW though. I need to hit up a dive soonGdog wrote:Jesse, looks like you killed it. Really awesome! Then you topped it off with the family. Nicely done. Great topside work too, I really like that doorway shot showing the beach.
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Wow... What a great place to scuba dive , amazing pictures !!
NWDC Rule #2 Pictures Or it didn't Happen
Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Way cool report and pics, Scubie!
- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thanks H2O! I needed you or smartin to join me to get some legit video footageH20doctor wrote:Wow... What a great place to scuba dive , amazing pictures !!
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thanks Bud. What's amazing is that I am cringing to dive cold, is that weird???mpenders wrote:Way cool report and pics, Scubie!
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- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thanks for helping with my cold water "fix". Great dive last night. Good to see the lumpies back.mpenders wrote:Way cool report and pics, Scubie!
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
So freaking cool Jesse!! Good dive trip report.
- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thanks Brad! Much appreciated. Looking forward to diving with you again soon :-)bradmond wrote:So freaking cool Jesse!! Good dive trip report.
Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Wow. Just wow...
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
- Scubie Doo
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Re: Cabo Pulmo 2016
Thanks Mr. Nic.Tom Nic wrote:Wow. Just wow...
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