Cabo San Lucas - The Sea of Cortez Travel

Sea of Cortez Scuba Center

Cabo San Lucas

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Los Cabos is the collective name for Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Caba, the two villages at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. The two basically join with the resorts and beachfront homes between the two although Cabo San Lucas is still the larger with it's international connections. The diving here is unparalleled and has a wide variety of sea life.


	The Point - Like the period in an exclamation pint, this cylindrical rock column is the very tip of the Land's End peninsula. Washed in tidal surge and Pacific swells, the currents can be challenging, but it's a great place to spot rays - manta and the tiny sand-dwelling bull's-eye stingrays. There is a resident monstrous eel named Anaconda who resides here. Watch the sea above you for dive-bombing sea lions. Depth: 65 feet. Skill Level: Intermediate to advanced divers. Anageda Rock - This area has a sandy shelf that has large schools of grunts and scissortail snapper that congregate around the sea fan-covered rock. Experienced divers can follow the reef slope down the vertical drop-off and see manta or eagle rays passing by. Depth: 20 to 130-plus feet. Skill Level: Novice to intermediate divers.
Sand Falls - Next to Anegada Rock, a sand chute collapses into a rocky cleft. In strong surge, the moving sand cascades down the chute and falls off the vertical granite wall like Niagara Falls with sand. This amazing site was first documented by the late Jacque Cousteau. Depth: 90 to 130-plus feet. Skill Level: Intermediate divers. Gorda Banks - On calm days, the water's surface over this seamount literally boils with schools of horse-eyed jacks and grunts surface feeding. The current-swept seamount tops out at 100 feet and the visibility is around 60 feet. It's a great place to see the occasional whale shark, hammerhead or passing school of tuna. Depth: 130-plus feet. Skill Level: Advanced
	Blowhole - This near-shore reef of rocky canyons concentrates plankton and draws in manta rays. Cautious divers can use the rocky formations to hide their bubbles and sneak up on marine life ranging from sea turtles and big sea bass to snapper, king and Cortez angelfish, and Moorish idols.
Cabo Pulmo Reef - The only living reef on the West Coast of North America. The expansive reef system consists of eight long bars of igneous rock. The outer bar forms a barrier that shelters the reef from swells and cold water upwellings. The corals here, mostly of the stony and reef building variety, thrive because of the warm water within Cabo Pulmo Bay, which remains above 70°F year-round. These volcanic reefs are pierced with swim-troughs, fissures, ledges and deep crevices. Sea fans add the most color, congregating in thick fluttering curtains of crimson, orange, gold and scarlet. Most of the corals subtly encase the rocky substrate, others are boulder-shaped with finger-like calcareous branches. It's a very fishy reef with dense and diverse congregations of tropical fish and the species that hunt them.
	Los Frailes - The drop within the bay is the most interesting. The sandy bottom slopes from 15 to 60 feet before plunging into an abyssal canyon. Nutrient-rich water welling up from the canyon floor attracts Manta Rays, turtles, Black Sea bass, groupers and schooling fish of all sizes.
Punta Pescadero - This area is also called Fisherman's Point. This spot has a reputation for big fish such as groupers, snappers, jacks, sharks, rays and Barracuda are all common. The reef is made up of a maze of boulders, rocky spires, glittering channels of sand all decorated with a rainbow splash of color made up of sponges and sea fans.

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