Cortez Explorers - A PADI 5 Star IDC Center » Baja

WWII Wreck Dive with Whale Shark Sightings…

Mick Chapman — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:50:17 +0000

Yesterday, Thursday May 20th, I was in my office, and I was conducting two wreck dives on a pre WWII US Warship that was sold to the Mexican Government (name unknown) not far from here.

This warship was sunk as an artificial reef by the Mexican authorities about eight to ten years ago. Sadly they removed the guns, but opened up the ship to divers by cutting penetration holes all around the ship. Magic!! Whatever she is called, she looks glorious in her new colours of black coral, encrusting sponges of all colours, that literally festoon the ship.

She is twin screwed, and twin ruddered, all of which are still in position, and offer so much in the way of photography. She is about 11m/36ft to the upper decking, and sits upright on the sand at a depth of 23m/76ft. So this beautiful wreck is for every diver, including juniors of a young age.

The viz was about 18-20m/60-66ft, the water warm, with so much in the way of marine life. Huge File Fish, Cortez Angels, free swimming and hidden Morays, fair sized to large Grouper. The list is too long to mention. Between dives we went off to a nearby island, and had our lunch/surface interval. There, there is a bay that comes straight ouf a Jamaican travel brochure. Just beautiful!!

Then it was back to the wreck for the second dive, which was equally glorious to say the least. On the return to shore, and after off loading the dive gear, tanks, BCD’s etc, just as I was about to wave the boat off, there it was, some kilometer (3/4 mile) offshore, a large black roundish fin. I did a double take, got …

We all scrambled back into the boat, mask, snorkel and fins in hand and were snorkeling with a 4m/13ft baby whale shark some minutes later. No one, including myself had a underwater camera with them, and so I managed only to get one shot off of this spotted youngster before gently sliding into the water with her.

We had I suppose some 35 to 40 minutes, but it was worth it and the workout that went with it for sure. She represents the first whale shark of the season here, but she is about the 15th or 16th that I have had the sheer utter pleasure of being in the water with over the last six months. Just another day in my office!!

I think that will be the last good dive for myself for about two weeks as I am starting an Instructor Development Course starting this coming Wednesday, May 26th. Then it is out and out teaching for eight days, plus then two days of exams for my Candidates. I wish them all well for their IDC and afterwards in their diving careers!!

Baja Nomads is “a must” to check out before traveling South.

Mick Chapman — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:25:19 +0000

BajaNomad Forums

Whenever I am about to head South to Mulegé, I always take time to check Baja Nomad forums (http://forums.bajanomad.com/). The information on road conditions, accommodations and weather can be invaluable. You do not need to subscribe to view the posts and they have nicely segregated the groups into clear sections. The following are ones that I use regularly:

They have other groups as well: Baja Photo Gallery, Baja Travel Companions or Convoys, Baja Political Forum, Baja Restaurant Reviews, Baja Accommodation Reviews and others…

Now, as with all forums, there are a wide spectrum of people sporting their own opinions and agendas. So as usual, you may need to take what you read (especially in the political and review forums) with a pinch of salt. However their factual groups (which I use) – such as road conditions, by people who have just traveled south, are invaluable!

Now, if you are interested in knowing what the fishing is like in any given area, Baja nomads are sometimes helpful, but the definitive site is mexfish – so point your browsers over to http://www.mexfish.com/ -

Humboldt Squid Diving…

Mick Chapman — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:07:17 +0000

Diablo Rojo…

A short while back, we were on assignment diving and filming the humboldt squid that inhabit the Baja waters close by to the Dive Center. This is not a dive for the faint of heart, but is great fun at the same time. The local fisherman call them “Diablo Rojo” or “Red Devil” as they have a reputation more fearsome, and as much unfounded, as the Shark. That isn’t to say that these creatures are not to be respected, but a dive with them is very much something to add to your ‘Honey-Do’ list.

To dive with them, we first jig to bring them to the surface, then the divers have to be attached to the boat above to stop being potentially pulled down deeper by the squid, so we use a harness directly attached to the boat. Then the diver simply hangs in mid water at about 12m/40ft and films, watches and plays with the squid. Now unlike most videos you see online about them, we are/were able to film them in the day – this makes for an experience that isn’t quite as nerve-wracking and opens the experience up for more people.

Okay, well “plays with” is really a misnomer as they come in and out of view, approach, sometimes lock on, and disappear just as quick. It is them “playing” with us really. This is something that is quite new for us here at Cortez Explorers, but something that we will be pursuing into 2010 and beyond.

When one sees these animals cannibalizing each other in front of your mask, one feels quite amazed, to say the least!! Unfortunately, we have no video from the dives as it is rights protected, but next time we go it will be for ourselves, (and you)!

Seahorse Pictures.

Mick Chapman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:33:23 +0000

As promised, here are some pictures of the Seahorse we found in the shallows of Punta Prieta. Off of the reef edge the bay becomes a sandy bottom with patches of seaweed holding fast to the rocks.

Baja SCUBA diving in these small oasis’ you can find all types of invertebrate life, octopus scurrying from rock to rock, small cleaning shrimps and on occasion a cuttlefish. However, what is a rarer sight is to see any vertebrate over the size of a Blenny or juvenile fish hanging in the weeds for shelter.

So it was indeed a great pleasure to see this little guy (or gal), hanging out on such a small pad of plant life. As it was so isolated from the rest of the reef, we managed to find the same location on separate dives on separate days; if it was on the reef, we would not have had such luck.

Seahorse and Mick

He stayed on this outcropping for several days.

Judy attempts to get just a little closer to the Seahorse

A Bubblemaker @ Playa Burro, Baja

Mick Chapman — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:38:48 +0000

We had left the dive center early that morning, there was a slight chance of a southerly wind in the afternoon and we wanted to get the intro dive out of the way prior to that. In the explorer with me was a family from Minnesotta who, along with their 9 year old boy, had traveled down by car. It had taken them 3 days to get to the boarder at Tecate and another 2 days to get to us.

Their aim was to strike while the proverbial iron was hot – their son had learned to swim and had expressed an interest in diving. As they were taking the road trip down to La Paz anyway, they had decided to see if he would like to stop in Mulege and try the PADI bubblemaker™ course. They had contacted us a few months back and they were very keen to have him try in the clam confines of Bahia Concepcion.

Playa Burro is an excellent location to try SCUBA for the first time, the bottom is mostly sand and the depth goes from 1′ to 30′ over about 300 yards, so it is nice and flat. The edges of the bay on either side have a multitude of sea life, small nudibranchs, reef fish and crustaceans. However, what really makes Playa Burro so good is how warm the water is. Starting from early May the water tem never drops below 80 degrees, while mid August it is over 90 degrees. Perfect water to learn to dive in.

Tom was very clam and confortable in the water, we observed him swimming and free snorkeling for about an hour, while we ran through the course with his parents (who were both PADI divers). Finally it was time to get Tom acquainted with the equipment and let him take a few, above water, breaths from the regulator. It is always amazing to us how much more comfortable and trusting children are (they also have a better grasp of listening when things are important)! So after running through the basic rules; don’t hold your breath, don’t take the regulator out of your mouth, hold my hand and don’t touch things unless we say it is okay, we were ready for the dive.

Usually these dives last about 20 minutes with 3 of 4 surfaces to clear their mask etc. However Tom was excellent in the water, we stayed under for over 40 minutes and we can truly say we went on a full dive. The maximum depth was 5′, but he could have been at 20 for how good he was. Now a bubblemaker is just an introduction, and he will have to wait till he is 10 before he can take the PADI Junior Open Water™ course, but they had a blast and we have already planned their return dates when they will begin diving together as a family.

All in all it was a great day at Burro, and one that Tom and his family will not forget for sometime.