La Paz: Diving with The Whale Sharks and Sea Lions

I am here because Jacque Cousteau once said that the Sea of Cortez is the aquarium of the world.

Diving here is expensive ($200 for a two-tank dive), and our dive operator is a liar. The visibility, sadly, is poor (10-20 ft). But sitting here, at one of the finest coffee shops that I regret not having come to earlier, I am glad that I have made this trip.

I thought that La Paz was a small fishing/diving town. It is not. It is an actual city – the capital city of Baja California Sur. The fun stuff concentrated along the beachside Malecon (boardwalk) in Central. Most shops here still retain much authenticity – no chain shops and no highly tourist-focused merchandise. Most places feel real (without US/foreign tourist influence). I stay in the Hotel Cathedral which is ideally located and well kept.

My favorite street is along the La Miserable hipster street. At night, it is lined with tables with the mostly local crowd. The ambiance is excellent there – overhead yellow lights, small tables with folks from all walks of life, engaging waiters, dog walkers stopping by to say hi to friends, and good-looking people.

The food here is surprisingly good. I have not had a bad meal yet. Top of my list is the Ranchero Viejo (open-frame, meat tacos), Tail Hunter (tempura shrimp tacos and poke bowl), El Paraje (fresh clams), Mariscos Los Laureles (deep-friend Pargo/snapper), Claros Fish Jr. (smoked marlin and tuna sashimi), Hambrusia (fancy tacos). All of them are very good.

The diving condition is not ideal – low visibility and colder water. We have to repeat certain dive sites. The dive site that I really wanted to do is the El Bajo, which would give you a chance to see hammerhead sharks, orcas, and Thresher sharks. But the condition wouldn’t allow it. Our dive guide Marcos (with underdeveloped hands) and Gael (French), are pretty nice. Gael said he would customize a trip when and if I come back with friends. The highlights are definitely the sea lion's dive and the whale shark dive.

We are pretty active in trying to meet people. We met Bekah (controller, works for a Denver-based developer and Alex (software sale), who road-trip down here from SF; Michael (from San Diego, physical therapist) and Shannon (went to DU, from Littleton), and 2-3 other couples we talked to randomly in various restaurants. Too bad I cannot form a group chat here this time. This town is a little too big, and people have too many options.

I really enjoy this trip. The authenticity (maybe simply because everyone speaks Spanish), the food, and the animals under the water make this trip great.

A bonus thought: maybe I should learn Spanish.

Dive Log

Dive #1 - Los Islotes

We saw 3-4 sea lions playing near the anchor right after jumping into the water, followed by 2-3 giant groupers. We played with 2-3 sea lion babies in a valley. The sea lion babies nibbled on our fins and snorkels. One of them bit me on my arm (bleeding) and shot to the surface right after that. On our way back, we were surrounded by a large school of sardines. Several sea lions were chasing them; cormorants were dive-bombing to eat them. A National Geographics moment. Saw some huge bulls.

Dive #2 – Swanee

A large school of fish and healthy corral

Dive #3 – Swanee

Dive #4 – Salvatierra

Whale Shark Snorkeling

Swam with 6-7 whale sharks ranging from 15 feet to 30 feet. They were really the gentle giants. With their large mouth wide open and body tilted, they tried to swallow as much plankton-filled water as possible. They were usually followed by a large school of fish underneath them and remoras on their side. It was one of the best diving experiences.

Dive #5 – Fang Ming

This was my first real wreck dive. I saw one huge Green sea turtle and another smaller one resting on the deck. We also did some swim-through. It felt like a ghost ship.

Dive #6 – San Rafaelito

This is another dive site with a smaller sea lion colony. The reef here was relatively healthy. We saw a hiding octopus, scorpionfish, eel, and many sea lions. My heart skipped a beat whenever the sea lions zipped past me under the water.