Scuba diving in Cabo San Lucas, the bustling resort town at the far southern tip of Baja California, offers a wealth of underwater sights and experiences. San Lucas Bay is a protected area with well-preserved dive sites and lots of fish life; it was actually the second marine park to be established in Mexico, after the Caribbean jewel of Cozumel! At Cabo San Lucas, the mighty Pacific Ocean meets the magical Sea of Cortez, which endows local dive sites with a mix of pelagic, migratory, and resident creatures. Seamounts, sea lions, hammerhead sharks, deep walls, unique ‘sand falls’, and plenty of fish and critters are all among the many landscapes and marine animals which make Cabo San Lucas diving unique.
Cabo San Lucas enjoys a high density of dive centers and tour options. It’s easy to visit Cabo Pulmo’s reef or even the whale sharks in La Paz with a Cabo San Lucas operator. It’s even easier to spend a day diving the uncrowded ‘Corridor’ sites on the way to San Jose del Cabo. For divers who want to go farther afield, Cabo San Lucas is the departure point for many liveaboards to Socorro and Guadalupe. For those staying in town, activities, nightlife and restaurants provide plenty of entertainment.
Cabo San Lucas may be the Baja dive hub with the widest range of dive options. There are plenty of dive centers, offering courses from beginner levels through technical diving. There are even dedicated tec-diving shops which specialize in taking divers to unexplored and deep destinations. Another special offering in Cabo San Lucas is bluewater shark diving. While these tours use snorkels instead of scuba gear, they bring visitors face to face with silky, blue, mako, and even hammerhead sharks, not to mention marlin and potentially mantas.
In San Lucas Bay, deep walls, reefs and wrecks can all be found. The bay is also a great location for night diving, which is offered at various Cabo San Lucas dive centers. Sea lion encounters are also a local specialty. Of course, liveaboard diving in the offshore destinations of Socorro and Guadalupe can also be accessed from Cabo San Lucas.
The fabled hammerheads at the dive site Gordo Banks are most reliably seen between June and November. Just before they arrive, silky sharks and whale sharks may also be seen at Gordo Banks from April through June. Schools of migrating mobula rays, which number in the hundreds or more, can be seen in the spring and autumn months. From December through April, humpback whales and gray whales can be found as they nurse their young in the warm Baja waters. Orcas may even visit between January and June.
The water temperature in Cabo San Lucas ranges from 22°C/72°F to 29°C/84°F. The Pacific hurricane season may bring in some stormy weather between July and September, and September sees some rainy days.
To visit Socorro, divers should plan to be in Baja California Sur between November and May. The season for cage diving with great white sharks in Guadalupe is from August to October.
Wildlife Sightings are Based on User Generated Content
