Divemasters know what can be expected and where like the back of their hand while taking guests on mesmerizing journeys below the surface of the oceans. Without them, exploring the natural habitats of exotic sea creatures would be an impossibility. With ears of diving experience and hundreds of dives under their belt, they are also ideally placed to ensure the safety of those they take to the depths of the seas.
Here is a first-hand account of a divemaster that opens up the incredible world of diving in Las Animas in the Sea of Cortes
Las Animas and the Sea of Cortez
Las Animas is a fantastic spot to dive in the Sea of Cortez. During the summer, the water is warm and with great visibility.
On this trip we did an early dive in the north end of Las Animas, looking for the thermocline. Luckily, we found it at about 100 feet and right below it there they were … hammerheads!!!
Juvenile hammerheads!!
It’s always good and satisfactory to see sharks in the Sea of Cortez, but even more interesting is the fact that these are juveniles. Does it mean that hammerhead nurseries are slowly being healthy and the population might start recovering? These encounters always bring hope!
A Successful Diving Trip in The Sea of Cortez
Another happy and successful trip comes to an end. Tonight, we are heading back to La Paz after a week of exploring the Sea of Cortez. Our guests are some of the very few people that can say they have navigated the entire Sea of Cortez. More than 330 NM in between majestic landscapes, islands, and remote beaches. The weather was very good and the warm waters of the summer brought very decent visibility, an encounter with a school of maybe 12-15 juvenile hammerhead sharks, lots of playful sea lions, and colorful and interesting reef fish.
We showed our guests some fish behavior and tricks to find certain blennies, gobies, jawfish, seahorses, frogfish, and pufferfish that are some of the highlights in these rocky reefs. We swam in immense and shallow fields of yellow polyp black coral. All these were seen at the very north end of the Sea of Cortez close to Bahia de Los Angeles. It is a shallow, warm, and productive bay where young whale sharks come during the summer to find shelter and abundant food. Our guests had a little more than 6 hours of nonstop swimming with these gentle giants.
We did a morning and an afternoon dive with a short break for lunch on the mother ship. We found the first whale shark in less than 10 minutes and after that, it was all enjoyment, excitement, and fun! The afternoon was unbelievable. These whale sharks were very chill and they were static, filtering the water and eating pounds and pounds of plankton. Our guests just had to stay put near the sharks and take all the videos and pictures they wanted! Was a fantastic way to finish a great trip.
