Upon arriving from a long bus ride from Cabo San Lucas to La Paz, we were greeted by the crew of Under Sea at the dock and transported in their RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) to the mother ship, it was already dark and we could not yet appreciate our surroundings. We were greeted onboard by Idris our host with champagne and smiles. Captain Ramon welcomed us and introduced us to his phenomenal crew, followed by a delicious stuffed chicken breast dinner made by chef Poncho. We were the taken to our beautiful accommodations where our luggage was waiting for us and did a safety drill for fire and evacuation and a preview of the next day’s schedule.
On Sunday, we had a delicious buffet breakfast at 7:00 am followed by a debrief of diving safety and rules from our Dive Master Rogelio to prepare us and make us feel confident for our first check off dive at La Lobera de San Fransisco, a rock pile formation where California Sea Lions congregate above the surface and the Gulf of California explodes with reef and fish life below the surface.
We suited up with the help of our stellar dive masters; Uriel, Xavi, and Rogelio and got on the boats split in to two groups for our first dive.
We arrived at the site to be greeted by the howls and barks of the many California Sea Lions. Upon rolling in to the warm waters of the Gulf of California, we descended in to a passing school of Cortez barracuda, adjusted our gear and weight needs under water with the help of our courteous and well prepared dive masters. The water was calm and warm, you could feel a few gentle currents of cooler temperatures cross paths. We surfaced and returned to the mother ship in awe of the beauty to be greeted by crew and had a delicious fish lunch made by Chef Poncho and warm Gluten Free fresh baked shortbread cookies baked by Idris, Captain Ramon always attentive to every detail and the safety of all on board.
After lunch, we suited up and got ready for a second dive of the day where Rogelio was instrumental in helping me cure and prep my brand new mask, for me to be able to see clearly in our second dive, where curious sea lions literally came to play and do pirouettes around us, they are so fun and curious. We also saw octopus and a variety of sculpin, lizard fish, chromis, and nudibranchs. We came back to the boat to a quick snack and got ready for our third and last dive of the day. This site was teeming with sea life, it was like an aquarium, hundreds of yellow surgeon fish, sculpin, chromis, butterfly fish and even a big Napoleon. Just WOW!
We came back for cocktail hour with nachos, fruit, and delicious drinks by Idris, while Xavi, Rogelio, and Uri spoiled us by refilling our tanks, rinsing our gear, and leaving everything ready in our stations like new. Captain Ramon and Luis worked their magic to move the boat to our overnight protected anchorage by San Fransisco Island where we watched the most beautiful sunset being chased by the waxing moon. We had the most delicious taco night on the sun deck for dinner, my favorite was the rajas poblanas, quesadillas, carne asada and guacamole.
Satisfied, we all went to cabins for warm showers and a comfy bed to rest and dream of the beauty we just experienced. Can this be real? According to Captain Ramon tomorrow we will get to see his favorite site in all of the Gulf of California, how can it be any better than today …
– Natalia, aboard the Nautilus Undersea
