One of the days of our trip, we journeyed to Cabo Pulmo for a full day of snorkeling. We gathered into one of the pangas with a group of about 7 people and were launched from the beach by a rusting 4x4 truck.
1st site - Playa La Sirenita
This was a shallow snorkeling site, protected from swells. The name comes from a rock on the beach, shaped like a mermaid. At this snorkeling site, we saw the usual tropical fish in amongst the reefs. It was a relaxing swim around the cove. The highlight of snorkeling at this site was a sea turtle that we saw near the end of our time there.
Sea lions at the "Sea Lion Colony" at Cabo Pulmo.
2nd site - Sea Lion Colony
We journeyed around the southern point of Cabo Pulmo and checked out the Sea Lion Colony. There weren't that many sea lions, but we gave it a go anyways. The swells were larger here and we were warned not to swim too close to the rocks that the sea lions were sun bathing on. We jumped over the side and swam towards the rocks. As I approached the pinnacles, the sea lions started to come down off the rocks to investigate us. I dove down about 15 ft and photographed the sea lions underwater. As I was photographing, one of them swam at me, blowing bubbles and clapping it's flippers. I'm not sure whether it was aggressive or not, but I was cautious and backed off after that. The sea lion made about 3 close passes at me and then lost interest and climbed back up on the rock.
Snorkeling with a large school of jacks at Cabo Pulmo.
3rd site - near El Bajo de los Meros
We rode the panga back to the north, out into deeper water. Our snorkeling guide and panga driver were looking for one of the large school of jacks that frequent the area. We ended up near the dive site El Bajo de los Meros and were told to start swimming as soon as we back rolled off the panga. The current was stronger here, though we were able to swim against it without too much trouble. We were in about 40-60 ft of clear, blue water and could see the sandy bottom below us. The guide had succeeded in finding the jacks. We slowly followed the jacks from the surface, as they swam as a school against the current. Every once in a while, one of us would swim down to them, ~20 ft below the surface and the school would split and weave back together. I got to try out a little bit of freediving and my ears suffered as a result of focusing on the camera vs equalizing pressure. Swimming against the current to keep up with the moving school also didn't help with swimming down to the school.
Freediving with the large school of jacks at Cabo Pulmo.
4th site - Reef near the dive shop
The last snorkeling spot was a shallow reef near to the dive shop and beach. There wasn't anything really special seen at this dive spot, but it was still filled with tropical fish over the rocky reef.
Next up are the macro dives I did under the Cabo San Lucas harbor.
Scott
Cabo Pulmo, Mexico
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