Los Islotes
The Sea Lion Circus
You descend a few meters, and before you've even checked your buoyancy, a young sea lion charges straight at you, stops twenty centimeters from your mask and stares at you like you're the most curious thing it's ever seen. Which is probably true.
These playful animals are famous for their curiosity: they circle around you, tug on your fins and dare you to play with them. The dominant males deserve some space — when nearly 500 kilos of sea lion fixes you dead in the eye, it's not the time to act tough.
— Gael's advice
Closed June to August for breeding season. Come in October or November when the pups discover that divers make excellent toys.
Fang Ming
The Immigrant Turned Cathedral
The Mexican coast guard intercepts a Chinese cargo ship transporting undocumented immigrants. Confiscated, it is deliberately sunk on November 18, 1999 off Espíritu Santo to create an artificial reef. Within its 54 meters of length, you can observe countless turtles, giant groupers and black coral. Twenty-five years later, the transformation is complete. The first time you descend on this wreck, you go quiet for a few seconds — not for lack of air, but out of pure wonder.
— Gael's advice
The warmer the water, the more turtles you'll find resting inside the wreck. Come between June and November for the best encounters.
Swanee Reef
Lost in a Sea of Fish
No giant pelagics, no legendary wreck. And yet one of my favorites. Swanee is a sanctuary for schools of sardines, barracudas, mackerels, snappers, sergeant majors, boxfish and much more. Sometimes cormorants or sea lions surprise us mid-dive. It's the perfect site for beginners, and for experienced divers who just want a great time without overthinking it. You can easily spend a full hour here.
— Gael's advice
At certain times of year, Swanee becomes a nudibranch paradise. Keep your eyes close to the reef and you'll be amazed.
La Reina
The Best-Kept Secret
A rocky islet north of Isla Cerralvo, where few other dive operators go regularly. At 25 meters, this great reef is populated with gorgonians of every type, brain corals, large schools of brightly colored tropical fish, rays, green moray eels and turtles. And from July to October, giant Pacific manta rays sometimes come to complete the picture. Seeing a manta glide above you in the open blue — that's unforgettable. The current can be strong, but we handle it.
— Gael's advice
Come between July and October for the mantas.
Salvatierra
The Forgotten Giant
This cargo ship sank in 1976 after striking Swanee Reef. It rests at 18 meters depth, in pieces, and its cargo of trucks is still visible — and occasionally puzzling. Fifty years of sea have done the rest: impressive groupers, tightly packed schools of jacks, moray eels living in the crevices of the hull and coming out halfway to greet divers. Located in the San Lorenzo Channel, you're never safe from a surprise in the big blue out here.
— Gael's advice
Perfect combined with Swanee — wreck first dive, reef second. A perfect day, guaranteed.
Want to come dive with us?
These five sites — not necessarily in order of preference — Carolina and I know by heart. We know where the biggest moray in the Salvatierra hides, at what time the light enters the Fang Ming best, and which sea lion at Los Islotes likes to bite divers' behinds.
What we love most is taking you to these sites and watching your eyes go wide behind your mask. The Sea of Cortez is like nowhere else on earth. Come and see for yourself.