DIVERSITY
There is so much to see in Loreto National Marine Park Islands, that you may spend a month diving every day in 3 different sites, seeing different scenery. Within the confines of the park, we have 44 dive sites, and if we include sites as far as Las Animas, we have over 90 dive sites. The majority of the dive sites are relatively shallow, from the surface to 60 feet(20 meters) ideal for the novice diver. However, for the diver wanting to explore deeper sites, we have some spectacular vertical walls covered with sea fans and ledges, and sea mounts rising from great depths to as shallow as 50 feet.
EXPERIENCE LEVEL
We cater to all levels of divers. From beginning to the very advanced. There are several sites with a mild current which makes an easy and perfect drift dive. Some sites require great expertise, with currents as strong as 5-7 Knots. We ensure that guests dive at sites suitable for their experience We usually dive from a boat and the captain follow us on the surface, so that you never have to swim back against the current.
WHAT TO SEE?
The majority of the sea life found around Loreto is present throughout the year, however, some species are mostly found during certain months. From our experience, we have seen many of the species during their off season. For example, during the summer of 97, we dove 82 consecutive days with giant mantas, and then, in December, we run into a school of 25 Mantas, and then, the following day we dove with a 40 foot whale shark In August, during the middle of Summer, we run into 2 Blue Whales that came within 15 feet from our boat. Based on our experience, every day we stand a good chance to have a surprise. Throughout the year we have a permanent presence of more than 200 species of tropical fish. The following table will help you understand when is most probable to find specific species
TYPE OF SPECIES
| Species | Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Sea Lions | x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Turtles | x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Dolphins | x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Manta Rays | x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
||||||
| Hammerhead Sharks | x |
x |
x |
x |
||||||||
| Whale Sharks | x |
x |
x |
x |
||||||||
| Blue Whales | x |
x |
x |
|||||||||
| Pilot Whales | x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
||||||
| Grey Whales (on Pacific) |
x |
x |
x |
TEMPERATURE & VISIBILITY
The temperature and visibility changes from 92 degrees and 150 Feet during the summer, to 70 degrees and 50 feet in the winter. Despite these changes, the average visibility is not always the same at all dive sites. We dive different sites facing North, West, South, and East. We monitor the wind constantly, always looking for the day best dive site. No matter where the wind is coming from, we are guaranteed to dive. During the warmer months, we can dive without a wet-suit (bathing suit or shorts and t-shirt). During the winter months, we recommend diving with a wet-suit. However, we have seen many brave Northwest and Canadian divers diving in the heart of winter with nothing but a bathing suit.
The table below will show you the average temperatures troughout the year.
Average Temperatures and Visibility Chart
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
Water Temperature |
70 |
70 |
72 |
74 |
76 |
83 |
88 |
90 |
90 |
86 |
82 |
76 |
Air Temperature |
80 |
80 |
89 |
89 |
88 |
89 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
88 |
85 |
85 |
Visibility |
40 |
40 |
50 |
60 |
70 |
80 |
120 |
120 |
120 |
80 |
76 |
60 |
TRAVEL TIME TO DIVE SITES
On our day trips, we travel to all the islands within the Marine Park. The travel time time can vary from 10 minutes to 1 hour. The determining factor where to go is the prevailing winds.
We operate a fleet of 5 boats (varying in sizes from 22 ft. to 28 ft.)wich cruise at speeds of 40mph. On the smaller boats we carry 6 divers, and 10 divers on the larger boats. We have oxygen aboard the boats, and we always have a trained DAN O2 provider. The boats are Radio and emergency signaling equipment equipped.
On all our scuba trips, we have a Captain, and a certified Divemaster which acts as a guide. However, if a buddy team wishes to dive separately, they may do so .
OUR EQUIPMENT
We maintain a modern equipment room, 2 compressors, and complete gear to outfit as many as 30 divers. The maintenance of our gear is done professionally by trained staff. The compressors filters are changed every 10 hours.
We carry 80's and 50's aluminum tanks. Our weights are soft lead with increment sizes varying from 1 to 5 pounds.
We have 2 types of wet-suits; Farmer johns (for the winter months) and shorties. We have only stock sizes small, medium, large, extra large 3MM for snorkeling, and 5 MM for Scuba diving. People with extraordinary size needs, are best suited to bring their own suits, since we cannot guarantee the fitness of wet suits to any particular individual.
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