Scuba trip: San Carlos, Mexico (October 2016)

Last weekend I went down to San Carlos, Mexico for a dive trip with my local dive shop, Planet Scuba. Read on for a summary of my trip!

San Carlos

Technically, its full name is San Carlos Nuevo Guaymas, since San Carlos is not a city but a subdivision of Guaymas. San Carlos is in Sonora, Mexico and lies on the eastern coast of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California to Americans). This was my first time to San Carlos, but not my first time in Sonora and not my first time in the Sea of Cortez.

San Carlos’ weather is perfect this time of year; highs were in the 80s (26-32°C) and the water surface temperature was 81°F (27°C). At 65 feet, the water temperature was 77°F (25°C).

Getting there

One of the reasons that Planet Scuba organizes trips to San Carlos about once a month is that it’s only about a 6-hour drive from Tucson (longer on the way back depending on how long the border crossing takes).

Since I was going solo for this trip, Planet Scuba helped organize a carpool for me and I was fortunate enough to hitch a ride with a fun, interesting, and generous couple for the weekend. We left Tucson Friday morning and arrived at our hotel, San Carlos Plaza, mid-afternoon, in time for me to catch a beautiful San Carlos sunset.

We drove back Sunday afternoon, arriving in Tucson fairly late as we spent about an hour and a half waiting to cross the border back into the U.S.

One other thing – San Carlos is not a walking town – you definitely need a car to get around.

Diving

We managed to do five dives in two days – not bad!

Day 1

We got off to an early start Saturday morning, meeting at the marina at 6:30.

It took about an hour for the boat to arrive at Punta Sur (South Point), the first of our three dive sites at Isla San Pedro Nolasco.

Visibility was pretty good at all three sites, ranging from 30-50 feet. We saw some great stuff, including octopus, eels, nudibranchs, sea stars, and lots of pufferfish. We even had some sea lions come play with us!

Unfortunately, I can’t prove any of this to you since I don’t have an underwater camera (yet). I really need to get one. Maybe when I get a new job.

On the way back from the island, we passed the hotel (I think). Here’s a picture:

Day 2

We started later on Sunday, but only about 30 minutes later. The boat left the marina around 7 and started towards our first dive site, Roca Ventana (Window Rock).

The dive site had the most interesting topography of the sites we visited on the trip, with an underwater archway to start the dive off. The visibility, though, was pretty low (10-20 feet). This didn’t bother me cause I think it’s fun to change things up, but I know low visibility diving isn’t for everyone. We saw a couple stingrays, chocolate chip sea stars, and some eels, along with lots of the fish we saw the previous day, so I took it as a win.

The best part for me, though, what what I found once I was back on the boat waiting for some of the others to finish their dives. JELLYFISH! All over the place near the boat’s ladders. I had a lot of fun with these little guys, but I’ll save that for it’s own post. For now, here’s a pic of some them by the ladder.

The last dive was at Punta San Antonio. This is a really cool site where a rocky area meets a sandy area, giving you the best of both worlds. Here we saw loads of stingrays and a guineafowl pufferfish, along with lots of other marine life. I was hoping for a seahorse but that’ll have to wait for next time.

Summary

Overall, a great trip. I definitely want to go back to San Carlos, for a number of reasons. First, it’s really close to Tucson so makes for a great long weekend trip. Second, there are plenty of dive sites I haven’t seen yet. Third, I want to see it at other times of the year. Fourth, I want to see the hammerheads. Fifth, Planet Scuba‘s trip leaders and instructors are amazing.

Dives this trip: 5
Total dives: 17

Here’s to many more!