Diving the Sea of Cortez

Diving in the Sea of Cortez in the spring is an adventure….the water has not warmed up yet (it was 60’ when we got there and 68’ when we left) and this year it took its sweet time warming up. The seasonal change hung around for awhile also, resulting in green water and low visibility. But that did not keep us out of the water! I was able to log over 40 dives while we were there. Most of the time we dove in 9 mil wetsuits, with gloves, hoods and thick boots. As the wetsuit is almost 3/8 inch thick and the zipper is at the top across your shoulders, it is like putting on very thick support pantyhose. Mike Huhn, the owner of Ocean Sports, whom Jim works for, suggested wearing pantyhose under my wetsuit to make it easier to go on & it worked like a charm!

Jim had several groups of students and a couple of very interesting ones. He was dive master for “Ocean Camp”. A busload of high school students came from Hermosillo. They were on the boat and Jim was in the water with a video camera attached to a monitor on board. An oceanographer identified & described what the students were seeing as Jim videoed under the water! It was a great experience for everyone.

Right before we left a group of marine biology professors and students from the University in Morelio came to San Carlos for a week. One of the requirements for their classes is that they be certified divers. So the 1^st part of the week 12 students completed their open water certification. After that each dive was underwater class time, collecting samples, identifying different species and observing behaviors. I think I learned as much as they did…..it was very interesting and lots of fun. They got to practice their English and we got to practice Spanish.

Our last weekend there, we had several groups from Tucson, Phoenix and Hermosillo. I think there were 35 on the boat.  We decided to make it a going away party for us and fixed the boat a special treat. We got fresh crab from Guaymas and all the fixings for crab tostados and I made mass quantities of guacamole….what a feast! And we had some of our best dives so far!

What a great time. We saw some great creatures and saw things we’d never seen before. The sea lions were awesome as usual, but we had several dives with lots of dolphins along for the ride, too. The highlight of “1^st time I ever saw that” was a free swimming, at depth, Man of War jellyfish. He was pulsing along on the bottom, with his electric blue tentacles trailing behind. He was over 10 feet long. And of course we did not have the camera as the visibility sucked.  He was very, very cool.   

We made a lot of new friends this year and hope to dive with many of them again and again. Can’t wait to get back in August to dive warm water and see a whole new group of creatures. (Sealife in the Sea of Cortez)