CHUM - Houston's SCUBA Club is the sponsor of the 
- First Name
- Roger
What a nice surprise - a sleepy little fishing village on the Gulf of California that has a 20 year-old national marine park just offshore. Where is this place? Loreto, Mexico.
It’s not easy to get to, but if you know me, you know that’s part of why I’m drawn there.
It looks like the best way is to fly to San Diego, take a shuttle to the Tijuana airport, and then fly on Calafia airlines to Loreto. Unfortunately, that’s not a daily flight, but it is available on Sundays, Tuesdays & Thursdays. With the shuttle time from San Diego to Tijuana, it makes doing the whole trip in one day almost impossible. At least one overnight in San Diego is needed each way.
What I’m considering is flying out late on Friday, Mar 17th, spending a day in San Diego, flying to Loreto on Sunday the 19th, diving Monday thru Saturday, flying back to Tijuana on Sunday, Mar 26th, overnight again in San Diego and then back to Houston on Monday, Mar 27th. That’d require 6 days vacation, but I can’t find a good way to get around that.
This trip has the green light from the BOD, but neither the club nor I are collecting any of the money. The participants will all pay the operators directly & we’ll split hotels & such.
Pricing estimates look like:
Airfare on Southwest (Houston to San Diego) - $380 round trip
Airfare on Calafia (Tijuana to Loreto) - $205 round trip
Hotels in San Diego (Motel 6) - $60/night
Shuttle, San Diego to & from Tijuana - $25 each way
Hotels in Loreto, wide range, budget to luxury. Reasonable ones look like $50-$150/night
Diving in Loreto - $135 for 2 tanks per day (a bit more if only 2 people on the boat)
3rd dives each day possible at an additional cost.
Night dive - $100 for 1 tank
As long as one other person’s up for it, I’ll be going (once my vacation days get approved). Max group size would be 7, dependent of course on whether there were spots available on the boat.
If you’re interested, please note that this is Sea of Cortez diving, not Caribbean reef diving. Water temps that time of year should be brisk. The operator’s website said mid 70’s, but the guy on the phone said mid 60’s. Buckle up, buttercup. The topography is volcanic and the viz could be in the 30-40’ range. Why so low? There’s krill in the water. What does krill bring? Whales and other cool filter feeder critters. IF the whales are there, we won’t get to dive with them, but we could get to see them from the surface. I’ve heard the diving there described as pristine, and they have an amazing diversity of marine life, even if the whales don’t make an appearance.
I’m eager to get there. Anyone else wanna go check out an off the beaten path part of Mexico with me?
Bring your alibis…
It’s not easy to get to, but if you know me, you know that’s part of why I’m drawn there.
It looks like the best way is to fly to San Diego, take a shuttle to the Tijuana airport, and then fly on Calafia airlines to Loreto. Unfortunately, that’s not a daily flight, but it is available on Sundays, Tuesdays & Thursdays. With the shuttle time from San Diego to Tijuana, it makes doing the whole trip in one day almost impossible. At least one overnight in San Diego is needed each way.
What I’m considering is flying out late on Friday, Mar 17th, spending a day in San Diego, flying to Loreto on Sunday the 19th, diving Monday thru Saturday, flying back to Tijuana on Sunday, Mar 26th, overnight again in San Diego and then back to Houston on Monday, Mar 27th. That’d require 6 days vacation, but I can’t find a good way to get around that.
This trip has the green light from the BOD, but neither the club nor I are collecting any of the money. The participants will all pay the operators directly & we’ll split hotels & such.
Pricing estimates look like:
Airfare on Southwest (Houston to San Diego) - $380 round trip
Airfare on Calafia (Tijuana to Loreto) - $205 round trip
Hotels in San Diego (Motel 6) - $60/night
Shuttle, San Diego to & from Tijuana - $25 each way
Hotels in Loreto, wide range, budget to luxury. Reasonable ones look like $50-$150/night
Diving in Loreto - $135 for 2 tanks per day (a bit more if only 2 people on the boat)
3rd dives each day possible at an additional cost.
Night dive - $100 for 1 tank
As long as one other person’s up for it, I’ll be going (once my vacation days get approved). Max group size would be 7, dependent of course on whether there were spots available on the boat.
If you’re interested, please note that this is Sea of Cortez diving, not Caribbean reef diving. Water temps that time of year should be brisk. The operator’s website said mid 70’s, but the guy on the phone said mid 60’s. Buckle up, buttercup. The topography is volcanic and the viz could be in the 30-40’ range. Why so low? There’s krill in the water. What does krill bring? Whales and other cool filter feeder critters. IF the whales are there, we won’t get to dive with them, but we could get to see them from the surface. I’ve heard the diving there described as pristine, and they have an amazing diversity of marine life, even if the whales don’t make an appearance.
I’m eager to get there. Anyone else wanna go check out an off the beaten path part of Mexico with me?
Bring your alibis…
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