Page 302 - Mexico Diving From the Caribbean to Pacific Isles

sla San Clemente - This island is the fur- lent for night dives if there is no current. ocas de las Focas - A small set of rocks that
breaks the surface of the west of island
I Rthest away from La Paz before you get to
Ithe Midriff islands. there are two dive sites sla Las Animas - This small island has Francisquito. Both sides drop off to a sandy
some of the best diving sites in the Sea bottom in about 20m and there is a small
on the island, one on the NE point drops off
to over 40 meters where there is an abun- of Cortes, anywhere you jump in the water colony of lions that play on the rocks. there

dance of fish and black coral as well as a around the island is a good dive spot. The can be current here and usually lots of reef

strong current. The other is just around the northern rock and eastern pinnacles are fish with a occasional school of barracuda.

corner with rocky boulders and fish down frequented by small aggregations of ham- M arisla Sea mount - Also known as “El
to 20 meters on the north face of the island. merhead sharks as well as lots of school- Bajo”, is actually three separate sea
ing fish and even sailfish. The southern mounts rising up close together. While it
I sla San Diego - located over 1 km. from sea mounts also have hammerheads and is possible to visit all three in one dive.
San Diego Island is a small area of rocks occasionally whales sharks or manta rays.

that comes above water level about 1 meter. A ll these areas usually have strong cur- There is usually a strong current that pro-
Depths around these rocks are about 10 me- rent flowing over the reef. The fish life hibits this, the northern sea mount is most
ters and the underside is full of caverns and famous for aggregations of hammerhead

grottos that you can easily swim trough. The including the north and east side of the is- sharks which are normally found to the NE

reef extends SW and curves around like a land have a series of caverns, some extend- in 40 meters of the water. The tops of the

horseshoe to depths of 30 meters Turtles can ing well beyond the limits of recreational sea mounts are all around 20 meters and

usually be found resting all over the reef and divers.The cove on the west side is a great the middle sea mount is covered with large

whale sharks and mobulas are rarely seen night dive as it is protected from the cur- green moray eels. Lots of schooling pelag-

when there is a strong current flowing over rents and there are a few sea lions that live ic fish can be found here and occasional

the reef. The fish life around the rocks is in- on the west rocks. It is also possible to see sightings of whale sharks and manta rays.

credible and it is like swimming in an aquar- and snorkel with bottlenose dolphins, pi-

ium. Look out for nudibranch, sea horses lot whales and even giant squid at night.

and blue spotted jawfish. this is also excel-