|
ATV RENTALS
ATV's can be rented at a variety of locations in the town of . You
can also take an ATV guided trip through the desert and along deserted beaches. Trips range from 1 to 4 hours.
Price: $35 - $75 depending on length of time.
Return to top of page
BEACHES
All resorts in East Cape offer beautiful Beach access.
Return to top of page
FISHING
The Sea of Cortez is one of the most prolific fishing traps anywhere in the world and East Cape is no exception. Marlin
fishing is good year round and the avid angler may enjoy a catch filled with hundreds of other species as well.
CostaMar Sportfishing offers complete fishing packages with a large variety of fishing boats to choose from.
Return to top of page
HORSEBACK RIDING
Take a ride along the beach and enjoy East Cape in a different
way. There are horse rentals and tours at several of the resorts.
Price: approximately $25.00 - $50.00 depending on length of ride.
Return to top of page
KAYAKING
Many resorts offer kayak rentals
Price: Prices run approximately $20 - $35 per hour for Kayaking.
Return to top of page
NIGHT LIFE
Most resorts in East Cape offer various evening activities to hold
your attention. Check for the particular activities once you check in.
Return to top of page
SCUBA & SNORKELING
DIVING INFORMATION
By Jonathan Roldan
Normally, there's something to be said for going the extra mile.
That is, unless it's your first time driving the East Cape of Baja. It can get discouraging. Unlike so many areas of the Peninsula which
have now been made accessible by the Transpeninsular Highway, the East Cape still holds it's secrets close to the (buoyancy) vest where sandy beaches, secluded coves, and some of Baja's best
driving remain undiscovered unless you're geared for a little off-road adventure.
Generally speaking, the area encompasses the area just north of
the small town of Los Barriles, moving south to the village of Cabo Pulmo and Bahia Los Frailes to the area of Punta Gorda. A four-wheel drive isn't necessary, but some tolerance for dust and
cactus would help. It's a little out of the way, generally 2 hours in either direction from Cabo San Lucas to the south and La Paz to
the north. Your trip may entail a little teeth rattling on the area's washboard roads, even if you decide to ride with a tour shuttle.
However, it's well worth it,,if you prefer your driving without a dozen other boats motoring around you or you can handle your snorkeling in your own private cove without the sound of jet skis
and disco music pounding your ears!
A number of tour operators will be more than happy to assist you with travel, diving and snorkeling tours to the East Cape. However
,I've always liked doing my own diving with the locals and only two certified and licensed diving operations on the East Cape are Pepe's Dive Center in Cabo Pulmo and Vista Sea Sport in Los
Barilles. Good friends and competitors, Jose "Pepe" Murrietta in Cabo Pulmo and Mark and Jennifer Rayor in Los Barriles have not
only been instrumental in opening up the underwater world of the East Cape, but have likewise been stalwart guardians of the ocean environment as well.
Ultimately professional, they are all congenial hosts, marvelous historians and storytellers with personal hands-on attitudes. They are nevertheless, a study in contrasts. Are we here? Is this it? It
can't be!" is the typical first response to visiting Pepe's Dive Center in Cabo Pulmo. After an hour down the dusty dirt road to Cabo
Pulmo, visitors arrive at Pepe's, a palm-thatched roof edifice on a slab of concrete webbed with snorkels, regulators and other dive paraphernalia, ornately sprinkled with character as well as
"characters". Prospective divers are often a bit surprised upon their arrival in the little village of Cabo Pulmo where Pepe is jokingly
referred to as the ex-officio mayor, mailman, sheriff, phone operator and chamber of commerce all-in-one. More than likely you'll be personally greeted by the stout muscular man with wild
hair and the largest smile you'll see on the Peninsula.
That's Pepe! If Pepe and his wife, libby don't have you laughing in
minutes, the kids or the dog will certainly pick up the slack. Get used to the social atmosphere. Pepe's is also the unspoken center
of town for the village of Cabo Pulmo. It's the Baja equivalent of the "cracker barrel" meeting place for vagabonds, divers, fisherman
, and travelers. That's part of the fun. Someone is generally dozing in the hammock strung up in the open-air dive center. Another
group is simply discussing the great lunch they had at Nancy's Restaurant across the road, which by the way, is owned by Pepe's mother-in-law. Pepe is local, but speaks impeccable English and
you can find him handling groups of Italians or Germans with equal ease and levity.
Don't be fooled however, Pepe knows his stuff. He has the benefit
of literally operating on the beach at Cabo Pulmo, which is quickly gaining recognition as the sight of the only living coral reef in the
Sea of Cortez, and indeed the northernmost living coral reef in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. As both a PADI and SSI instructor, Pepe has logged more than 5,000 dives in the area which boasts
not only spectacular coral growth, but several wrecks, a small colony of sealion and various spectacular "finger reef" extending
onto the Sea of Cortez. Generally none of the dives is deeper than 60 feet, nor further than a few minutes boat ride away, characteristic of much of the diving on the East Cape. Rock Island,
Frailes Bay, the Bajo, Mermaid Cove and the wreck of the Colima are just a few of the dive sights visited by Pepe and his dive boats.
Further up the coast in the picturesque area of Buena Vista/Los Barriles, Pepe's counterparts, Mark and Jennifer Rayor operate Vista Sea Sports. An avid waterman, Mark and Jennifer migrated
from a real estate business in Southern California more than a decade ago to settle in the East Cape. The Rayor's don't operate a shop, per se, but instead hold the official SCUBA/Snorkel
concession for almost all of the East Cape resorts including, Palmas de Cortez, Punta Colorado, Playa del Sol, Rancho Buenavista and Punta Pescadero. The Rayors will pick you up at
your hotel with all of your gear ready to go. Not to worry if you're traveling light, as the Rayors have a full-line of first rate rental
gear. From there the Vista boats range as far north as Cerralvo Island and as far south as Cabo Pulmo and the Gorda Banks, to give their clients the best variety of diving opportunities. With
three boats now in the water, the Rayors are watching tremendous dive growth in the vicinity. Both Mark and Jennifer are PADI instructors, and one of the benefits of working with so many top
-flight hotels is the availability of the hotel swimming pools for holding SCUBA classes. This is especially significant for those
who aren't completely convinced they want a full open-water certification, but would rather attempt an "introduction class" to familiarize themselves with breathing underwater.
Like Pepe's operation to the south in Cabo Pulmo, you get the whole package with Mark and Jennifer who abhor the "cattle boat"
concept of diving which seems to have proliferated many other resort areas of Baja. On the contrary, you'll be diving with either or
both of the Rayors, who seem to know everything about everything from currents, waves and underwater flora and fauna, to the best
restaurant for chile rellenos! It's personal service at its best, and you can expect anything at anytime diving this rich aquatic environs from whale sharks to mantas, and from dolphins to
hammerheads!
Together with the local East Cape hotel operators, both Pepe and the Rayors have created a formidable alliance to protect the East
Cape reefs and resources from poachers, commercial fishing, and other destructive practices. On several occasions, the alliance has
been instrumental in confronting and terminating illegal fishing and netting on the Cabo Pulma reef, a national marine sanctuary which has, through the use of cameras, their fleet of boats, plain old
bulldog vigilance, as well as an active public relations campaign, they are making headway into preserving a unique part of Baja for everyone to enjoy for years to come... that is, if you can stand a
little adventure down the dirt roads!
Return to top of page
WINDSURFING
The most ideal place for Windsurfing is 45 miles north of Los Cabos airport at Los Barriles.
Return to top of page
LOS CABOS SEA ADVENTURES
PIRATE CRUISE
Just an hour south in Cabo San Lucas. Over one hundred feet long and nineteen feet wide she is big, roomy and stable. Enjoy a
breathtaking cruise along the pristine Baja coastline and help yourself to the cooler full of ice-cold beer and soda, or ask one of
the crew for some of the famous "Pirate Punch", a rum drink strait from the Caribbean, it is all included in the price.
Schedule: (Departs from Plaza Las Glorias dock in Cabo)
1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M.
4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
Price: $35.00 U.S. per person, includes FREE drinks
Kids under the age of twelve are FREE
Return to top of page
|
