Snorkling in Cabo Pulmo

I wanted to get away from my resort to see more of Baja. I rented a car and headed east to Cabo Pulmo to go snorkling. Cabo Pulmo, on the gulf of California, has the only coral reef on the west coast. It also turns out to be the Baja California you'd picture Baja California to be, not the disneyland-on-crack that is Cabo San Lucas.

The first hour or so was on paved roads, but eventually you're riding on washboard dirt roads. Yeah, the beach in CSL was amazing, but the open space and quiet of the east cape made it feel like a different place altogether.

The landscape was fantastic. Harsh brush and cactuses, all thorny and crooked, withered under the relentless sun.

Cows, goats, horses and dogs wander the roads freely. Vultures and hawks circle above, or rest on cactuses. The only thing that scared me was the dogs because I had my windows open and they were in a pack chasing my car.

I finally reached the dive shop, rented some snorkeling gear, and drove up to the beach. The dark spots in the water are coral reef.

I didn't have any underwater photo equipment so you'll have to use your imagination. The first thing I saw was absolutely nothing. It was late in the day and the waves had dragged a lot of sand out, clouding the waters. I swam around a little bit further and started seeing small minnows. They were in schools organized by size from pencil-tip to pinky-finger in length. The school moved as one organism, the boundaries shockingly distinct, almost like a giant amoeba moving around with the currents. Before long I was in a place where my entire field of vision was minnows. 10's or 100's of thousands of them. It was like being out at night in a rain storm with a flashlight.

Further out were all kinds of huge, bright tropical fish. There were intense blue fish that swam alone on the floor, big fat black fish with yellow dots, razor fish with noses as long as the rest of their body, giant yellow angel fish, skates, and huge blue fish with lips at the end of a long pencil-thin mouth, sucking on the coral. Maybe the goggles magnified, but most of these fish seemed at least as big as my head. I tried to follow a pelican around for a while as it scooped up buckets of fish, but I could never quite get a good view.

Next I returned my gear and got back on the road. Everything seems to be in a slow state of eternal decay.

I found this place called Crossroads Country Club that was excellent. They had a library, satellite Internet, and the best fish tacos I had in Baja.

As I got closer to civilization, I found more modern houses which were also interesting.

The last hour or two were the diciest. I'm pretty sure I made a wrong turn following some bozos going 15 in their 4wd SUVs and spent an extra hour on the dirt roads. I didn't get home until way past dark.