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Captain's
Log
Reflections on Club Cantamar
LA Paz, Mexico – August 4th – 8th, 2007
On August 4th, it is with much joy and
anticipation that nine members of our club boarded a Delta flight for 3
days of diving in what we had heard was pristine Baja waters. First off,
my thoughts on Delta airlines. On a level of 1 to 5, I would have to
give them a big fat 1. Be aware, that there are only two flights going
in to La Paz, Mexico on a daily basis. One is Delta, the other Alaska
Airlines. Delta is considerably less expensive…and it shows.
When we arrived, there were lines wrapping twice
around the airport. There were no Delta airlines representatives there
to help and we had to “track down” someone with a Delta uniform on o
answer our questions. Courtesy notwithstanding, we were able to finally
get in the correct line and move forward. On note to the traveler going
to Mexico, I am not sure if this holds true for all airlines, but if you
are traveling to Mexico and you have a passport, you may be able to
check in at the domestic counter. This will save you a huge amount of
time!
Finally at our terminal, we had enough time to grab
breakfast and coffee before we were shuttled on board for our flight.
The airplane was small and stuffy. We sat, parked for an extra 45 min
while Delta tracked down missing passengers whose luggage they already
had in custody. When it finally happened, we were all very happy to take
off…on our way to the destination.
Arriving at Club Cantamar was like arriving at a
lost villa in the middle of the desert. This is what La Paz is. Do not
expect the amenities and other accommodations that you would find in a
more “Americanized” place like Cabo.
If you are going to La Paz….PACK SUPPLIES and I mean everything,
including drinking water. I had brought small rations of shampoo,
toothpaste, soap, lotion and yes, bottled water. I thanked goodness for
this, because these items are not on hand at Club Cantamar and the
nearest store is about 35/40 minutes away in La Paz’s downtown district.
I won’t bore you with every specific detail, I will
touch on key points regarding:
Club Cantamar:
1) Go to the local drug store before you leave for
vacation and buy mini’s of everything you will need. They do not have
these things available
2) The water coming out of my sink was brown at times! Take bottled
water to brush your teeth! Club Cantamar has bottled water for sale for
$2.00 (American) and the bottles are a pretty good size. However, you
can tell this water has been filtered and processed. If you don’t like
this, bring water to drink.
3) Ask the Bartender for a “Banana Daiquiri”. This
is a new drink he learned from one of our friends from Minnesota. It is
awesome and yummy! The swimming pool and swim up bar was also very nice.
However, you may have to tell them to turn down the loud music, which
can ruin the beautiful sunsets.
4) Awesome view off the back of the hotel and lots
of life. I spent an hour hanging over the wall looking at tropical fish,
sea sponges and black crabs. Also, as mentioned above, the sunsets are
amazing. Station yourself outside by the pool, or on the beach in the
back to catch this multi-colored spectacle.
5) Be vigilant about your comfort. If you have
problems with your room, they will not want to move you. However, the
customer is usually always right and if you are demanding enough (and
ask for your money back) they will usually accommodate you. Two
experiences we had:
Club Member 1 – Was given a room in the back
of the hotel, on the bottom floor, facing a busy street, with a broken
lock on the door, separate from the rest of the club. This was
unacceptable for a single woman that is in our group, staying alone. The
room was a crime waiting to happen and we had to pressure the front
office to move her. We finally had to swap rooms with another Club
member and bump the other club member up to a different room, to make
everyone comfortable.
Club Member 2- Two club members had the air conditioner go out in
their room and there was no one on hand to fix it for a day or more.
They also had a lumpy bed. The members were told repeatedly that they
could not be moved; until they demanded a refund for the more expensive
room they were staying in. With the threat of loosing money, a new (air
conditioned) room was suddenly found.
The other Club Members were generally happy with
their rooms. The quality for the price was all right and once you had
air and safe accommodations, the rooms were actually not so bad.
6) Always ask for Ivan, at the front office…if he
is still there. He was great. Unfortunately, many of the staff does not
speak English. The ones that do were not as helpful and on top of things
as Ivan.
7) The food is so-so. One thing I thought was
odd…there was no Mexican food, served in Mexico, at our buffet. It seems
as if they are trying to appeal to a generalized American pallet, and
keep the food very bland. I used lots of salt, which I rarely do. There
were a few meals and desserts that were good, but nothing I can write
home to Mama about.
The Diving:
1) La Reina – named appropriately!! If you do
nothing else while you are there, go to La Reina. This is truly an
amazing dive site and you will not be disappointed. The water was 82
degrees. The visibility around 70 to 80 feet. There was a multitude of
tropical fish, which swam around us in schools.
The abundance of life and the colors was both
astonishing and awesome. If you want to see fish of different colors,
sizes and shapes, this is the place for you. On the second dive, guided
by a dive master, we went through an underwater canyon. This was an
amazing adventure.
There was a little bit of current towards the end
of the dive, but not enough to ruin it. TAKE THIS DIVE!
2) We did not get to go on the seamount dive
because they could not find the seamount
(due to a broken fish finder). The boat needs GPS!
3) Los Islotes was fun, lots of playful sea lions,
fish and moray eels. Water was around 75 degrees but the viz was not
that great, about 20 feet. One thing to be wary of, while we were
diving, a four-knot current kicked up. Several divers had to swim to
another Club Cantamar boat (the closest boat they could get to) and one
diver had to be towed in by a buddy.
The lesson learned… each diver should have his or
her own safety sausage, just in case. Also, when you are in trouble, the
nearest boat is your boat!
The rest of the dives were generally good. But La
Reina really blew away most of the dive sites. One other thing, we got
to see Orca whales while we were out cruising around. We blew off one
dive to see the whales. However, it was worth it. To see the whales
alive and free, and being so close, was truly an amazing and
breathtaking experience.
4) Take a bag lunch. The lunch on the boat...not
so good!
5) They have lots of fresh water and cold beverages, no need to bring
your own or panic. There was enough for everyone!
6) The dive masters and other staff on the boat
were great! However, there were several issues:
a) A Dive master should be on the boat at all times, this was not the
case in many instances.
b) Dive masters should respect a diver's own intuition. If a diver feels
uncomfortable with a dive, or feels that the dive is too advanced, no
one on the boat, especially the crew, should pressure a diver into
diving.
** other than these two issues, everyone was cordial & fun.
7) One other issue, no dive flags in the water when
we were diving. At one point, one of our divers had a boat sail over
their heads. The boat had no way of knowing that there were divers in
the water or where they were. REALLY, watch where you are when you are
ascending. Had our diver not been looking up as they were ascending,
there could have been a major, even life-threatening accident.
All in all, this was a generally a fun dive
vacation. However, this is for divers, not tourist. If you want other
activities, this is probably not the place for you, as all activities
were pretty much centered around diving. There is a small town, which is
about a30 to 40 minute drive from the hotel, but you will need to make
the trip at the times that the hotel has a taxi service to and from the
city. Also, there is not much in La Paz as far as spas, shopping or
other tours. Again, this place is for divers and you go there to dive.
Out of five stars, we gave this one a 2 1/2
star rating.
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