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WHO:
Rich P., Jon D., Greg P., Patrick R.
We left on Thursday May 9th 1996 around 2:30 PM. and WE returned on Monday May 13 around 10:00 PM.
WELL, we had planned to go to Bahia de Los Angeles, BUT we ended up going to Punta Chivato AND Bahia de Los Angeles. Punta Chivato is just North of Mulege on the NEXT northern Point. See the WHOLE STORY below.
The GUYS around the office STARTED a POOL, like a football pool, with participants picking squares but EACH number had a MEANING. I was NOT aware what the number meanings were, but FOR EXAMPLE: 01 MIGHT be a FLAT tire.. Well NUMBER 41 won -- NO PROBLEMS.
We started packing up Jon's RV around 11:00 AM. We got the LIGHTS up and operational around 2:30 PM. So we got 'On the road' between 2:30 & 3:00.
We crossed the BORDER around 4:30-5:00PM. Then we stopped for dinner in ENSENADA around 6ish. By the time we were South of Ensenada it was getting DARK, so it was time to get the LIGHTS aimed correctly. WE were all VERY surprised how BRIGHT those suckers really were and how far out in front of US we could see while driving. I started driving around 10Pm and I drove from San Quitin to Catavina, where WE spent the night, we arived there around 2:30 AM. After about 4-5 hours of sleep we were On the Road Again... When WE got to Punta Prieta, where the PEMEX is supposed to be WE found that the station had it's pumps REMOVED, so NOW it was decision time, do WE: 1) Go back to Catavina, (About 1-2hours), OR 2) Continue to Guerro Negro (1-2Hours) and continue from there to Punta Chivato, on the Sea of Cortez. You can probably guess, there was no turning back... We arrived in Punta Chivato around 2-3PM, set up camp ASAP and EVEN made a Night dive to get ANY GEAR bugs dealt with. That night, 3 of us walked to the Hotel (Which is REALLY a neat place), and I/WE arranged a Panga, (Some of U say Ponga). And we saw the BOBCAT and WE were treated to White Lace during this occasion, (YOU had to be there to understand the Lace...).
So we had dinner and went to sleep looking forward to MORE diving in the morning. Well at about 6AM we got all the gear set and waited for the Panga to show up. We were off and running around 7AM out to 1 of the local reefs. VIS was OK at about 15-20 feet and As I predicted, there were strong currents on the surface (1-3 Knots). Myself & Pat had NO PROBLEMS swimming against it, but it made us tired. So I changed a few rules for all the others and avoided all problems. We made 2 dives at this location (Actually, 2 different areas on this reef). WE were able to collect some nice size scallops, no Langusto, in a way, I kind of expected that the Locals wouldn't take US to their special places, You get what U can I guess...
We got back to the RV in the middle of the afternoon to have a Margie and finally unwind a bit. We headed back to the Hotel a little later and Chat with the locals and thank them for the panga. Jon bought a MAP of Baja and his FIRST comment when he saw for this FIRST time how far WE drove was: 'We drove that far???' Well the map makes it look farther than it was.
One last thing about the Punta Chivato leg of the trip: While WE were going DOWN the BIG hill to Santa Rosalia, there was a 2 car accident. Everyone appeared to be OK. But about 100 yards away from this incident,we came across a woman walking down this hill. Well WE all agreed that SHE would get killed up here so WE offered her a ride down the hill. I have NEVER met anyone quite like this, this woman was on a Pilgrmage. She told US she has been walking since CANADA, YES U heard that right, CANADA! WE did NOT ask her name and she did not ask ours, but I will tell U this, SOMETHING beyond my comprehension was driving this woman, EVEN after all that time in the desert, she wasn't EVEN dirty. THIS WAS AMAZING, in my opinion...
The next morning, we were off the Bahia de Los Angeles. We stopped in San Ignacio which is just about an hour past the TOP of the hill previously mentioned. This area has an osasis and a very old restored mission. Jon and everyone commented about how beautiful this area was and they were glad they saw it (In fact, I was thanked ALOT for all the areas I took them to). While at this stop, we ran into some Americans who said we were NUTS to drive the road to Bahia de Los Angeles at night. But I had an idea what this would be like and I drove the last 2/3's of it. Even though there were a couple of BAD SPOTS, number 41 won as U remember earlier from ABOVE -- NO PROBLEMS.
In the morning, WE went and located a panga again and this time the driver took us on an hour boat ride to an area called Guadalupe and Jose said Scallops 'Are HERE!'. Unfortunately, some OTHER divers had been there recently and it was fished out, all that was there was 40+ feet of VIS 70 degree water but NO SCALLOPS. Well, Jose was very surprised by this and he took us to 4 other places to no avail, NO SCALLOPS. But with the EXCELLENT VIS and incredible Sea life of OTHER types, WE really did NOT care. We did NOT get back to the RV until around 4-5PM. We then cleaned all the gear and had a FEW Margies, UNWIND time again, AFTER a great day of diving.
We left at the Crack of Dawn to make it back to Puerto Nuevo for a BUG dinner. We arrived there around 4-5PM and proceeded to Chow Down that $20- dinner WE bragged about. TASTY, as I like to say.
We made it back to the Border around 8PM and got back to Santa Ana around 10PM.
We ALL want to go again, WE are NOW planning ANOTHER trip to Bay of LA (And MAYBE Punta Chivato). But this time it will be 7-10 days. Wanna go?
Thank You for stopping by.
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