The Sea of Cortez-where the Mountains meet the Sea

This corner of the country seems empty and dry, just some mountains in the far horizon and endless deserts, but there is much more than that. If you would like to take a dip in the waters of the Sea of Cortez you will discover an exciting world.

Sea life is abundant in the Sea of Cortez or Gulf of California and there is no exemption to this in the Guaymas area, there are scuba diving operations in San Carlos that take you to a near site close to the city or around the Tetakawi. The mount that looks like the "Tits of a goat," that is the indigenous name in the local language—and is the landmark of the little peninsula. You can take scuba diving as far as the Island of San Pedro Nolasco, badly named Seal Island (there are no seals in this sea, only sea lions), or maybe to a wreck (but depends on how the weather is as is a difficult site).

Sea life can range from eels or angel fish, but if you are lucky you may watch turtles, dolphins, or whales.

There are a fistful of dive operators but when I went to the area I stayed at the Club Med "Sonora Bay" village and did all my scuba with them, so I can´t compare. I have heard a lot of Gary´s, one of the largest in town. http://www.garysdivemexico.com/index.html

If you are so adventurous as traveling this area in winter/spring, I do recommend you wear a very thick wetsuit as water temperature is very low. In summer/fall it is really nice, being at 85ºF average. Visibility is not amazing, but a very acceptable 30 to 50 feet.

All dive operators called it the "Seal" island, but now everybody knows it is a wrong, but sticky, name as there are no seals in the area (they can only be found in the arctic or at water parks in captivity).

To get there it takes you an hour and minutes from San Carlos where most of the dive operators have their bases. If you are really lucky you may have an encounter with dolphins (pods of 100 or 10,000 are common, depending on the season) or whales, but a normal day in the warm season involves very scarce sightings.

The island is small and there are no beaches, just rocky areas where you will find the sea lions basking under the sun. Your dive operator and dive master should brief you on the fact that you should never approach these areas specially when there are pups, as the resident male will be extremely protective. Taking in account that a bull may weigh around 600 pounds and that he is extremely fast underwater, and you are not, means that it is good advice to keep your distance from their territory.

When the pups are young they are very investigative and curious and will approach you, this is OK, but never do the opposite—you never go looking in THEIR territory, and you never touch them. Pups will nib on your fins and play chase with you, it´s amazing and a lot of fun, but play it cool as their dad is very watchful and possessive.

The dives with the sea lions are not very deep, so you will have a very safe margin, and long dives, but if the colony is not very cooperative you will have a lot to explore around the island. There are many spots at different depths, and the fauna is very healthy and varied. If you are diving in the cold season, you may be lucky to find hammerhead shark. Some of my buddies were that lucky, and they were in ecstatics after they encounter, but I was in a different group and missed it completely.

Seal island is normally done in two tanks of about 45 minutes, depending on the profile you discuss with your dive master.

How about being at the edge of the desert with temperatures of 110°F sounds to you? Some would say hell, but actually it's a paradise if you go to the right place.

Being in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico in summer may be a "bit" hot, but is the best time to go if you enjoy scuba diving and don´t mind having your breath knocked out of you by the incredible panoramas. You can scuba dive with just a shorty (or without a wetsuit) and interact with playful sea lions (incorrectly named seals) and later take a horse back ride among the cactus in the amazing Sonora desert.

Here you can see the most spectacular sunsets, the beach faces the West with nothing obstructing the view.

During summer, be careful, the sand gets extremely hot; don´t forget your water shoes or sandals. It would be extremely painful if you lost your footwear as walking all the the way back to your hotel or the car would be a long, long, long torture.