SAN CARLOS
SONORA MEXICO
The Sea of Cortez is often referred to as the world’s aquarium and has some amazing diving rich in marine life. All the diving is completed from modern dive boats and in the ocean. This area does not get many rebreather divers and we are rewarded by diving some of the most unique reefs in the world that few divers have ever seen. Combining that with warm water, affordable lodging options, and a quick drive from Tucson, Arizona makes San Carlos one of our favorite sites!
Getting There:
There are really only two ways to get to the small beach town of San Carlos, Mexico on the Sea of Cortez. You can fly or drive into Tucson and arrange transportation with Paragon Dive Group and drive south into Mexico. This is how we get down there multiple times per month and where we do all of our recreational dive training. The drive from Tucson to San Carlos takes roughly 5 hours depending on border waits, traffic, and your willingness to drive in Mexico. The other way that people get to San Carlos is to fly into Hermosillo, Mexico and then rent a car and head south. From Hermosillo it is about a 1.5-hour drive to San Carlos and our little piece of paradise.
Getting Around:
If you are flying into Tucson we may be able to arrange transportation within Mexico for you. If you are flying into Hermosillo you will need to rent a car. Once in San Carlos, you will need access to a vehicle to get all the gear to and from the boats and back to your hotel. San Carlos is a small town and you can drive the entire city in about 10 minutes so nothing is far away, but it is not a convenient city for walking due to its layout.
Dive Logistics:
San Carlos is the mecca of recreational diving for Arizona divers and Mexican nationals in the capital of Sonora, Mexico – Hermosillo. There are 3 dive boat operators and 2 of them use modern Newton dive boats that you would be familiar with if you were in Florida. The other operator also uses boats that are purpose built for diving but are just a little older. That being said, we have a ton of choices on who to dive with. The flip side of this coin is that there is ZERO technical diving history in San Carlos, except for us! This means that some of the sites we will dive will have only been visited by very few people if any at all. This also means that if we don’t bring it down from Tucson, we don’t have it. We have to bring down Helium, O2, absorbent, spares, anything we need for a successful course. Fortunately for that, Paragon Dive Group is based in Tucson and is the only authorized Dive Rite CM Service center in the US (besides the Dive Rite factory) so they can handle these logistics.
Paragon Dive Group
Monday-Friday 11AM – 7PM
Saturday-Sunday 10AM-3PM
Diving:
The diving is stunning and remote. We get two truly distinct seasons. The summer in San Carlos brings hot outside temperatures with high humidity but this also typically brings warm clear waters 85F or so and 80-100’ of visibility. In the winter everything cools down and the water temperatures fall into the low 60s or even the high 50s with lower visibility of 30-50’. The colder water brings in big marine life and whales, orcas, rays, etc. are common during this time. Depth can be an issue in San Carlos so for courses we don’t recommend teaching anything but the entry level courses of 100’, 130’, 150’. Anything deeper and we can’t guarantee site access due to weather, and we don’t want to be unable to complete a course due to lack of appropriate sites.
Where To Stay:
Our favorite way to arrange lodging is to rent an Airbnb that fits the class. This way we can use downtime to review, maintain equipment, and keep learning. If that doesn’t sound appealing there are three hotels of varying prices that we recommend: Marina Terra, Sawari Hotel, and Casa Maria. All are excellent and about a 5-minute drive from the marina, if not closer. Lodging is simple and easy and there are plenty of amazing dining options close by.
Other Things To Know:
Even though we are driving we are still entering a foreign country. This means that you will need your passport to get back into the US! The currency is the Mexcian Peso and is preferred by locals for tipping, dining, etc. There are multiple places to exchange currency on the way down and for San Carlos we do recommend you carry some cash as not all dining options take cards. Even if they do accept credit cards, the wifi can be unreliable and we have had issues in the past. Paragon Dive Group has been bringing clients to San Carlos from Tucson for the last 15 years without any issues. In fact, we feel safer in San Carlos than we do in Tucson!
