After a couple days at sea, we were excited to set foot on land and swim in the ocean. Since Hurricane Blanca had just come through, we weren’t sure what water sports would be available, but luckily the undersea world of Cabo San Lucas had settled enough for us to snorkel!
We booked our excursion through Carnival. We suited up with our life jackets and headed out to get a glimpse of the famous El Arco before our first snorkeling site – Santa Maria Bay.
We spent 30 minutes exploring, snorkeling, and free diving. There were a ton of fish and some of the guides hopped in to feed the fish so that they would gather in one place. One of them even grabbed a Guineafowl puffer fish that we could touch.
After we climbed back into the boat, we rode another 15 minutes to Chileno Bay. With another 30 minutes, we decided to lay out on the beach for the majority of the time. Jacob hopped back into the water to try and get more photos with our under water housing, but he wasn’t able to find as many fish.
TIPS FOR SNORKELING CABO SAN LUCAS:
- If you want to try out underwater photography, all our photos were taken with a Canon 5D Mark III amd 35 mm / 1.4L lens in the Ewa-Marine Underwater Housing.
- Almost every water activity will give you a glimpse of El Arco, Lover’s Beach, and Land’s End.
- The excursion lasted roughly 3.5 hours.
- While we were there, the visibility was around 15 feet, but we were told that when there aren’t any storms or hurricanes passing through, the visibility can be up to 60 ft!
- The water was about 70 degrees when we went in early June, which was chilly when you first jump in, but you get used to it eventually.
- They have water and soda for you on the boat.
- There is a dry box to store any of your stuff. It helps to bring a backpack. We always carry our lightweight flash 18 pack.
- Don’t forget to pack extra sunblock so that you can reapply. We all got a little sunburnt.
- They provide you with snorkels and fins or even buy a cheap snorkel on the ship for $5. Our friends brought their own.
- We brought towels from Carnival but didn’t end up using them because we dried off in the sun.
- Don’t forget to tip your guide (we tipped $20 for four of us).
- You can try booking tours separately, but you are never guaranteed to make it back to the ship before they depart or the ship’s schedule might change (It did for us and one of our locations was completely swapped out for another due to the weather).
Santa Maria & Chileno Bay Eco Snorkeling with Cabo Expeditions
$69.99 Per Person
What types of activities do you look for when traveling to new destinations?
Have you snorkeled or gone diving before?
We’re hoping to get certified this year if I can get over my fear of fish and being underwater. :)
A huge thank you to Carnival for hosting our trip. All opinions, photos, and text are our own.
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