Amigos del Mar
THE YEAR PAST AT AMIGOS DEL MAR
What’s Been Happening With Our Family
By Vicki Castillo
The Staff of Amigos Del Mar
Photo by Chuy Piedra
Julio and I - the Diving Duo of Cabo San Lucas. We’re doing really well, we are very happy and send a big Hola to all our friends we dove with over the past year.
Amigos Del Mar Divemasters Vicki & Julio Castillo
Photo by Chuy Piedra
As Julio and I talked about the year just past, to come up with some thoughts for this newsletter we both agreed that our favorite dives were at the reefs "Across The Bay". Julio favors the reef in front of Twin Dolphins Hotel and I like Barco Varado best, but we both love going over there. It’s always an adventure on the other side; swimming slowly through the canyons looking for nudibranchs while at the same time keeping watch in the water column above us for Manta Rays and Spotted Eagle Rays. You sometimes wish your head was on swivels.
I’m really excited that I was able to certify my daughter Sierra (Many of you met her on the boat when you visited) this past summer and introduce her to the beauty of the Sea of Cortez. She’s now a dedicated diver. I think the best thing that happened to me this year was the opportunity to work with Susan Dipaula from Oregon. This woman had been trying to get certified for years, she had given up in the middle of her Open Water Dives twice before. In September, just after a hurricane had passed Cabo, she and I went out to the murky water of the Bay and she pulled off her last two Open Water Dives like a pro. It was a great moment for her as she overcame her fears and past bad experiences and for me it was one of the most rewarding moments I’ve ever had as an instructor when Susan surfaced after the last dive happy and certified.
Winter into Spring - While the winter and spring are not generally thought of as the best time to dive in Cabo, the log of our diving early in 2003 shows some pretty interesting stuff. Julio started finding the first seahorses of the year at Anegada Rock in April, while diving with Rick and Ann from California and Erik and Dawn from Minnesota. Also in early April I found two frogfish at Anegada Rock. The rest of the log for the spring mentions lots of Moray Eels, quite a few Octopus, many sightings of the White Tipped Reef Sharks at Anegada Rock and some playful Sealion encounters at The Point.
The Summer and Fall Dive Season - started a little early last year; we began diving Cabo Pulmo in early May, two or three weeks earlier than normal. The summer season lasted longer than usual last year also, we were still diving Cabo Pulmo in early December. One of our first groups of the year to Cabo Pulmo, John, Guy and Samantha, diving with Julio, saw a school of Hammerhead Sharks at Los Cantilles in addition to several big Grouper and some Mantas. On May 5th I guided Judy, Leigh, Rob and Tim "Across The Bay" where we found a huge school of Almaco Jacks and dove with a rare Leatherback Turtle. Later in June Polo, taking a break from his duties on Solmar V, guided Charles, Sonny and Wynne to The Blowhole, another "Across The Bay" site, the group had a large Manta swimming with them for most of both dives. July 24th Fabel and I, diving with a group that included Bob and Maggie from Illinois, saw a group of 40 small Mantas while diving at Neptune’s Finger. In November guiding Ed, Bob, Tim and Ken from California I saw three Wahoo at Cabo Pulmo on El Bajo, the group also saw several Clarion Angelfish. In early December, on our last Cabo Pulmo trip of the year, Julio and I took David Carney and his group from the great state of Texas up to Cabo Pulmo. On entering the water the group was surrounded by 100’s of Mobulas. Later on the dive we saw a huge Jewfish of well over 200 lbs. and finally we had a rare Thresher Shark pass close by our group at the end of the dive.
Schooling Mobula Rays at Neptune’s Finger
Photo by Fabel Peredo
In Late September - Hurricane Marty hit Cabo with a vengeance. Gran Amigo, our big dive boat was badly damaged and sank during the storm. We’ve raised the boat though and completely rebuilt the engine. At this writing Gran Amigo is once again carrying divers every day.
Gran Amigo – "The Most Comfortable Dive Boat in Cabo"
Photo by Bruce Herman
December - of course brought the holidays and we took a little time out from the holiday rush of customers celebrate together with a little end of the year party. In Mexico this is called a Posada. A good time was had by all.
Julio entertains at The Amigos Del Mar Christmas Party, Our family sure has grown.
Photo by Kevin Colter
On Christmas Morning, it's become a tradition for some of us to distribute Toys, Blankets and Candy to those less fortunate up in one of the Barrios. We like to think that all of you, our customers, contribute to this.
Kevin plays Santa Claus on Christmas Morning
Photo by Cheryl Lockhart
Other News From The Shop Staff
Manolo - is now the administrator of Amigos Del Mar. His work includes every detail of what happens at the shop from the morning sign-in of customers, to the end of the day balancing of the cash drawer. He did manage to get into the water a bit though. In April he dove with Dean, Sean and Brian from Arizona and saw a big Green Sea Turtle and 30 Mobula Rays on the same dive. He isn’t diving much anymore because of his new job but also because he suffered a serious injury this summer in an accident on a Jet Ski. The Jet Ski rolled over on his leg crushing all the bones in his lower leg and ankle. He was laid up for almost three months, but today with physical therapy he is getting around really well. His wife Ilse and his son are doing great. Manolo is not allowed to rent Jet Skis anymore.
Alex - as Service Manager continues to keep all the equipment of Amigos Del Mar functioning. He still teaches diving to a large number of people each year, passing on his love of the Sea of Cortez to a new generation of divers.
Manuel, Carlitos and Pifas - These guys, the captains of our boats, are the hard working "behind the scenes" crew that make your vacation with us happen. They move the tanks and your equipment to the boat each morning. fill your empty tanks in the afternoon, make sure the boats are clean for you and even help rinse your equipment after you dive. They are all doing well and send you their best wishes.
Danni - Daniel Zapata Lopez is the newest addition to our family. He joined us in October from a different dive shop here in Cabo. Danni has been diving since 1985 and has been guiding divers in the Sea of Cortez since 1989. Danni loves the canyons and swim-throughs at the Blowhole, that’s his favorite site. He likes to show divers the huge schools of yellow Porkfish that gather there. The encounters with Sealions at The Point never fail to thrill him.
Fabel and Friend
Photo by Hector Peredo
Fabel – is the younger brother of Hector, who many of you remember from both Solmar V and the dive shop here in Cabo. Fabel came to us when Hector moved on to do more commercial diving. He has been diving in the Sea of Cortez for 16 years. Today he works part-time for Amigos Del Mar and spends the rest of his time operating his family’s office supply store. His best dive of the year was in April ‘03 at Anegada. While guiding a group of 4 divers from Colorado, he saw several Mantas, a school of big Tuna and a Green Sea Turtle all on the same dive! To his friends in the real world he sends his best wishes and says, "be safe and dive safe mis amigos, come on back and dive with me again". His past customers can email Fabel at deepblueuk@hotmail.com
Manta & Fabel
Photo by Hector Peredo
Kevin - had an exciting year – In May he went south to the Revillagigedos Islands aboard Solmar V. His weeklong trip included encounters with Giant Pacific Manta Rays, Silky and Galapagos Sharks, several pods of wild dolphins and a Whale Shark.
Mantas love to have their tummy's rubbed. Here Oscar Ortiz scratches the belly of a big Manta
Photo by Kevin Colter
A Silky Shark cruises overhead at Roca Partida
Photo by Kevin Colter
A Diver’s Dream, a Whale Shark up close
Photo by Kevin Colter
Kevin says his best Cabo dive of the year came In September while guiding Kent Anderson from San Francisco "Across The Bay". At the "Blowhole they were surrounded by a school of 10 or 12 small Manta Rays!! These 8-foot rays swooped, danced and pirouetted around them for almost 15 minutes.
Three Mantas swoop by Kevin and Kent at the Blowhole
Photo by Kevin Colter
On January 10th, Kevin and a group of divers were involved in the rescue of a Humpback Whale that had become completely entangled in a monofilament gill net. After several hours of exhausting labor this beautiful, doomed animal was freed to swim in the ocean again.
Kevin clearing the net from around the whale's mouth and head
Photo By Miguel Ortiz
Kevin and the freed whale swimming together
Photo By Miguel Ortiz
More information on this amazing rescue can be found on the websites of The Sea Shepherd Society at or Sea Watch. The complete story with more pictures is posted at www.terramardestinations.com in their section titled "news up date">
The Solmar V Divemasters Update
Axel - left the Solmar V at the end of the summer Sea of Cortez season. After 4 years of service he decided it was time to start planning for the rest of his life. A life unfortunately that doesn’t include diving for a living. Axel is presently attending a cooking school in Spain and plans to become a chef. He will be missed by all of us and by all of the Solmar V clients who knew him well.
Rey - Jesus Reyes Castillo Zazueta has been with Amigos Del Mar for five years, most of this time he has been on Solmar V. With Axel’s departure Rey has been promoted to the lead divemaster position on Solmar V. He wants all his diving friends to know that his son is doing much better after his last surgery. The rest of his family is fine and sends their thanks for all of your concerns.
Rey had some fabulous Solmar V trips in the last year. The ones that really stand out in his mind were:
The May 15th 2003 trip where he, accompanied by Zaid Fadul, Art Adams, Sylvie Adams, Mark Foster, Dale Fisher and Elizabeth Fisher had an exciting encounter with a 14-foot Tiger Shark up close!! The Shark made several curious passes at the group, approaching within 5 feet at one point. This group was thrilled with this encounter with one of the seas largest predators. Some were so thrilled they forgot to take pictures.
During the summer, the Solmar V runs up into the Sea of Cortez instead of south to Socorro. These trips are a different kind of adventure. Lots of reef fish, nudibranchs and octopus are the norm. Rey still guides divers to big animal encounters on these voyages though. Sightings of Mantas, Hammerheads, even whale sharks are not unusual. On the August 3rd trip he dove with Albert Zhmudskiy, Alexender Zaltsman, Andrey Ulanov, Peter Rybak and Vladimir Estrov a group from Russia. On an early morning dive this group had the thrilling experience of diving with a pod of Pilot Whales. Drifting in the open ocean in front of Los Islotes the group was surrounded by 20 of these beautiful animals while on their safety stop. For several minutes the whales circled the group and then disappeared into the blue.
On the December 5th 2003 trip to Socorro, while at Roca Partida, Rey and his group had the unbelievable opportunity to dive with 6 different Whale Sharks over a two-day period. The largest of these was over 40 feet. The group; Salvador Garcia, James Atkinson, Cynthia Atkinson, Ellen Junior, Fred Wissell, Carol Fisher, David Shaw and Peter Marshall were still talking about this amazing two days when they got back to Cabo. They probably still are.
Polo - With Axel leaving we needed a new "class clown" on the big boat and Polo has stepped forward to ably fill that role. His real name is Osvaldo, for oblivious reasons he goes by Polo. He has been diving for seven years and has been an instructor for three years. After two years of working for Amigos Del Mar here in Cabo he is now "permanent party" and is part of the Amigos Del Mar staff onboard the Solmar V.
As a Solmar V divemaster Polo has been able to realize one of his great diving dreams. In his own words, "Ever since I began diving I wanted to see a dolphin in the ocean. I have seen may dolphins of course playing in the bow wave of the boats I worked on, and I’ve seen some dolphins in captivity but I wanted to see a dolphin while underwater. In March of 2003, my wish was finally granted by the gods of the sea. I was drifting in the current with a group of divers near Roca Partida when we drifted into a huge school of tuna. Suddenly the picture changed, the tuna dove deep and out of sight and a pod of dolphins came in to make my dreams come true. They circled us, curious about us, like a child with a new toy. I turned to look at my group and saw one of the group, a diver named Steve, actually swimming the same way the dolphin swam and turning in circles as they do. This made the Dolphin even more curious and they came even closer. When we got back on the boat, I started calling him Steve Delfin for the rest of the trip. I learned from him though, now every time we encounter dolphins I show my divers how to act like them so they welcome us, for a short time, into their family".
Dolphins At Play at Roca Partida
Photo by Kevin Colter
Nelson - Nelson Andres Cota Estrada, joined the Solmar V crew in October. Nelson brings to his job 12 years of extensive diving experience and six years as an instructor. Before joining us he worked for 8 years as a divemaster in La Paz, this experience will serve him well on the Solmar V’s summer trips in the Sea of Cortez, his knowledge of the marine life and dive sites in the Sea of Cortez is extensive.
His first Solmar V trip to Socorro was in November. He says he still remembers how wild and desolate San Benidicto looked that first day, like another planet. When he stepped off the boat for the first time at Submarine Canyon he couldn’t believe how much life was there. The big Mantas, Silky Sharks and Hammerheads were a kind of sensory overload on his first dive.
The foreboding Volcanic Island of San Benidicto
Photo by Kevin Colter
Nelson says he had a bit of a fear of Tiger Sharks before he started his work on Solmar V. He’d never actually seen one, but the tall tales of the Fisherman and Pearl Divers where he’s from gave him many worries. Those fears changed to wonder when, with Tom Campbell and his group on that same November trip at Cabo Pearce, a 10-foot Tiger swamdiving by to look them over during their safety stop. Today, Nelson loves to guide Solmar V clients to Tiger Shark sightings and to explain to them that these beautiful, perfect predators are not aggressive, just part of the natural order of life in the ocean.
In Closing
In December, at the Amigos Del Mar Christmas Party, Kevin made a few short remarks to wind up our year. He pointed out it had in many ways been a really tough year for us. The lack of customers from the post 9/11 drop in tourism has been hard, Manolo’s serious injury put a big strain on all of us, and the sinking and rebuilding of Gran Amigo was terribly stressful. All of these were hard things to get through for sure. But, then he asked us all to look around the room at our coworkers, their beautiful families and our friends. He said, "We’re all happy, our families are healthy and we’re all still here together. That’s the stuff that really counts".
And so it is, Thanks To All of You,
Vicki Castillo & The Staff of Amigos Del Mar
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