The bottom line is that the diving around San Felipe is not very good. The high tides of the Northern Sea of Cortez are the main culprit. The water is often murky and much of the bottom is simply sand. Almost the entire coast around town is easily accessible for beach entry. There simply is nothing worth seeing when diving from the beaches around town. I think the exception would be just off of Punta Machorra where there appears to be a good drop. The problem here is that this area gets fished a lot, sometimes with nets, and you need a boat.
All of the people that I have talked to agree that there is no decent diving until you get to Puertocitos. I have heard that the dive off of Consag Rock is very good. Cousteau made a documentary about the Sea Lions and the Hammerheads he found there. Unfortunately it is a long boat ride there and usually done as a tech dive. I know of no one guiding dive trips to Consag.
Despite the dismal dive picture there are two people that are P.A.D.I. instructors that live down here part time. Sometimes there is even a dive compressor available. It is possible to get tanks filled in Mexicalli, but at $10/tank you night as well go back across the border for refills. Around here most my diving friends just own several tanks.
So
is it worth going all the way to Puertocitos to dive? If you've spent any time
at this site you know all about how bad the road can be. For me it's not too
bad, a trip I'd gladly endure for a good day of diving.I did some of my open water certification off of the boat ramp, where this picture is taken. Again the bottom is shallow, sandy, and boring. Visibility is usually poor but sometimes can be surprisingly clear. However you can snorkel around the point, to the where the hot springs are, and find lots of colorful fish. Sometimes it's fun to sneak up on the fat pale tourist fish that can be found in the hot springs at high tide. They're ugly but fun to watch when you scare them.
The coast on south from Puertocitos is where the diving becomes worthwhile. There are little pockets of beach, some pebble some sand, hiding between steep rocky volcanic hills. There are more changes in the underwater topography, more fish, and greater chance of good visibility.
My last several dive trips have been well beyond Puertocitos. A friend, who is an instructor, and my self have been doing some exploration down by Punta Bufeo and Gonzaga Bay. Visibility can still be a problem but not as often. Water temperatures were in the upper 60's when we there in early May. We did one beach entry drift dive at Punta Bufeo. After a short swim to get past a few rocks we headed east along the face of the bluffs. When we got down to about 20 ft. the current started picking up along with the number of fish. We went on down to 30 feet but weren't seeing as many fish so went closer in to shore. Visibility was 20-25 ft. When the air finally ran low and we surfaced we were amazed at how far we had drifted. Our friends, who were following along fishing, picked us up and took us back to my truck on the beach.
The road from Puertocitos south is nothing short of amazing and most people who drive great big 4 wheel drive trucks and hot little race buggies really like it. Everyone else is amazed that anyone would ever dive it more than once, willingly. I do it when I can plan on staying for 4 or 5 days. The only reason I include this area in a discussion about San Felipe is that it is as close to there as anywhere else.
I guess the bottom line on this is - Don't come to San Felipe for the diving. But if you're coming to San Felipe then you might want to bring the dive gear.