DESEA ADVENTURES DIVING REPORT

March 11, 2005, Andrea Tomba, Desea Adventures, La Paz, Mexico Fishing and Diving Report:

Except for a few days of rain, which have filled the desert with life and color, the summer weather has maintained itself here in La Paz. We had cooler mornings and evenings at La Paz, but the sun quickly warms up our visitors during the day. La Paz water temperature has been approximately 68 to 71 degrees, with visibility varying from green pea soup of 10 foot visibility, usually on the top layer, to a 40 foot visibility with suspended articles.

El Bajo, north of La Paz, apart from still having a strong presence of the beautifully majestic Hammerhead Sharks, is still holding some nice Yellowtail, and we have heard about some nice Amberjacks. However, as our friends Dave Brooksy and Will discovered, some of the greatest prizes Isla Espiritu Santo held were some beautiful Pargo, of around 35 to 40 pounds. And they saw much bigger ones!!!

Further south of La Paz, by Punta Pescadero and Los Muertos, the pargos were also present, as were yellowtail, however the summer fish keeps hanging in there, with Dorado and Marlin being caught. Will managed to get great underwater footage of what looked like a 150 pound Striped Marlin swimming away. So, for being almost at the middle of March, it seems that anything can happen!

Great news that SeaWatch’s efforts to help the Sea of Cortez continues, as Mike McGettigan & Sheri Schaffer of Ambar III lead a successful attempt to release a young Humpback Whale, who had gotten wrapped up in a fishing net, just 4 miles outside of the Bay of La Paz. Except for 2 Stingrays, the whale was the net's only catch, and one only dreads to think of the death and destruction that goes by unnoticed.

We would also like to give a special salute to Sea of Cortez friend and protector, to one of the pioneers of diving in La Paz, and a true and unselfish friend of La Paz, John “Juan Pistola” Riffe! His wife Gloria, the entire RIFFE family and John’s friends held an emotional memorial at the Salvatierra Wreck near La Paz, where his brother Jay laid a titanium plaque in memory of John’s love of the ocean. As long as there is an ocean, those who had the good fortune to know John and generations to come will hear of the adventures of a great man. “Roger that!”

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from La Paz and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for La Paz may be found at Mexfish.com's main La Paz page.