Cabo Pulmo · Mexico · Pinnacle · Wall
El Islote
A rock pinnacle circled in one easy lap, out to 20 m.
Area photo: Peter Potrowl · CC BY-SA 4.0
El Islote is a rock pinnacle off Cabo Pulmo, dived as a circle around its base with wall sections and short detours out to neighbouring outcrops. It reaches the surface and drops to around 20 metres, so the profile is simple to control. Schools of African pompano pass it, while morays, lobster and nudibranchs live on the rock itself.
Where it is and how deep
23.4224° N, 109.4068° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
Dives here are run as a lap. Drop in beside the pinnacle and swim a circular pattern around it, keeping the rock on one shoulder the whole way. The wall face supplies the vertical part of the dive, dropping to about 20 metres, and short outshoots run from it across to separate rock outcroppings, which is where groups add distance when air and time allow before closing the circle back at the pinnacle.
The rock itself is the close-up dive: nudibranchs, lobsters wedged into holes, eels of several kinds — garden, green, zebra, fine-spotted and jewel — and giant damselfish holding station against the stone. Out from the wall, schools of African pompano, groupers and snapper move past and turtles cross the site. Sardine schools arrive seasonally, and whitetip sharks are a possible rather than a dependable encounter.
Marine life and season
- Trevally & jacks
- Groupers
- Sea turtles
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
- Reef fish swarms
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Cabo Pulmo: Warm water June-November brings bull sharks and large mobula aggregations; winter is cooler and calmer but still diveable.
Questions divers ask
How deep is El Islote?+
The pinnacle runs from the surface to about 20 metres, and the standard dive is a circular route around it, so you choose your own depth within that range.
Sources
- El Islote — Scubago
- Dive Sites Cabo Pulmo — Cabo Pulmo Beach Resort
More dive sites in Cabo Pulmo
Reef
Reef topography that mirrors the cliffs above, at 11 to 18 metres.
Reef
Cracked shallow reef where big-eye trevally school.
Wreck
A sunken tuna trawler that gathers bull sharks in season.
Reef
Sea lions in 3 to 9 metres, on a rock bottom with no coral.
Reef
Rated advanced for swift current rather than for depth.
Similar dives elsewhere
Granite pinnacle at 12 m (40 ft) with a vertical wall on its offshore face
Two pinnacles on a 16-metre plateau, with a wall dropping to 60 metres
Hold position at 18–24 m while hammerhead schools pass the plateau
A rock small enough to swim around, sharks on every side