Ensenada & Punta Banda

Diving here runs from Ensenada, where the dive centres sit in town. A shore day starts with a 9:30 meet and a 45-minute drive out to Arbolitos Cove on the Punta Banda peninsula, followed by two guided tanks; the cove is the base for most shore dives and dive classes in the region. Boat days go out on a panga, a local fishing boat, to sites such as La Bufadora, Puertito, La Lobera, Roca Blanca and Tres Hermanas, and dive centres in town also run boat dives to Isla Todos Santos.

The terrain is kelp forest over volcanic rock reefs. Kelp forests grow over rocky outcrops along Punta Banda, with thick kelp at La Bufadora, beside the blowhole of the same name. Around Isla Todos Santos the dives follow the walls of small rocky islets off the main island, and nearby a sunken tugboat stands upright in the sand at 34 m, its top at about 27 m. Sea lions and seals, moray eels, nudibranchs, spiny lobsters and schools of reef fish make up the regular cast.

The diving suits intermediate and advanced divers after rugged cold-water scenery and fewer crowds than tropical destinations. Visibility averages 6 to 18 m (20 to 60 ft), and winter water around 11 °C calls for a thick wetsuit or drysuit. The wreck is a deep dive with some logistics to arrange, and the water near the blowhole needs caution. Arbolitos Cove has an easy entry and a quick drop-off, and suits beginners as well as experienced divers.