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Loreto is one of the best options in Baja for diving. The bay is a marine park, a protected natural area with more than 800 species of fish, good visibility and crystal clear and warm waters.
In addition to the varied marine life, this place offers incredible rock formations and canyons. There are more than thirty good diving sites.
Throughout the year you can see dolphins, turtles, lobsters and sea lions. Blue and gray whales are seen from January to March, hammerhead sharks from May to August, manta rays from May to October, and whale sharks from June to September.
Loreto is also an ideal place to experience night dives and discover a totally different world from the one experienced during the day. Especially in the northern part of Coronado Island you can enjoy the phenomenon of bioluminescence.
Diving Conditions in Loreto
The water temperatures vary from 17ºC to 22ºC from December to April and from 23ºC to 30ºC from May to November.
TOP SPOTS FOR DIVING IN LORETO:
Loreto offers a great variety of diving sites with a diversity of environments and 3 beautiful islands whose coasts can be explored. Therefore, there are options for all levels of diving, with all kinds of depths and challenges, including some wrecks and sea mountains.
Diving in Loreto
CORONADO ISLAND :
In the surroundings of this island, which is an extinct volcano, there are more than 10 diving sites. The northern part has lava cliffs and spectacular rock formations that serve as a habitat for a colony of sea lions, so some of these friendly animals will surely accompany you on your dive.
The underwater landscape includes black coral walls and forests. Here you can see groupers, barracudas and a wide variety of tropical fish.
Some of the best places in this island are:
Las Tijeretas
With a depth ranging from 4 to 24 m (15 ft – 80 ft) it is a solidified lava reef that offers coral gardens, large rocks, a multitude of rays and fish, as well as the occasional turtle.
Las Lajas
With a depth ranging from 4 to 27 m (15 ft – 90 ft) it is a rocky platform that juts out into the sea with large walls that plunge to the bottom of the sea with various slopes. This place is recommended for experts because there are strong currents. Here you can see groupers, nudibranchs and some sharks.
La Lobera
With a depth ranging from 10 to 30 m (35 ft – 100 ft) and it is known by that name (the wolverine) because of the local colony of sea lions that inhabits the south of the island. Here you will find groupers and barracudas that swim between walls of soft corals.
Punta Patos
With a depth that goes from 4 to 27 m (35 ft – 100 ft) it is a site with a series of superimposed platforms that offer a unique landscape since you can swim between small canyons and arches. It is for experienced divers as the currents are often strong.
Piedra Blanca
With a depth ranging from 6 to 45 m (20 ft – 150 ft) it is one of the best places to dive in the destination and can actually be divided into three sites. It features a huge cliff that extends for several hundred meters into the depth of the ocean. The walls are covered with black coral forests where you can find huge groupers and turtles. In the shallower waters there are gorgonians and a wide variety of multicolored fish.
El Repollo
With a depth that goes from 4 to 15 m (15 ft – 50 ft) it is an ideal place for beginners because it is shallow and it is an easy dive where you will find a great variety of marine life such as angelfish, rays and damselfish, among many others.
Punta Cadeleros
With a depth ranging from 4 to 18 m (15 ft – 60 ft) it is a reef where you will find large rocks with a wide variety of fish and nudibranchs.
CARMEN ISLAND :
It has a unique coral reef that covers almost its entire coast, as well as a shipwreck and impressive sea caves. It is an ideal place for beginners and for snorkeling.
Some of the best spots in Carmen Island are:
Punta Lobos
With a depth ranging from 6 to 27 m (20ft – 100ft) it is located at the northern tip of Isla del Carmen. Here you find schools of barracudas and groupers, as well as other pelagics and rays. The landscape offers some tunnels, canyons and huge rocks, which make it a very attractive place.
El Sombrerito
With a depth that goes from 6 to 24 m (20 ft – 75 ft) it is a reef system that connects with a nearby islet where snappers, several turtles and all kinds of rays live. It is very common to meet sea lions and dolphins.
Punta Tintorera
With a depth ranging from 6 to 27 m (20ft – 100ft) it is a sharp rock formation that falls into the sea and below the surface branches into other formations that look like long fingers. It is the place to find pelagics, rays and turtles. Moray eels and crustaceans are also very common.
Bajos de La Choya
With a depth ranging from 6 to 18 m (20 ft – 60 ft) it is a seamount that is part of the enormous reef system that extends along the entire coast of Isla del Carmen. It consists of several rocky hills with a large number of canyons covered by a thick layer of reefs. It is recommended for experienced divers because the currents can be strong. It is the habitat of the largest community of green moray eels in the entire area.
Punta Balandra
With a depth ranging from 6 to 18 m (20 ft – 60 ft), it consists of a series of finger-shaped rock formations where a large number of grunt fish and some turtles inhabit. It is a place that divers of all levels can enjoy.
Piedra Blanca
With a depth that goes from 4 to 24 m (15 ft – 80 ft) it consists of three pinnacles located very close to the shore where you will find moray eels, nudibranchs and schools of horse mackerel. In its deepest parts there are a good amount of coral bushes where you can find some horned sharks. As you ascend you will be able to see a greater variety of marine life and more color.
Los Picachos
With a depth that goes from 4 to 18 m (15 ft – 60 ft) it is a system of reefs with several pinnacles where you will find schools of mackerel. During the winter you can also see some great horn sharks in the deeper crevices.
Bajo del Murcielago
With a depth ranging from 18 to 27 m (60 ft – 100 ft) it is a seamount with impressive underwater life including triggerfish, angelfish, moray eels and some sharks. The dive is quite deep and is for experienced divers.
El Abismo
With a depth ranging from 6 to 40 m (20 ft – 130 ft) it offers steep slopes with soft corals and beautiful black corals that are home to large schools of horse mackerel.
Naufragio Díaz Ordáz
With a depth ranging from 1 to 10 m (3 ft – 35 ft) you can see this old tuna boat that was sunk in Salinas Bay and has become an oasis of marine life where you will find snappers, grunts, triggerfish and colorful wrasses. It is a place suitable for all levels.
Punto Perico
With a depth ranging from 4 to 18 m (15ft – 60 ft) it is a reef that teems with marine life with beautiful scenery where pelagic species are occasionally seen.
ISLA DANZANTE
It is known for its amazing underwater structures such as stepped walls, rock formations, deep canyons and small crevices where a large number of marine species inhabit. Here it is easy to see octopus, eels and a wide variety of multicolored fish. Some of the best places for diving in Isla Danzante are:
Faro Norte
With a depth ranging from 6 to 36 m (20 ft – 120 ft) it is one of the sites with the most marine life in the area. It has a wall that in its deepest part has black coral bushes where you can find several nudibranchs. At the northern end the reef is incredibly thick.
Punta Luna de Miel
With a depth that goes from 4 to 21 m (15 ft – 70 ft) it is an ideal place to practice drift diving and like almost all the places on the coast of this island it has a great variety of marine life such as octopus, stripes and colorful fish.
El Gorila
With a depth ranging from 4 to 24 m (15 ft – 80 ft) it is generally a drift dive with a sandy slope and some rocks that are home to some pelagic species.
Piedra Bola I y II
With a depth ranging from 6 to 21 m (20 ft – 70 ft) they are two dive sites that are linked by two twin bays and offer conditions for all divers regardless of their level. The rocky reef has some pinnacles and small falls. You can often see schools of sardines and some turtles and rays.
Punta Leonor
With a depth ranging from 6 to 27 m (20 ft – 90 ft) it is a reef for experienced divers as there are strong currents and steep drops. However, it is worth exploring as it has beautiful soft coral landscapes with some nudibranchs, schools of jacks and some pelagics.
La Ventana
With a depth that goes from 4 to 21 m (15 ft – 70 ft) it has a spectacular landscape with nudibranchs and rays.
Roca Submarina
With a depth that goes from 4 to 18 m (15 ft – 60 ft) it is a reef that offers diverse landscapes along the route, since it has canyons and some rocks covered with beautiful corals with a large number of colorful fish. Experience is required due to strong currents.
Diving sites outside the Loreto Bay National Park
Some of the best reefs are found on the borders of the Marine Reserve and among the top spots are:
Olla Fierro
With a depth ranging from 4 to 18 m (15 ft – 60 ft) it is a large reef system that emerges from the bottom of the sea and is located a few hundred meters from the coast. It consists of large rocks, small pinnacles and a large number of short canyons. It is a recommended for experienced divers since for the strong currents.
Piedra Ahogada
With a depth that goes from 4 to 18 m (15 ft – 60 ft) it is a shallow reef that is located around a set of pinnacles. The rocky needles look like veritable gorgonian gardens in which schools of surgeonfish circulate. It is for experienced divers for the strong currents.
Monte del Edén
Ranging in depth from 40 to ..m (130 ft – ..ft) it is a deep seamount with an impressive diversity of marine life including yellowfin tuna and horse mackerel. The walls are covered with black coral and it is not difficult to spot hammerhead sharks.
Punta Colorada
With a depth ranging from 6 to 20 m (20 ft – 65 ft) it consists of several rock formations with short drops that have created many canyons. There are a large number of gorgonians and soft corals where you can see various lobsters in the crevices, as well as a number of stingrays.
Esmeralda
With a depth ranging from 7 to 33 m (25 ft – 110 ft) it is a forest of black coral with huge yellow polyps. It is a wall that falls vertically and is completely covered with greenish coral and hence its name of emerald. It is one of the most beautiful landscapes in the area.
El Dedo de Neptuno & los Pináculos
With a depth that goes from 4 to 27 m (15 ft – 90 ft) it consists of three large pinnacles and is one of the best places to dive in Loreto. In Neptuna's Finger there are steep slopes with spectacular underwater landscapes where you can find horned sharks in the crevices.
Bajo Cuco
With a depth ranging from 23 to 46 m (75 ft – 150 ft) it is a seamount with a pinnacle that is a veritable oasis of marine life with patches of black coral and yellow coral. This is a deep dive site that is recommended for experienced divers.
Bajo Sandía
With a depth that goes from 7 to 24 m (25 ft – 80 ft) it owes its name to the fact that there is a large population of “watermelon fish”, although you will also find turtles, green moray eels and huge groupers. As for the landscape there are canyons, plateaus and pinnacles.
La Reina (The Queen)
With a depth ranging from 0 to 21 m (0 ft – 70 f) it is a reef that protrudes from the surface and descends in rocky terraces creating a varied topography, ideal for the adventurous diver.
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