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San Carlos - Mexico


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San Carlos is a salt water dive site, located in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico. This dive site has an average rating of 4.00 out of 5 from 7 scuba divers. The average visibility is 41-50ft/12-15m.

Shore diving or boat diving is available near San Carlos, MX. Beach sites offer depths from 10-50 feet and the boats will take you to San Pedro Island, where you can swim with sea lions and reach depths greater than 100 feet, with generally better visibility than the beach sites. It’s rumored that Hammerhead sharks congregate at the south end of the island in the fall. Research conditions and check charter availability before you go. Equipment rental is available for both shore and boat diving.

Dive centers:

Gary’s Dive Shop (North side of main road)
El Mar (South side of main road)
Ocean Sports (located in Marina bldg)

Dive Site Map

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Comments

aksister - 4/26/2016 12:40 AM
I went scuba diving here on 4/24/2016.
Beautiful! Fun dives with instructor Mike. Checked off the rest of my open water skills😊
aksister - 4/26/2016 12:35 AM
I went scuba diving here on 4/22/2016.
My first open water dive!
Hawkeye54 - 7/30/2014 11:01 AM
Rating Added: 3
San Carlos is a great weekend getaway from Phoenix, Tempe, and the rest of southern Arizona. The diving is better than what you’ll typically find in a lake but if you’re expecting 100’ viz: Head to the Caribbean or go further south to Cabo during summer months. Many of the sites are accessible from shore and my personal favorite beach site is Frenchie’s Cove. You can rent gear from one of three local shops and just go dive at your own pace.

Alternatively, you can hop boat charters for about $100 out to San Pedro Island, where you’ll see a healthy sea lion colony. Visibility is generally 40 better at the Island opposed to 20’-30’ at the mainland sites. The sea lions are most active in the mornings and will tend to get lazy, napping up on the rocks in the early afternoon. Most of them are friendly, some skittish, and be cautious of the big males when they get territorial. (Identified by mashing of teeth or swimming about "snorting" at you underwater) The females and pups are adorable! :)

I hear water temps drop into the low sixties and kelp grows in the winter months, so San Carlos is best dived in the late summer when visibility peaks. In the spring, dying kelp clouds the water.
tinahawkins - 1/05/2014 11:11 AM
Rating Added: 4
Dove over New Years. Viz at 40-50 feet, 61 F water temp, 78 F surface temp. Dove San Pedro Island, South Point Cove. Lots of Sea Lions, eels, nudibranches, many species of starfish, and the occasional hammerhead siting (from what I hear!). Great town, pretty beaches, grab a cold one at Soggy Pesos after diving and watch the sun set!