We’ve mentioned Cabo Pulmo here several times in the context of marine conservation, as well as from a personal visit. Although I still haven’t had a chance to go out on a scuba diving expedition here, a couple weeks ago Jocelyn and I were able to accompany some Villa del Faro guests on a snorkeling trip outfitted by Cabo Pulmo Sport Center, which is run by members of the Castro family mentioned in the posts linked above. The tour took two hours, but I’ve condensed the experience into almost fifteen minutes of video that I took on a rented GoPro:

We took three stops, two of which were at sites with coral reef, and the other being a spot where immense schools of Big-eyed Jack congregate. At the reef we saw all the usual suspects, including some massive parrotfish. If the weather conditions had permitted, we would have stopped by the sea lion colony, but it was too wavy to snorkel safely.

In preparation for the tour, Jocelyn and I made sure to wear reef-friendly sunscreen, and this is the only spot where we felt the tour could have been improved. The Cabo Pulmo Sport Center staff were all very helpful, friendly, and knowledgable, and we enthusiastically recommend their tour to Villa del Faro guests, but we would have liked to see more emphasis on the environmental hazards of the chemicals in most mainstream sunscreens. Unfortunately, reef-friendly sunscreens come at a premium price, and it would be difficult to try and sell it as an alternative in Cabo Pulmo to tourists who may worry that they’re just getting scammed.

If you have any questions on fish identification from the video, please comment below and I’ll try to ID them for you! And if you’re visiting the East Cape area in the future, consider booking a tour with Cabo Pulmo Sport Center.