Shark Diving • Gordo Banks
Dive with hammerhead sharks at an offshore sea mount
Have you ever wanted to dive with schools of sharks? Join us for a shark diving tour like no other. Leaving out of our sister shop East Cape Explorers in San Jose del Cabo, we cruise 40 minutes to Gordo Banks, a pair of deep, underwater pinnacles roughly 7-8 miles from shore.
During the drive, you will receive a detailed and thorough briefing on how to dive the site correctly, safety procedures, shark behavior, and more from our highly experienced Dive Guides. And then you drop into the blue – with no reference, you execute a controlled descent to the depth decided by your guide, and float through the endless ocean while looking for sharks. This is a truly unique place where huge numbers of sharks can be seen – however it is very important to understand that it is not an aquarium, and sightings are not guaranteed.
Due to the complete lack of reference and advanced nature of this dive, we require all divers to complete a Local 2-Tank dive with us or “East Cape Explorers” on a day prior to diving Gordo Banks. This allows us to assess your buoyancy control, air consumption and general dive ability with no-reference diving in mind. It is also very important to know the amount of weight required before diving Gordo Banks, as the drop is very fast and there is no time to adjust weights.
Shark Diving at Gordo Banks - 2 Tank Dive
Tour Rates & Availability
Price – 2 Tank Dive:
$225 USD per certified scuba diver (taxes & park fees included)
10% off for cash payments
Availability:
Mondays, Wednesdays & Saturdays
From 7:15 – 15:00
Hotel Pick-Up:
Our vehicles are clean, comfortable, and in top-quality condition. Apart from round trip transportation from your hotel to our dive shop we also offer transportation from the airport to your hotel and back. Click HERE to book your transportation
Certification Level:
The open water diver certification is sufficient but you need to be a competent diver with experience in blue water diving to fully appreciate the site.
Additional Information
Included:
• 2 boat dives, if conditions permit at both sea mounts
• 63 or 80cf scuba tanks, weights & dive computer rental
• Multilingual Dive Guide (PADI divemaster or instructor)
• Underwater photography and video service
• Drinks and snacks
Add Ons:
100 cf scuba cylinder – $10 US
Dive equipment rental – $35 US
Private Dive Guide – $100 USD
Passenger / Snorkelers – $45 US
Tour Itinerary: Gordo Banks
Leaving Dive Cabo in Cabo San Lucas at 7.15am, you will journey around 40 minutes to our sister location in San Jose Del Cabo – ‘East Cape Explorers’. You then board the boat to Gordo Banks in San Jose, and hope to reach the site within 40-60 minutes.
During the drive, you will receive a detailed and thorough briefing on how to dive the site correctly, safety procedures, shark behavior, and more from our highly experienced Dive Guides. And then you drop into the blue – with no reference, you execute a controlled descent to the depth decided by your guide, and float through the endless ocean while looking for sharks.
We conduct 2 deep dives to a maximum of 130ft/40m, with a 1 hour surface interval. Depending on the sea conditions we aim to return to the marina in San Jose del Cabo between 1-2pm. You would then be provided transport back to Dive Cabo.
Shark Diving - Private Charter
Tour Rates & Availability
Price – 2 Tank Dive – Private Charter:
$750 USD 1 or 2 divers (taxes & park fees included)
$175 USD per additional diver<
$75 USD per additional dive
Availability:
Daily from 7:15 – 15:00
Hotel Pick-Up:
Our vehicles are clean, comfortable, and in top-quality condition. Apart from round trip transportation from your hotel to our dive shop we also offer transportation from the airport to your hotel and back. Click HERE to book your transportation
Additional Information
Included:
• 2 private dives off our 33 ft customized dive boat
• Choice or 63, 80 or 100cf scuba tanks
• Full dive equipment rental including dive computer
• Multilingual Dive Guide (PADI divemaster or instructor)
• Enriched Air “Nitrox” upon request
• Drinks and snacks
We require all divers to do a local 2-tank dive with us prior to the Gordo Banks trip. Please also note that Gordo Banks is a hit or miss dive. Obviously the draw card here is the schooling Hammerhead sharks, but please understand that the sightings are few and far between. The open water diver certification is sufficient but you need to be a competent diver with experience in blue water diving to fully appreciate the site
Complementary Services:
Underwater Photography Service: We will take photos and videos of you and the wildlife for free. Please bring a USB memory stick or iPhone to allow easy data transfer.
Scuba Refreshers: A free basic refresher program for those who have been out of the water a while (upon request).
Dive Equipment Storage: Our team will handle washing, drying and storing your equipment.
Dive Computer Rental: FREE dive computer rental upon request at check-in
Payment Options:
Cards: VISA & Mastercards | Transfers: Stripe & Zelle Cash:
Cash: US Dollar, Mexican Peso, Canadian Dollar , EURO
10% discount for cash payments
Common Marine Life at Gordo Banks
Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks
Scalloped Hammerheads, like all sharks, are perfectly designed to do what they do. Every aspect of their body is custom made for their interaction with their environment. Their hammer-shaped head, properly known as a cephalofoil, gives them multiple advantages. It is narrower at the ends, allowing them to change direction rapidly by cutting through the water. This is particularly useful, as often their prey are fast-moving and agile animals, such as mackerel and squid. Their eyes are positioned at the far ends of the cephalofoil, creating an effect that essentially reduces their blindspot, allowing them to judge distances more easily, which aids in hunting.
One of the reasons why Gordo Banks creates such good opportunities for seeing hammerhead sharks is something called ‘refuging’. They gather in large numbers during the day around the seamounts, to shelter from currents, socialize, and utilize safety in numbers. They will then disperse at night to hunt, either alone or in groups of 2 or 3. The seamounts also support large ecosystems, providing the perfect habitat for hammerhead prey items such as mackerel and skipjacks.
Striped Marlin
Striped marlin are a highly migratory fish living at the top of the food chain in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is a member of a larger family known as billfish, which get their name from their upper jaw that extends to form a spear. Because of their large size, marlin are prized sport fish.
The striped marlin’ is a predator that hunts during the day in the top 100 m or so of the water column, often near the surface. One of their chief prey is sardines. It has a record weight (in 1982) of over 200 kg (440 lb) and a maximum length of 4.2 m (13.8 ft).
The striped marlin is a top predator that mainly feeds on a wide range of fish, such as Sardine, Mackerel, small Tuna, Mahi-Mahi and Cephalopod. One such study off the coast of Mexico has found that it mostly feeds on schooling fish such as Chub mackerel, Sardin and Squid.
Silky Sharks
Silky Sharks are the rockstars of Gordo Banks, and for many of our divers, their favorite shark to dive with. The Silky Shark gets its name from the smooth and silky texture of its skin. At Gordo Banks they can be seen singly all year round, but their main migration is July-September.
They have an extremely strong sense of hearing. This acts as a great advantage for locating their prey, mostly consisting of bony fish (especially Tuna), octopus, and squids. These predators have a perfect and effective hunting behavior.
They dive together in large groups of fish and attack them with lighting fast speed and wide open mouths. For us as divers, they are great fun – they have almost no fear of humans, and love to approach closely before veering away. Silkies are not dangerous to humans, but your dive guide will explain best practice for diving with them, to ensure you get the best interactions.
Humpback Whales
We are lucky here in Baja California Sur to have the opportunity to see many different species of whale. However our most frequent visitor is the Humpback. The Whale season is from December to April, with the most sightings being in February.
On our journeys to and from Gordo Banks, as well as in the hour long surface interval, we can often enjoy spectacular displays from males, females and even their calves.
The humpback whale is one of the largest animals on Earth, growing to lengths of more than 50 feet (16 m) and weights of 40 tons (36 metric tonnes).They are very active, and can be seen breaching out of the water, slapping the surfacing with their fins and tails and twirling underwater.
