Safety Precautions:


Our highly experienced, professional dive guides are equipped with 2 large 10 ft. marker buoys, 2 reels, underwater and surface noisemakers, and buddy lines. Furthermore, we provide each diver with a 10 ft. long surface marker buoy in case of surface emergency. Although shark diving at Gordo Banks is an advanced dive, our guides will keep you safe and give you as much time to enjoy the pelagic action as possible. Our maximum divers per guide ratio is 4:1, allowing all divers to receive hands-on, personal service.


Due to the somewhat advanced nature of our Shark Diving trips, we ask that all divers take part in a 2-tank local dive with us prior to the trip. For your and others’ safety, your air consumption, buoyancy skill and general dive ability will be reviewed, with advanced blue water diving in mind.

Disclaimer

Please note that the ocean is not an aquarium, so Gordo Banks can be a hit or miss dive. Obviously the objectives of our shark diving trips are to see the schooling hammerhead and silky sharks, but please understand that sightings are not guaranteed. However due to the depth and remoteness of the seamount, anything can come out of the blue, so you never know what you’ll see! Gordo Banks is 40 – 60 minutes away by boat from our dive shop. We are proud to say that no other provider in Los Cabos has more experience shark diving at Gordo Banks than us. 

How to book:
Click the ‘Book Now’ button below + Book an obligatory 2-Tank Local dive on a day before your desired shark diving day + Book your shark dive!

Shark Diving

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.

As all sharks, Scalloped Hammerheads have what are called ‘Ampullae of Lorenzini’ positioned all along their cephalofoil. These are sensory organs, which simply put, are the sharks prey-detection radar. Scalloped Hammerheads can grow up to 8ft long, and weigh more than 80lbs. 

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.

Giant Mobula Rays

Otherwise known as Giant Devilrays, these are some the largest of the Mobula rays. At Gordo Banks, we can often see them in large schools, as well as alone. They are curious and relatively unafraid, and will sometimes slowly approach diver groups and circle them once or twice, often doing graceful acrobatic displays.
Like whales, Giant mobula rays perform breaches or jumps above the water for unknown reasons. Giant mobula rays all have a black “crescent” shaped stripe that extends shoulder to shoulder, differentiating them from the similar-looking Manta Ray. At maturity the giant devil ray will measure out at an average of 6-9 feet wide, but can continue to grow to a max of 17 feet. .

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.