The Cortez Club, Dive Center.

Diving with **The Cortez Club** in La Paz was an absolutely unforgettable experience! From the moment we arrived, the entire team made us feel genuinely welcome — they were **exceptionally friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable** about the area, marine life, and diving techniques. Our instructor, **Sergio Avila from Escape Dive**, guided us with true professionalism and passion. His calm, confident approach made the entire experience smooth and enjoyable, especially for those of us diving in La Paz for the first time. The staff’s **expertise and organization** stood out throughout the day. They explained every detail clearly and shared fascinating insights about the **history and ecology of the Sea of Cortez**, often called *“the aquarium of the world.”* Their deep respect for the ocean and its wildlife added so much meaning to every dive. Each dive was perfectly planned — the boat crew was attentive, the gear was in excellent condition, and the dive masters made sure everyone felt comfortable and safe at all times. The visibility was incredible, and the underwater world was full of life: vibrant fish, playful sea lions, and stunning coral formations surrounding the islands. If you want to discover the magic of **La Paz’s islands** and experience diving with a team that’s both **professional and genuinely passionate**, I can’t recommend **The Cortez Club** enough. They make you feel like part of their family while giving you a once-in-a-lifetime underwater adventure! 🌊🐠🤿

Great diving experience. Every day a new dive site. Professional briefings and dive site explanations. Christoph our dive guide today was patient, motivating and very helpful. The sea of cortez is the place for Sea Lions, Mantas and anything can happen depending on the season. I can truly recommend this dive shop. They tend to all the gear and lunch in the boat is great! Thank you so much!

One of the best dive centers we’ve ever been to! The Cortez Club in La Paz exceeded all our expectations. Everything was perfectly organized — we didn’t have to worry about a thing. From the equipment to the boat trips, everything ran smoothly. The food on board was excellent, and the atmosphere was always fantastic. The dive sites were incredibly diverse, with great visibility and lots of marine life. Our absolute highlight was diving with the sea lions – an unforgettable experience! And snorkeling with the whale shark was simply spectacular as well. A huge thank-you to the entire team: Christoph, Markus, Hugo, Ines, and Kaito (the Japanese guy 😉) were amazing – professional, super friendly, and always in great spirits. A special thanks to José, who organized everything perfectly and created such a great vibe every day. We always felt safe, welcome, and very well taken care of. In summary: flawless organization, fantastic dives, and a truly wonderful team – we’ll definitely be back! 🩵 Renata & Sebastian

We had the BEST experience with The Cortez Club - it started at first contact with James who set up a custom package for myself (a diver) and my wife (non-diver). He was extremely quick and thorough answering my many questions. This great experienced continued 3 months later when we arrived in La Paz and worked with the on-site staff at The Cortez Club. We were greeted warmly by Jose the manager who made sure all of our questions were answered and we had the right fitting equipment before setting off for our tour. Our 5 star experience continued on Day 1 with Hugo who was our guide with the whale shark snorkel. He provided a great explanation of some whale shark facts (they are indeed sharks and not whales!); this was a nice touch. He then took the experience a step further and explained the marine conservation efforts being taken by the local government to ensure the whale shark population is protected. I also observed that they followed these rules extensively which to me is VERY important when doing eco-based tourism. I want to spend my $$ with companies who genuinely believe in proper conservation and eco based tours and don’t just use that as some ‘catch phrase’ to lure in tourists. A+ from the team there Our wonderful experience continued with the Sea Lion colony at Los Isolates - what a wonderful memory. Day 2 was equally memorable with our guide “the Japanese guy” (sorry I forgot his name and don’t mean that disrespectfully!) he ensured I had a unforgettable experience diving with a 3 tank dive and did his best to find the hammerheads! We did find them but they were at around 40-45 meters (120-135 feet) but despite that he did everything in his power to make sure the group was happy and enjoyed themselves Bottom line, don’t hesitate when booking with the Cortez Club - you will be taken care of, can get a custom package and that your $$ is going to a company that believes in protecting our precious marine life via proper eco-tourism. 5 stars all the way at the Cortez Club.

I had an amazing experience diving with Cortez Club in La Paz. The team was professional, friendly, and made everything smooth from start to finish. The dives were amazing, from beautiful reefs to spotting seahorses and manta rays, playing with the sea lions inside a wreck, beautiful boat ride around Isla Espíritu Santo. The staff went above and beyond to make me feel supported, informed, and excited to be underwater after taking a 4 year break from scuba. I highly recommend Cortez Club to anyone visiting La Paz who wants world-class diving with a team that truly cares about both the ocean and their divers. I’ll definitely be back for whale shark season!

I’ve travelled lots, but never write reviewsi wanted to for here, as this is a memory that will stick with me forever. the tour experience was extra Special since it turned into a private tour. Our snorkel guide Kaito was kind, funny, and knowledgeable. Our captain Cristoph was awesome, shared so much knowledge about La Paz and played amazing music. While also helping us with our Spanish! If you can get these two on your boat please do, they made the experience even more fun. First we snorkelled with the sea lions then paddle boarded through balandra. The guides set up an umbrella and beach blanket for us on the beach as well! I feel that the cost was completely worth every dollar and I would absolutely recommend his to anyone. I hope to come back soon. Gracias por todos.

Amazing dive center! We saw whales and were snorkeling with the sealions! The people and guides were so nice and professional!! Especially Jonathan and Marcus made the trip Perfect. I did my diving license there and I felt very comfortable and safe.

*** please read *** We should have read the other reviews as we had the same bad experience on a whale shark tour. We wanted to go on a whale shark tour and were charged $732 for 4 people (2 adults and 2 kids). Other companies we later found out charge $240-$320. Paying a premium would have been fine, but the experience that ensued was not. As others have described, the owner James was not polite or professional in his communication. We received an email that asked us to be on the dock at 12:30 for a 1:00pm tour. Upon our arrival, the crew on site told us we wouldn't leave until 1:30. At 1:30, they told us the boat wasn't there. There was no boat on the horizon. Closer to 2:00pm, we asked where the boat was and the crew still didn't know. They looked at the horizon and saw one boat that could have been ours (they weren't sure) and told us it would be at least another 30-40 minutes before it arrived at the dock. They also said we wouldn't be departing until about 3:30pm. That was too much time to wait with a 5 and a 7 year old who had already been waiting with us since we got there. The crew was very surprised how much we were charged. They assumed we would have gotten a private boat for that amount, but they couldn't find one anywhere that would be available to us. That's when we started getting texts from James, that the boat was there. Yet the 4 crew members standing on the dock with us couldn't corroborate that information. After a couple more minutes, we decided to leave and the crew didn't even try to stop us or reassure us that the boat was on the way. If you can believe it, James is refusing to refund us the money. Please don't spend your money here.