CortezClub

We had a great trip and would recommend. Two of us went snorkeling and the other two did scuba. Eric the guide and the captain were fantastic! They did a great job being on schedule, and the food was really good. I do recommend the ceviche. Overall we thought this was worth the price and would book these guys again.

I did my Advanced Diving course at the Cortex club a few weeks ago. The staff were relatively accommodating, but I wouldn't recommend doing an Advance course here. They are too limited in what they can offer you in terms of electives. For example, night dives are only possible if you have at least four other divers. I understand why, as it would be too expensive for them to get to the dive site for just one diver, but they also don't have any cameras or appropriate housing (just gopros, but the housing was broken) so you can't do underwater photography either. And so overall not the best place to do advanced open water if you are interested in exploring these options during the course. Some of my dives were great (wreck dive), but some were way too short (23 minutes for fish identification?!). I felt we were rushed on some of my dives because of other divers in the boat who didn't need to do as many dives. I also felt that we didn't cover everything we were supposed to (eg: different methods of underwater navigation, weight checks when learning about peak performance buoyancy, recording drawings of fish while underwater on a slate to help identify them later). Everything felt a bit rushed to be honest and not thorough enough. I also felt the mornings were too chaotic and disorganized. This place also does many trips for whale sharks, snorkeling, etc. and so their attention seems to be mainly on that and diving feels a second priority, with larger groups getting set up with gear onto boats in the morning while smaller groups of us divers waited around being told to wait another 30 minutes, etc. I felt like I had to interrupt operations and ask what was going on half the time to know when we were leaving. The staff are nice enough, but it was still frustrating. It seems like a good place for whale shake trips and stuff like that, but I wouldn't recommend this place for diving courses as they are expensive as well and I have had much better experiences at every other diving center I've been to (and those were all focused on and prioritized diving). I would like to emphasize however that the instructor was very supportive and patient but that I wish it had been a bit less rushed.

The day we booked with them, it was difficult to get to as there was a marathon or something going on that morning so traffic was being diverted. They are located a 15 min drive outside of town. Convenient if you are staying at the attached hotel (La Concha) but not if you are staying in downtown La Paz. There was a lot of disorganization upon arrival with the gear and who was on which boat for what activity. The trip itself was ok (Espiritu Santo is a gorgeous island and the wildlife is great). Our flight ended up being canceled so we had an extra day in La Paz and decided to go spend the day again at Espiritu Santo. We jumped on a tour boat from the malecon (the main boardwalk in La Paz) and the service was better than with the Cortez Club. The equipment was nicer, the lunch was better, and it was cheaper! Save your money and time and go with a tour from the malecon!

We booked with them specifically because the website says they have an ecotourism certification and are green business certified, as we really value this when we travel and try to reduce our impact on the environment. However, the boat was leaking fluid (either oil or gas?) into the water. When we were anchored at the sites, you could see this sheen on the water coming from the engine of the boat. Its terrible that they claim to have these certifications and then are polluting that beautiful area. The crew was decent. The lunch was overrated for the price. The trip was not worth it for the money with this company.

we went snorkling with whale sharks and chartered a boat for the afternoon. everyone was nice and we had a wonderful day. they also arranged transfer from SJD as well as other activities for us. great service. very professional. we had wonderful time in La Paz.