Baja

(Dive Travel Business News - February 17, 2012) --  The U.S. Department of State has updated its travel warning for Mexico to inform U.S. citizens about the security situation in the country and is detailing what areas are affected and which ones are not. This travel warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Mexico dated April 22, 2011.

The State Department’s updated travel warning for tourists planning to visit Mexico has the distinction of being more specific than previous versions. They include information on drug violence on a state-by-state and city-by-city basis. The travel warning urges Americans to defer nonessential travel to all or parts of the these 14 states: Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan and Nayarit. Travelers should also exercise caution visiting all or parts of Baja California, Colima and Morelos.

The previous US travel warning issued for Mexico by the State Department, dated in April, advised American to avoid travel to all or parts of 10 states. read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - May 10, 2010) -- Aggressor Fleet is launching a new dive yacht destination offering three adventures - Great White Shark, Hammerhead Shark and Gray Whale charters - in Baja, Mexico starting July 24, 2010.  Aggressor Fleet's introductory offer is only US$1995 pp during 2010.  

From January through June, the Baja Aggressor will cruise to Revillagigedo Archipelago and famous Socorro Island where giant Manta Rays, schooling Hammerhead sharks and Silver Tip Sharks are the key attractions.

The yacht moves to Guadalupe Island from mid-July to mid-November where Great White Shark diving is done solely from large shark cages. Three cages accommodate 3-4 divers each, with dives at a depth of 5-20 feet. 

In November and December, the boat plies the waters of Magdalena Bay, where passengers get up-close encounters with Gray Whales and their calves, while whale-watching from skiffs. Some snorkeling and limited scuba diving is also offered in Magdalena Bay. read more »

(DiveTravelNewswire.com - Oct 19, 2009) - The National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Rick has been downgraded from a Category 5 storm last week to a Category 1 storm.

According to the Associated Press, the center of the storm is expected to make landfall at the southern end of the peninsula by late Tuesday or early Wednesday and approaching the western coast of mainland Mexico by late Wednesday. A hurricane watch is out for Santa Fe southward on the west coast and from San Evaristo, Mexico, southward on the east coast, including Cabo San Lucas. 

Winds are reported to have died down to 85 mph from their peak, which was 185 mph while Rick was a Category 5 storm last week. For more information on the destination, visit www.discoverbajacalifornia.com.

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(April 22, 2008 - Washington Post News Service) -- An updated alert was issued last week for Americans traveling to Mexico. The State Department bulletin was concerned primarily with criminal activity in the border towns and warned of an increase in narcotics-related violence, including carjackings and armed robbery. But it was this rather astonishing statement that caught our eye: “Dozens of U.S. citizens were kidnapped and/or murdered in Tijuana in 2007.”

Wondering why a stern warning wasn’t issued sooner? It’s not that media outlets haven’t dutifully reported the situation. A February article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, for instance, revealed that ”organized, well-financed and violent Mexican kidnapping cells are targeting a growing number of U.S. citizens visiting communities popular with San Diegans and other California residents.” Indeed, according to the paper, at least 26 residents of the San Diego area were abducted and held for ransom last year. read more »