La Reina (Cerralvo Island)

La Reina is the little lighthouse rock off Cerralvo Island, a long panga ride from La Paz that regulars guard like a secret. A small resident sea lion colony works the shallows, boulder fields below hold green morays, big grouper, and clouds of Cortez reef fish, and the site's aging claim to fame - visits from giant mantas - has flickered back to life in recent seasons, with oceanic mantas reappearing here after years of absence. Nothing is promised: mantas are occasional, conditions are exposed, and the crossing is committing. But on the right late-summer day, sea lions below, mantas overhead, and blue water all around, La Reina outclasses sites with ten times its fame.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: Occasional returning mantas, quieter sea lions, big morays in the boulders

التضاريس: Rock reef and boulders around a small lighthouse islet off Cerralvo

المخاطر: Exposed crossing and site; current around the islet; long way from the dock.