Location: Cabo Pearce, Socorro, Revillagigedos, Mexico
Comments: Hello from the tropics of Mexico, and the inmensurable beauty of the Revillagigedo Islands; from Captain Rob and the Crew. We had a fantastic trip with great weather, visibility and sightings. Our guests came complete with numerous cameras, and the photos and video made for an outstanding trip DVD to give everyone memories for years to come. The longer trip made for an excellent opportunity to explore new dive sites and increase our portfolio. It’s nice to be able to visit the same great sites yet have new ones for returning guests. (One couple logged their fifth trip on the Nautilus Explorer!).
I’ll sign over to Divemaster (and licensed Captain) Tricia to give you a day by day account of our latest adventure:
What a difference a week makes… this southbound journey was calm and we started our trip with a couple of dives at the Canyon followed by giant mantas encounters at the Boiler and humpback whales watching from the surface. Then off to Socorro to check in with the Mexican navy and dive Punta Tosca with the manta, tiger and hammerhead sharks on dive day 2 followed by Cabo Pearce on dive day 3. Our first dive at Cabo Pearce had great visibility and almost no current. It was a relaxing dive with a few sightings of dolphins and sharks off the outer point along with a group of Barberfish patiently waiting for something to clean. At times they even moved over to the scuba divers to see if they needed a clean.
For the second and third dives the current picked up and whilst it made the diving more challenging it did seem to bring in the Hammerhead, Silvertip, and Silky sharks to the cleaning stations. Not to mention the large schools of jacks which may also be why the sharks came in. Some of the scuba divers saw a Hammerhead close up as it was leaving the inner cleaning station and heading out to sea. For those that are wondering, the tidal difference at Socorro is about 3.5 feet and with no real narrow spots the currents caused by the tidal wave (not a tsunami) are minimal so the variable currents that we experience in the Revillagigedo are mostly to do with the major ocean currents, upwellings, down currents and eddies where currents meet and go around the islands. This produces some great opportunities for viewing mixing water and the marine life that goes with it, however, it is relatively unpredictable so we have to be prepared for any conditions at all times.
Our fourth dive at Cabo Pearce was in the bay with the octopus, eels and reef fish that inhabit the coral covered rocks in those protected waters. With the light, good visibility and shallow water there was the opportunity for some great reef photographs. Then it was off to Roca Partida for dive day 4.
Weather: Air temperature 80°F, partly cloudy, with a light breeze and a low swell
Water: Water temperature is at 72°F, visibility 60-80 feet
