Location: Roca Partida, Socorro Island, Revillagigedos, Mexico
Comments: Our second day at Roca Partida had the finest weather I have ever seen, with absolutely no wind and only the laziest of ocean swells. Our first two dives continued the trend of excellent shark sightings, particularly of hammerhead and silvertip sharks, and the giant manta rays eluding us once again. However, a medium strength current had picked up, and by the third dive, we decided to try something a little different. Drift diving in open seas or “blue” diving, is definitely a bit of a gamble. We have been doing them once every few trips, and the results have been mixed: some times you’ll see something very unique and special, other times you will be watching bubbles and blue! However, this dive ended up being amazing and very special. We split the guests into two groups, and drove them in skiffs almost a mile up current from Roca Partida, whereupon we threw in a weighted line attached to floats for a reference point. The divers used the line as a reference and simply drifted calmly towards the island. And what luck we had! Almost immediately we were mobbed by an enormous school of yellowfin tuna swimming powerfully all around us, with silky and silvertip sharks thrown in the mix. After they passed, a group of hammerhead sharks made an appearance, allowing some excellent photographing opportunites. As we approached the island, a cloud of triggerfish burst into view, with circling silvertip sharks deep below us. The island drew by quickly in the current, and as we passed to the south we were given one last sendoff by yellowfin tuna and some curious wahoo, with some coy passes by hammerhead sharks for an encore. We surfaced to a cloudless sky and absolutely glassy smooth seas, to be picked up by the skiffs and brought back to the Nautilus, ending a dive that we will never forget. Bravo to the gamble of doing blue water drift dives and the possibility of not seeing anything.
–DM Sandy
Weather: Flat calm winds and a very low insignificant swell, air temperature 79°F with high broken clouds
Water: Water temperature 72°F, visibility 100 feet
