Location: The Boiler, Isla San Benedicto, Socorro, Islas de Revillagigedo, Mexico
Comments: Admittedly, this trip has been slow for sighting and interacting with giant mantas. It was actually a little worrisome, because as we are fully aware, the incredibly large, curious, and friendly manta rays of Socorro and the Revillagigedos are the star attraction for divers. This trip has been one of the lightest on giant mantas that this divemaster can remember. But fortunately (and none too soon!) we had a stellar eleventh hour appearance from three giant, friendly, photogenic mantas at our last dive site, The Boiler, at Isla San Benedicto.
The visibility was still slightly down due to ash in the water, but not enough to affect the photographic opportunities of these stunning creatures. They stayed with us for all three dives at this site, as a final sendoff for our run back to Cabo San Lucas. And as well, on the first dive, a pod of dolphins welcomed us to the site with their now-trademark curious behaviour of standing upright in the water column and imitating divers. So finally, Islas de Revillagigedo pulled out all the stops on our last few dives to give all the guests the diving experience that they had come for with these beautiful animals. A group of smiling and happy divers reluctantly came out of the water before steaming for our home berth in Cabo. A great end to a great trip.
–DM Sandy
Weather: Air temperature 85°F, northwest swell.
Water: Sea water temperature 70°F, visibility in the water at 50 feet in ash
