Enroute Ensenada to Islas San Benitos and Isla Natividad, Baja California, Mexico
This is our first trip of the season back here in the north of Baja California, fresh out of the shipyard with a shiny new paint job. An exciting season of white shark diving is right around the corner but we are kicking off with a very special trip to a little known island 260 miles south of Ensenada, Mexico in the pacific less than 5 miles from mainland Baja California.
Isla Natividad is a small island just over 4 miles long and inhabited only by a handful of fisherman and their families. The fisherman living here are part of a fishing cooperative, commonly known as the Cooperativa here in Mexico, who are an organization of fisherman dedicated to a sustainable fishery. At Isla Natividad one of the things they have done to help sustain the fishery is to in essence create a marine park at the island. They have set aside an area of the islands waters and dedicated it as a “no-take” area, meaning no fishing is permitted there and has not been for many years. What has resulted is an untouched piece of ocean wildlife, centered around a thriving kelp forest supporting a wide variety of sea life. Not only do the fishing cooperativa not allow fishing there but they have also never allowed a charter dive vessel to dive the waters, until now.
The Nautilus Explorer will be the first ever dive charter vessel to dive these waters, working in conjunction with the fishing cooperativa and the organization Reef Check. Our first taste of the diving will be the day after tomorrow, after a day of diving at Islas San Benitos, another area with beautiful kelp diving that has become a regular destination of ours during the Guadalupe season. Stay tuned for updates on our first ever Isla Natividad expedition!
Captain Gordon Kipp