Cabo Pierce was amazing today. The first morning dive was especially impressive. We saw dolphins. We saw nudibranchs. We saw octopi and white tip reef sharks. And then there were the Mantas: giant, graceful, bizarrely interactive. They swim straight up to you, look you in the eye, slowly twist to show-off their distinctive markings, and swoop away to the next diver. With a half-dozen enormous creatures putting on this display, the effect is electrifying. Every person returned to the boat with a huge smile that lasted all day.
Robin Rothfeder, SLC UT, USA
Amazing day in Cabo Pierce, with a plenty of huge, friendly and curious Mantas ( I swear I did not touch a manta, but I was snapped on my mask by one), beautiful environment underwater and a lot of life, including large creatures and tiny ones. Turtles, octopus, hammerhead sharks (could have come a little closer, but let’s wait till tomorrow), rays, many different fishes, lobsters, Galapagos shark.
Nice kayaking in one of the surface intervals, with the beautiful view of the Socorro Island. Delicious talking in the bath tub with great friends until the delightful dinner just before the night snorkeling with many Silky sharks. A little afraid in the beginning but didn’t want to get out!
DIA MARAVILHOSO! Que seja o preludio de um ano repleto de realizacoes!
Clarissa Oliveira, Sao Paulo, Brazil
One-two-three GO- We all backroll together and begin to descend onto the dive site, as I clear the bubbles off my lens and adjust my strobe, I see the dark manta shaped shadow out of the corner of my eye. Quickly I take a test shot to check my exposure and start lining up the approaching manta. After I get down to the dive site the action just keeps on going- two or three mantas going around in circles- it was fantastic! Moving up the ridge I found a big canyon which allowed me to get out of the current as I waited there for several minutes I snapped some Peacock Flounder, Spanish Hogfish, and a variety of puffers. Then the first manta swam overhead and began to circle. Then several more joined in for a total of three!! I was in manta heaven and taking pics as fast as my camera would recycle. Then a school of about 100 large Tuna swam thru and made several passes. After about 15 minutes I worked my way down the ridge back to the down line. The action there was even more intense with 3-4 mantas circling in and out of the cleaning station. Even on our safety stop on the line, we were buzzed by the mantas up to when we got back on the Zodiak!
The only time I had a more intense dive with mantas was the day before at The Boiler!
Dave Kinney, Vienna, VA USA
