After a day on the open ocean, we arrived in San Benedicto Island around 9:30. The bottlenose dolphins escorted us, playing in our wake for the last 20-25 minutes giving us an amazing show. We took that as a great omen! Sure enough, we woke up to a gorgeous sunrise & several dolphins just waiting for someone to jump in the water to play with them. Dive master Juan got to play with them while setting the anchor line (very jealous!!)
So after a quick bite & a dive brief we were into the water! The water was @ 74 f & we were glad we had our 5 mils. We were heading out to the Manta cleaning station at Canyon. Just as we got there, a hammerhead shark went shooting by. The cleaning station did not disappoint. We had a beautiful giant Manta circle us over & over for @ 15 minutes. Another 2 hammers made an appearance. When it was time to head back, much to our delight, we were shadowed by our manta for another minute or so. It is truly magical to come eye to eye with these magnificent creatures. We got up from the dive full of excitement & trading stories. Did you ever notice how noisy a dive deck gets after a great dive?? One group had a nice encounter with several hammers, others with our manta. The rest of the day was filled with white tip reef sharks and the Socorro lobster were everywhere. The octopi were out in full glory. No hiding in nooks and crannies for these guys. We also saw many angels, several varieties of puffer fish, nice schools of jacks, stonefish, a huge free swimming green moray, an electric ray & a sea snake. What a great way to start a week of diving in Socorro Island!!!
Chiara Reading, Mt. Laurel, NJ
How was your dive trip with us?
It simply was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Nautilus Explorer is first rate and the crew is awesome and the scuba diving was incredible. This was my second trip and look forward to a third!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much.
Kevin M (aka THE DUDE)
We were shadowed by our manta for another minute or so. It is truly magical to come eye to eye with these magnificent creatures. San Benedicto, Baja California, Mexico.
