After a mind blowing experience with the sharks at Roca Partida we made our way east once again to the island called Socorro. Socorro is the largest of the three islands that we normally dive during these expeditions, however it is the first time we’ve been able to dive here in many months due to the navy closures of the island. There is a Mexican navy base here and they occasionally conduct joint military exercises with the US and Guatemalan navies. So, for the past two days we’ve been once again exploring the waters around Socorro. Yesterday we dove at Cabo Pearce, which turned out to be a little quiet. A few brief manta sightings as well as a couple hammerheads spotted were the highlights yesterday. Last night we moved over to Punta Tosca and after the sun went down enjoyed a night snorkel with the silky sharks. The silkies are very curious and will approach the snorkelers very closely, which is quite a thrill when the water is black and the only thing lighting up the animals are the floodlights of the vessel. Today we did 4 dives at Punta Tosca and enjoyed some great Manta lovin’ and dolphin interaction. Around 3-4 mantas were in the area and spent most of the time on all the dives circling and interacting with the divers.
On dive 1 a pod of bottlenose dolphins arrived and most divers enjoyed some face to face time with them. As we arrived back at the Nautilus on the inflatables the dolphins followed us in and so we spent the next 30 minutes or so snorkelling with the pod of around 20 dolphins. It was a great day of big animal interaction followed by a soak in the hot tub and a cold beer and some of Chef Enrique’s delicious barbecued chicken. Wish I had more room in my belly.
Captain Gordon Kipp
Diving conditions: water temp 23C, viz 9-25m (30-80ft), current mild to strong at times
Surface conditons: air temp 27C, mostly cloudy today with some sunny breaks, light wind
Wish I had more room in my belly for Chef Enrique's delicious barbequed chicken… Socorro, Mexico. June 23, 2012.
