Diving has always been a privilege for me. It has allowed me to form a special relationship and a connection with the underwater world and it has given me countless of wonderful experiences, encounters and even new friends.
But diving in the Revillagigedos onboard the Belle Amie has not only been a privilege and a chance to deepen that relationship, it has been so much more. It has felt like, for the lack of a better word, a blessing.
Rolling into the water and taking the first glimpse of the unfolding underwater world is like flipping on your personal NatGeo channel with behind the scenes action and outtakes. And when you surface you also get to enjoy the director’s commentary provided by the experts onboard the Belle Amie.
Diving is always a game of give and take. You leave behind bubbles and ascend with some kodak moments or you end up with a less than desired visibility and pictures of oddly shaped silhouettes resembling sharks and mantas which could as well be your fellow divers. Diving in Revillagigedos definitely offered more the previous than the latter. After a dive at the Roca Partida, one of the crew members asked me how was the dive and I answered that it was everything you could wish from a dive. This particular dive included mantas, a school of hammerheads, some galapagos sharks and to top it all of a few friendly dolphins. During any given dive you can experience the mantas doing their graceful dance or big sharks lurking in the depths with the occasional runaway individual. But you can also find an array of other creatures like eels, tuna, octopus and frog fish for variety and if you are heading to the Sea of Cortez you can hang out up close and personal with the playful seals.
I suppose you have already formed an idea in your mind of what diving in Revillagigedos is all about but as we say in Finnish “kertaus on opintojen äiti” (repeat, repeat, repeat). So, expect the unexpected and climb back to the boat with a huge grin on your face. And even if you don’t see a single animal, you can only admire the marvels of Mother Nature and the scenery she has spent hundreds of thousands of years to shape.
Then there’s the world above. Now, the idea of spending a week on a boat can stir up that queasy feeling at the bottom of your stomach. But the Belle Amie and the people onboard taking care of you will go out of their way so you’ll forget all about it since they aren’t just any people.
They cruise the boat all hours of the night so you’ll arrive at the next dive site on time, they make sure you are safe by making you run around with a massive life vest and hook you up with any rescue device imaginable, they prepare your gear and fix it it’s shitting you, they bake cookies and cook like the Italian mom you always wished you had, they clean your room and put chocolate on your pillow, they smile, tell bad jokes and generally make you feel awesome. Oh, and did I mention the heavenly oasis on the top deck? It’s a freaking hot tub! Mic drop…
Also, for good fun they throw you in the water at night when the silky sharks are hunting the flying fish attracted by the lights of the boat. I don’t know who ever came up with that idea but it was certainly exhilarating.
Even if the price tag for the journey seems a tad steep, I’ll be the first to convince that it’s worth every penny. In fact, if you don’t go, you’ll be missing out on one of the greatest experiences and some epic fun.
Your personal NatGeo channel
