It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that we regret to announce that Nautilus divemaster Hector Peredo has passed away.
On January 19th, while on the Nautilus Belle Amie in Socorro, Hector reported that he had a fever and a slight cough. In line with our strict COVID protocols, we took his temperature, communicated with our on-call physician and placed Hector in isolation with careful monitoring and a respiratory assessment twice a day.
In addition, we informed guests and our hostess team which sanitized the entire interior and exterior shared touch points. There were no other crew or guests reporting symptoms of any kind.
Hector remained in quarantine and we continued to monitor him under the doctor’s instructions. While he initially showed signs of improvement, his fever and cough started worsening, and, on January 23rd. we disembarked him at the port and transferred him to a private hospital for treatment.
While Hector received the best possible treatment, he sadly passed away today. Hector has been an integral member of the Nautilus family and our thoughts are with Hector’s family as they go through this difficult time.
The crew who were onboard this trip were tested for the virus when the ship arrived back in port. The ship was thoroughly sanitized and disinfected by contract specialists and a new captain and crew took the ship over after negative antigen tests. Your safety is our top priority and embarking and disembarking guests will receive complimentary antigen tests on each trip going forward. We will continue to monitor and implement strict health and safety precautions on our trips.
2 replies on “Sad News”
Sad news travels fast… I had the pleasure of 1st meeting and diving with Hector Peredo when visiting Cabo San Lucas in 1998, more than 22 years ago. Hector did the Padi Open Water certification dives for me and for my travel mates Scott Clark and Gord Baker. We have kept in touch with Hector ever since, having the pleasure of meeting his family members on numerous trips to Cabo. He changed the course of all 3 of our lives forever… For Gord, the new underwater world introduced to him by Hector caused a change in careers and Gord remains involved in the dive industry to this day on Vancouver Island, Canada. Scott and I last had the privilege and pleasure of visiting our good friend Hector face to face when we, at Hector’s urging, took a trip to Socorro on board the Nautilus Belle Amie in April of 2019… what a magical trip that was… the best dive trip of my life… the experience beneath the water was indeed magical and I plan to go back, but even more magical was the time spent above the water with our dear friend Hector… the laughs and stories we shared I will cherish forever… after our 2019 Socorro trip, Scott and I arranged for Hector to visit us and Gord at Gord’s residence on Vancouver Island in July of 2020… plane tickets were booked and we were looking forward to the trip… then Covid came and the trip was cancelled… so too was the Belle Amie trip to Guadalupe Scott and I had booked for the fall of 2020 due to Covid travel concerns…. Last communicated with Hector on January 8, 2021 by WhatsApp…. never thought that would be my last communication with him… Life is short… One never knows when the gig will be over… Hector truly loved what he did and was thankful he could visit the wonderful undersea world in the waters surrounding his beloved Mexico on a regular basis… He expressed he had found a home and family with Nautilus Liveaboards and having experienced the hospitality aboard the Belle Amie first hand and watching Hector interact with the crew I can see why he felt that way… Rest in Peace dear Friend… You are already missed and the loss will be felt by me and others who knew you forever.
That is indeed sad news. My thoughts go out to his family as well as his nautilus family.