We began our trip with some bad news: a big storm was making its way through the Socorro Islands. We had to change plans and wait for the storm to pass. In the meantime, the boat had to navigate towards safer waters and find somewhere that still offered great diving. A tough task considering it is not the best month for diving in the Sea of Cortez. Nevertheless, Nautilus Explorer’s land team co-ordinated an aircraft and speedboat operation so that we could take our guests on a real sea safari. By using the aircraft as our eyes in the sky, we could search for big animals from above, increasing the chances of having the best possible diving experience for our guests.
Within 20 minutes the aircraft radioed in that they had spotted a large group of over 3000 mobula rays swimming near Cerralvo Island. We got there just 15 minutes later, jumped in the water with them and had an absolute blast. A magical encounter with such an abundance of life. Then our aircraft captain reported pilot whales only nine miles away from us. We didn’t hesitate at all and moved fast towards them. 20 minutes later we were swimming with them and all of our guests were awestruck to see such gigantic animals in the water. To add to this, we saw a gray whale, two humpback whales and also a large pod of bottlenose dolphins, all spotted for by our aircraft pilot. The logistics worked perfectly.
We came back to the Nautilus Explorer and finished our day with a dive and some good news: the storm has passed and we can go to the Socorro Islands. Nothing will stop Nautilus Explorer from providing an adventure of a lifetime and an unforgettable experience to our guests.
- Divemaster Pato onboard the Nautilus Explorer
Credit: Karen Lopez
