We are diving The Boiler which is known for its playful, giant mantas and interactive dolphins. As we start gearing up, our guests are getting more and more excited to go diving. We leave the Nautilus Undersea and head to the divesite to hit the water as quickly as possible. We descended into the magical blue of the Pacific Ocean and stayed on the east side of The Boiler for 15 minutes to wait for the giant mantas to come in.
Revillagigedo in general is about being patient – you don’t have to swim crazy to find the megafauna; they will find you. During those 15 minutes, some silky sharks pass by and a hammerhead circles us for a little while but no manta shows up. So, I decided to explore the cracks and holes of the east side wall. We found a very interactive octopus and played with him for a while. He touches our hands and even comes out of his crack to play with our divers. They’re so cute. The dive ends happily, but we hope that The Boiler is going to surprise us with some big stuff.
We get ready for the second dive after a tasty hot breakfast. We back roll into the waves and literally jump on to a chevron manta. Here it is the ‘angel of the sea’, the giant manta. So beautiful and majestic; it’s just amazing to see those giants. She circles us slowly and comes to check every diver. She passes over our heads and observes us. She came very close and I could hear our divers making noises of delight. We are able to swim underneath her and she enjoys the tickling of the bubbles on her belly. It’s amazing to see the interaction between two different species that come from a completely different world. Humans and mantas, interacting with each other in a very respectful and peaceful way. It’s a magical moment.
Then dolphins show up. They are chasing some jacks. Quickly changing direction, accelerating and bursting into life. After a little while, those beautiful and smart mammals come in to check out the divers. You can hear the dolphins making their ticking sounds and swimming around us, showing us their ventral side and kind of waiting in the water and teasing the divers.
Now The Boiler is really showing us why it’s so famous. The manta ray is still circling us, the dolphins are speeding around and finally a green turtle comes out of the deep blue and floats stoically in the middle of the underwater party.
The Boiler didn’t disappoint us and all the divers had great interactions. We come back on board, sharing our experience and the talk about our fantastic encounters will not stop before the end of the day. It was a magical day at San Benedicto and I think none of our guests will forget this dive. It was a dive of a lifetime.
- Divemaster Pascal onboard the Nautilus Undersea
